"Faith is a continuation of reason"

William Adams asserts that faith is not a rejection or abandonment of reason, but rather its extension. Reason, as the human faculty for understanding, proving, and explaining the world, brings us far along the path of inquiry, illuminating what can be known and deduced through evidence and logic. However, reason encounters boundaries, there are questions and mysteries that reason alone cannot fully answer: the nature of existence, the ultimate cause of the universe, or the purpose behind being itself. Here, Adams suggests, faith picks up where reason leaves off, continuing the journey rather than halting abruptly at reason’s limits.

This perspective bridges the commonly perceived divide between faith and reason. Instead of treating them as opposing forces, Adams weaves them together, presenting faith as a rational progression from what can be logically grasped. He implies that faith is rooted in the insights and clarity achieved by reason, but carries the mind beyond the realm of empirical certainty toward trust in what reason points to but cannot definitively prove. For example, reason might lead one to recognize intricate order in the cosmos, but faith embraces the conviction that this order reflects a purposeful intelligence.

Faith, in this sense, is not blind credulity. It is a trustful assent propelled by reason’s evidence, albeit unconcluded or incomplete. It is an extension, built upon rational foundations, stepping into areas where evidence becomes insufficient for proof, but not for belief. Adams' statement acknowledges the strengths of human reason while also honoring its limitations, inviting a humble recognition that rational inquiry may necessitate faith, not as a rival to reason, but as its natural and necessary continuation. Such an understanding reconciles the need for critical thinking with the human impulse to trust, believe, and hope beyond what is strictly demonstrable.