St. Augustine on not clinging to opinions proven false by the “light of reason”
Quoting at length from St. Augustine who was a pivotal figure in the history of Christianity and “established anew the ancient faith”:
“People from different backgrounds, Christian or otherwise, can make observations about nature. Therefore, it’s damaging to the faith if Christians cling to interpretations of scripture that obviously contradict what can be understood through simple logic or experience.”
If non-Christians “find a Christian mistaken in a field, which they themselves know well and hear him maintaining foolish opinions about our books how are they going to believe those books in matters concerning the resurrection of the dead, the hope of eternal life, and the kingdom of heaven when they think their pages are full of falsehoods on facts, which they themselves have learned from experience and the light of reason?”
Even the most eminent of church fathers believed that Christians should not cling to opinions proven false by the “light of reason.” In fact, doing so, damaged the faith and kept people from salvation.
