Different Approaches to Faith

By Michael T.R. Martin

Introduction

Faith stands at the heart of the human search for ultimate meaning. Across theological, philosophical, and existential inquiry, it has been interpreted in many ways—sometimes as rational assent, sometimes as passionate commitment, sometimes as relational trust. Among those who have offered profound insight into faith are Thomas Aquinas, Søren Kierkegaard, Clifford Williams, Jamie Rasmussen, and Owen Anderson. Each presents a distinctive yet overlapping approach to the question of how human beings believe in God.

This essay explores the above pastors and teachers' understandings of faith and concludes with a fourth, integrative position called Logical Faith. The analysis of faith considers reason and revelation, existential paradox, faith as a relational trust, faith as a rational responsibility, and a logical faith. 

1. Thomas Aquinas on Faith

Thomas Aquinas presents faith as a rationally grounded act of the intellect moved by divine grace. For Aquinas, faith (fides) is “an act of the intellect assenting to divine truth by command of the will moved by God” (Summa Theologica, II-II, Q.2, Art.9). In this sense, faith is not irrational but supra-rational—beyond human understanding yet never contrary to reason. His famous Five Ways offer rational demonstrations that make belief in God intellectually coherent.

Aquinas’ approach reveals a harmonious relationship between reason and revelation. Reason establishes a foundation for faith by showing that belief in a first cause is logically necessary, while revelation discloses truths—such as the Incarnation and Trinity—that reason alone could not attain. For Aquinas, faith therefore represents the unity of intellect and will, a rational obedience to divine truth. It preserves the integrity of both human understanding and divine mystery.

2. Faith as Existential Paradox: Søren Kierkegaard and Clifford Williams

In stark contrast, Søren Kierkegaard redefines faith as an existential leap beyond rational justification. For him, faith involves “the objective uncertainty held fast in the most passionate inwardness” (Concluding Unscientific Postscript, 1846/1992). True belief, he argues, requires subjective appropriation rather than intellectual certainty. The biblical Abraham, willing to sacrifice Isaac, exemplifies this paradoxical faith—a “teleological suspension of the ethical” (Fear and Trembling, 1843/1983)—that defies logic yet remains grounded in divine trust.

Clifford Williams extends Kierkegaard’s insight into the interior experience of faith. In The Divided Soul: A Kierkegaardian Exploration (2009), Williams describes the paradox of pursuing the Good—the tension between aspiration and self-deception. He argues that even when individuals strive for holiness, pride and duplicity distort their motives. The result is a divided self that both seeks and resists God. Yet this paradox becomes redemptive when it leads to confession and humility. For Williams, faith is not an abstract belief but an existential confrontation with one’s own divided heart, transformed by grace.

Together, Kierkegaard and Williams depict faith as the drama of the human soul—a passionate, risk-filled engagement with divine reality that transcends mere intellectual assent.

3. Faith as Relational Trust: Jamie Rasmussen

Jamie Rasmussen, in When God Feels Far Away (2021), presents faith as relational trust in divine providence. His concept of “God room” illustrates how faith creates space for God to act when human ability reaches its limits. Rasmussen interprets the biblical story of Esther as an example of active waiting—a discipline of trust that acknowledges divine sovereignty while engaging human responsibility.

Faith, for Rasmussen, is not only intellectual or emotional but relational—a trusting partnership between human dependence and divine initiative. Creating “God room” requires humility and patience, reframing delay and uncertainty as opportunities for divine revelation. This relational model resonates with the Christian understanding of faith as personal trust in the character and timing of God (cf. Hebrews 11:1). Rasmussen’s approach emphasizes that faith is not absence of reason but openness to God’s will, where divine distance invites deeper intimacy.

4. Faith as Rational Trust and Moral Responsibility: Owen Anderson

Owen Anderson, in Reason and Faith in the Theology of Charles Hodge (2014), explores faith through the lens of American Common Sense Realism and Reformed theology. He argues that unbelief is not an intellectual failure but a moral fault, given that both general and special revelation render God’s existence “clearly seen” (Romans 1:20). For Anderson and Hodge, faith is rational trust in the clarity of divine revelation, while unbelief is inexcusable because it willfully rejects evident truth.

Faith, therefore, is cognitive, moral, and affective—a synthesis of intellect, will, and emotion rightly ordered toward God. Reason, when functioning properly, recognizes divine truth as self-evident through both creation and conscience. In this framework, the clarity of revelation establishes moral accountability, while the affective dimension ensures that belief is not merely propositional but heartfelt. Anderson’s contribution reminds theology that faith requires intellectual integrity and ethical response, uniting knowledge and virtue.

5. Faith as Logical Coherence: Michael Martin’s “Logical Faith”

Building upon these perspectives, Logical Faith integrates reason, revelation, and ethical responsibility into a coherent metaphysical framework. Faith, in this view, is the rational acknowledgment of the necessary Being—God—as the ultimate foundation of all contingent reality. Using disjunctive syllogism, five metaphysical possibilities may be considered:

1. Nothing is eternal.

2. Material monism is eternal.

3. Spiritual monism is eternal.

4. Dualism is eternal.

5. Only theism is eternal.

Through logical elimination, the first four fail to satisfy the principle of sufficient reason. Only theism—the existence of one necessary, self-existent Being—remains logically consistent. This reasoning aligns with Aquinas’ metaphysical realism while transcending the tension between rationalism and existentialism.

Logical Faith holds that faith is not opposed to reason but its fulfillment. Reason identifies the necessity of divine being; revelation discloses the character of that Being as personal, moral, and redemptive. In this sense, faith becomes an act of the intellect perfected by grace and confirmed by logic. It is the synthesis of Aquinas’ rational structure, Kierkegaard’s existential depth, Rasmussen’s relational trust, and Anderson’s moral accountability—a unified epistemology grounded in truth.

Furthermore, Logical Faith rejects fideism as ethically irresponsible and skepticism as metaphysically incoherent. Faith without reason becomes fanaticism; reason without faith becomes nihilism. The ethically sound position is one that honors both the light of reason and the illumination of revelation. Logical Faith thus restores faith to its proper philosophical dignity: an assent to divine truth that is both rationally warranted and personally transformative.

Conclusion

The analysis of theological approaches to faith reflects different ways of understanding faith in the divine one. In Aquinas faith and reason work together. In Kierkegaard and Williams there is an emphasis on existential passion with faith. In Rasmussen faith is understood as a relational trust. In Anderson faith is a matter of rational trust. Each approach from contemporary scholars reveals a kind of aspect of how humans approach faith.

Integrating these aspects—logical, existential, relational, and moral—faith is coherent. Logical Faith affirms that belief in God is intellectually justifiable, emotionally authentic, relationally grounded, and ethically responsible. Logical faith is not a blind leap but a rational ascent approaching the divine one. 

References

Anderson, O. (2014). Reason and faith in the theology of Charles Hodge: American common sense realism. Palgrave Macmillan.

Aquinas, T. (1947). Summa Theologica (Fathers of the English Dominican Province, Trans.). Benziger Bros.

Evans, C. S. (1998). Faith beyond reason: A Kierkegaardian account. Eerdmans.

Kierkegaard, S. (1983). Fear and trembling (H. V. Hong & E. H. Hong, Trans.). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1843)

Kierkegaard, S. (1992). Concluding unscientific postscript (H. V. Hong & E. H. Hong, Trans.). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1846)

Rasmussen, J. (2021). When God feels far away: Eight ways to navigate divine distance. Baker Books.

Williams, C. (2009). The divided soul: A Kierkegaardian exploration. Wipf and Stock Publishers.