CAN YOU HAVE THE CATHOLIC FAITH WITHOUT FEELINGS? CAN IT BE PURELY RATIONAL?

'Thou shall love the Lord your God with all your heart ad all your soul, with all your mind and all your strength'

The above is the First Commandment and we can see from God Himself the answer to the question whether Faith is about feelings or rationality.   It is both.   Love is something that comes from the heart and soul of a person, it is the feeling part of a person, when we say we love with our heart we are telling someone how we feel.     I think if I told my wife I loved her inside my mind, that my love was something rational I had worked out because there were benefits in being with her, I think she would slap my face.

The point is that in our humanity we are both rational and emotional beings.    So Faith must appeal to the whole person - rational and emotional.    If we say that Faith is a purely rational thing and there is no place for feelings we are denying our humanity and making Faith something cold and unappealing.   It is very difficult to make it part of us and will often lead us to an egotistical Faith where we become the centre of things and lead ourselves into error   On the other hand a purely emotional Faith can lead us to credulity where we are constantly looking for signs and wonders and the latest novelties.   A mature faith is a combination of both elements in our nature.    Devotion led by reason, and reason led by devotion.      




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