Faith and Faux Knowledge

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We're experiencing a deficit of faith right now. Its lack corrodes our institutions, and erodes our social discourse. But whether you count yourself among the faithful, or the faithless, don’t assume that you know what I mean just yet.

This may well chafe some atheists who might be reading this, but you have faith as well. It’s just that, whereas a Christian places his or her faith in the existence of God, or the Resurrection of Christ, an atheist might place it in love, science, the potential goodness of humanity, or even the prospect that we’d all be a whole lot better off without religion! Yes, we all live our lives by placing faith in someone, or something. And when we find ourselves in general agreement with others regarding the metaphysical concepts in which we have faith, then we might begin to call ourselves members of a particular faith tradition.



So, where’s the deficit? How can I profess to such an expansive definition of faith even as I claim that its lack is so destructive to that which we hold dear? Here’s the crux: so many who profess strong faith are actually confusing it with the attainment of certain knowledge. And not only do we tend to confuse our personal faith with certain knowledge, we also seem ever at the ready to act as if this certain knowledge applies to everyone else as well. However, the relationship between faith and knowledge, as best I can discern, is that a long-lasting, personally tested faith might afford you a working knowledge as to what is true for you – and nothing more. No matter how strong your faith, no matter what you might believe, no matter what personal truth you might have come to realize, Truth is still beyond your apprehension/comprehension – as well as mine.

Since I’m usually the only Buddhist in the room these days, any religious discussion that I’m involved in becomes something of an interfaith dialogue. And being married to a Christian pastor means that these interfaith discussions are most often Buddhist/Christian in nature. So, recently some of us were having a conversation about faith, and I stated that it was my experience that faith is all too often confused with knowledge – just as I’ve been expounding upon here. The concern regarding this statement was that it would send us down the slippery slope of relativism, where all truth is subjective, and there is no gauge with which to measure good and bad.

Indeed, I was talking about relativism, but not in the way that this person thought I was, I don’t think. I wasn’t saying that there is no Truth. My contention was/is that, whatever capital T Truth might exist (its existence is something I must take on faith, by the way) we can only ever glimpse it either partially or through a glass darkly.

And why do I think this distinction between faith and faux knowledge is such an important one to make? Our current events are rife with struggles between various entities: individuals, classes, religions, party-line adherents, and nations. Each is convinced of their absolute rightness, and their firm grasp of capital T Truth. This belief in our absolute rightness (and the absolute wrongness of our foes) is corroding our institutions, and eroding our social discourse.

I think this distinction between faith and faux knowledge is an especially important one to make if we're going to take part in interfaith dialogue of any kind. Sure, I could feign humility when entering into conversation with people of different faith traditions. I could bury my belief in the absolute rightness of my views so deep down inside me that no one was the wiser – perhaps not even me! But what good would that do? Every attempt at interfaith dialogue that I might engage in would surely be corrupted into a one-sided exercise in proselytism. No real learning would take place. No mutual understanding would be advanced. No greater peace would result. For how can there be real peace between us when I’m convinced of the inferior nature of the faith that your life experience has brought you to? No, true humility requires of us a willingness to be changed by another – by every other.

So let us keep our faith. Let us live whatever faith we’ve come to enjoy. And let us strive to keep our faith from slipping into the trap of faux knowledge – for our own wellbeing as well as that of all humanity. 


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Evening sun through the groundcover in the bottomlands, courtesy of the author


Copyright 2020 by Mark Robert Frank

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  1. Matah HatiJuly 15, 2020 at 11:03 PM

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