The role of reason in generating religious passion: A critique of the fideist position

Abstract

The American Heritage Dictionary defines re-lig-ious as: having or showing belief in and reverence for God or a diety1 . It defines pas-sion as: a powerful emotion, such as love, joy, hatred, or anger2. Thus, religious passion can be defined as follows: a powerful emotion relating to belief in and reverence for God or a diety. Proponents of existentialist fideism3 have argued that one cannot achieve religious passion if his religious beliefs are based on reason; to achieve religious passion, they claim, one's beliefs must be based on faith alone. While at first glance, the arguments supporting this position seem compelling, it can be critiqued from a number of different angles.4 In order to complete this critique, it is of use to first consider the reasons for the basis of the position that religious passion cannot be generated by reason. These reasons can be divided into three general categories:5