Using Faith, Imagination, And Reason in The Pursuit of Absolute TruthOur cultural beliefs, behavior, and rational senses play a very significant role in defining our faith in different aspects of life. These come a long way in helping us believe in things we cannot be certain exists and hence makes it a huge step. By reason, we hold a justification by which we conclude things based on real or fictitious reasons towards the faith. Imagination is merely the ability of the human mind to create ideas and develop them solely using the power of their minds. As far as mundane things are concerned, reason comes in play. Based on our senses, reason can be explained using material realities. In a general view, the truth makes up a reality that the human mind can barely comprehend nor define.
FaithFaith makes up a belief in something that is more important and ultimately larger than the humans in a rational world. If science cannot explain it, then it is attributed to faith. In his first letter to the Corinthians, St Paul is seen making an excellent insight into the early Christians lives (KJV.
“Bible, 1 Corinthians 1 – King James Version.”). From the beginning, he is seen making emphasis on the faithfulness of God and hence calls upon the people to have faith in him. The Qur’an also stipulates outrightly that those that believe in what was revealed to Muhammad have faith and are certain about their Faith (Ishkewy, Hossam, and Hany Harb. “Iswse: Islamic semantic web search engine, 2:5). It further points out that those that do not believe are like rocks whether or not they are warned (Ishkewy, Hossam, and Hany Harb. “Iswse: Islamic semantic web search engine, 2:7) it is this declaration that demarcates the boundaries between those who have and those that lack faith.
ImaginationThe ability to use the human mind’s power to create our definition of the absolute truth. According to Blake, based on imagination, searching out God through the visible aspects of life is also substantial. This precursor of the traditions tries to articulate that reason is limited to the ordinary things. However, the poetic or philosophical aspect of things is the only reason behind the ability of man to comprehend things beyond what they see (Blake, William, and Geoffrey Keynes, There is no Natural Religion, 73). He further argues that all religions are the same and only imagination creates this diversity in how different believers perceive it. In one of his most famous works, “The Tables Turned” William Wordsworth is seen to hold imaginative understanding so much higher than either rational or logical thinking (Wordsworth, William, The tables turned, stanza 7). ReasonFaith and reason are seen to correlate in many accounts, and the two are virtually complementary.
Reason precedes faith since one cannot begin to the reason of something they do not exists. Unlike faith and imagination, however, reason goes beyond believing in something because it is beyond the human comprehension. Confucius has been attributed as one of the greatest reasoners in the definition of absolute truth.
Even though he has never been considered a god, Confucius believed in a Great Ultimate power who represented a system of social and ethical philosophy and not religion (Confucius, James, and Confucius. Confucian Analects, the great learning, and the doctrine of the mean,2). Another argument for reason was presented by wang Yang-ming in the “Inquiry Regarding the Great Learning.” According to the great philosopher, “a genuine understanding of one’s self and its relation to the world” is fundamental in solving all the social problems (Yang-Ming, Wang, “Inquiry on the great learning, 659). The claim could be termed as absolute truth. Truth is a broad scope that is almost impossible to comprehend, but faith, imagination, and reason come together to present a more robust front. While scholars have based their arguments based on the word of God from the church, the human intellect in some cannot comprehend the essence of God.
Some elements of understanding God remain inaccessible to a man leaving a reason for the simple-minded to work with. Contrary to the teachings of the church, reason has been seen to shake the faith of the believers who do not have material facts. For the absolute truth, the daunting task is on the person who believes in it, has faith and uses his imagination to grasp it. Once the mediator of truth has grasped it, it is almost impossible for them to make it clear to their opponents.
There is always a chance that the normal state of the mind which is supposedly non-prejudiced may have been prejudiced. But the truth can be seen as anything that can achieve the truth of life has been deemed almost impossible for the simple minded. To reach the absolute truth, one only needs to be patient taking their time to understand the dynamics and assumptions used to reach an optimal understanding of things.
