“Human reason is weak and may be deceived; but true faith cannot be deceived.” (Thomas à Kempis)
These words of warning from the spiritual teacher Thomas à Kempis remind us of something very essential. As much as reason is a good gift from God, it has nevertheless been affected by original sin. Among the consequences of original sin are:
- the darkening of the intellect
- the weakening of the will
- the inclination toward evil
- suffering
- physical death.
This is set forth in the Catechism of Saint Pope Pius X.
Because this is so, it is in keeping with Christian prudence not to rely first and foremost on the insights of one’s own reason, but rather on true faith. Here, it is important to listen carefully. Thomas à Kempis speaks of “true faith,” knowing full well that there are also deviations from it and errors. That is why the Heavenly Father, in His wisdom and benevolent providence, has given us the Magisterium of the Church to safeguard the faith handed down by the Apostles and to defend it against the heresies that repeatedly assail it.
Then we walk on the foundation that God Himself has laid, and can confidently entrust our fallible reason to the infallible faith. Faith will bestow its bright light upon reason and thus guide it onto the right path.
A great temptation in so-called modernism is to place one’s own capacity for knowledge above supernatural faith. Thus, there is a danger of virtually deifying one’s own reason. What confusion!
All the more reason, then, to regard our Catholic faith as a great gift from our Heavenly Father and not to allow it to be clouded, either from within or from without!