According to Wilken, faith is unavoidable because of how it is necessary to believe in things because we have faith in them and not only believe in proven facts. Wilken also comments largely on how faith is crucial in order to develop knowledge. In order to be able to become knowledgeable in something, it is required to first believe in it. As he describes, “Everyone who believes thinks, thinks in believing and believes in thinking.” There is no way of thinking about something without first believing it is true. Moreover, he describes how as humans, it is in our nature to seek the answers of things and to find the truth about how the world around us came to be. Yet, to be able to find these answers, we must have faith due to how “faith is the portal that leads to the knowledge of God.” As Wilken describes, taking several stories from the bible, from Abraham to Isaiah, it can be seen how they rely on people believing and being faithful to God and his promises.
It is within humans to be reluctant to believe in things without having proof of them. Yet, when it comes to religion, knowing things doesn’t solely rely on reason and proof to believe in things because of how faith is what opens the doors to this knowledge. It is described in the text that “Religion, however, is not a deduction of what one knows. If one begins with proofs and resolves to hold only what can be proven, one will never have done with beginning.” Through this it can be seen that faith is necessary and beneficial in religion since it is what first opens up for us the possibility of learning more and gaining more knowledge regarding Christianity and God.
Faith is not only present when it comes to religion. As Wilken describes, it is crucial to have faith in people as well. When we believe in someone’s authority or wisdom, we are having faith that they know better and will guide us to better things. If we wouldn’t have this faith then it would be impossible to obtain any knowledge and be trusting of other people. Forming any type of connections and building relations would be very difficult. This is reflected when the text states “Nothing would remain stable in society if we determined to believe only what can be held with absolute certainty.” Having faith is crucial in order to have a base for developing knowledge. If we have no faith in anything or anyone, we would be entirely closed to receiving and obtaining knowledge, hence showing how it is largely beneficial and unavoidable.
Alegria Ubidia 