–January 27, 2020–

Faith is unavoidable because it is impossible for everything to be known about anything. Augustine states, “Nothing would remain stable in human society if we determined to believe only what can be held with absolute certainty” (Wilken, 171). It is impossible to have certainty in the world when there are things that are unknown. However, we do not like the idea of things being unknown, so we fill this empty void of knowledge with theories of what it might contain. These theories are no different than faith. Even science, which is upheld as the ultimate standard of fact in society, cannot be proven truth, only proven false. We place our faith in statements like “the sun revolves around the sun” until newer evidence appears and falsifies our faith. Only then, can we make a more informed assertion like “the earth revolves around the sun” and reinstate our faith in science. Faith is beneficial as a placeholder for knowledge that is yet to be discovered. It gives certainty in response to the uncertain and fills a void that would otherwise drive humanity mad. Life is filled with unanswered questions. How did life begin? What is the meaning of life? What happens after life ends? These are all questions that scientific thought is unable to answer. Religion responds to these voids in understanding and fills them with concepts like heaven and reincarnation. These answers comprise faith and provide comfort to people who fear the unknown.