Bishop Barron at Facebook: "How to Have a Religious Argument"

Faith is not irrationality.

"Faith is the decision to trust in the revelation of God's own heart."

and

"Faith is the reasoning of a religious mind." --Newman

"There is plenty of space where we can do rational exploration of God."

In this talk Barron is answering "the YouTube heresies" he addresses in his pioneering talk here.

1. That faith is accepting foolishness.

2. Scientism. That all knowledge is comprised of the scientific form of knowledge. Scientism is self refuting. That claim itself is not a scientific claim but philosophical. This gives way to "The Yeddie theory of God:" That God is an item in the universe.

3. We must be intolerant of mere toleration. "The great compromise." --Stanley Hauerwas

The Christian religion is no mere hobby! but is based on truth claims. And truth claims have a universal intent. If you privatize religious claims you disrespect your intellocator.

4. Avoid "voluntarism:" the trumping of intellect by will. e.g. Casey vs. Planned Parenthood "It belongs to the very nature of my liberty to determine the meaning of my own life, of existence, and of the universe." This destroys argument because it devolves into a mere clash of wills: the rule of violence! Voluntarism breeds violence. That was the theme of the Benedict XVI Regensburg Address.

5. Seek with great patience to understand your opponent's position. Try to get to the bottom of what is being said, because "Religion is ultimate concern." --Tillich. e.g. "Unconditional Positive Regard," mirroring back can help. Find the kernal of truth in the opinion.

The quest is important, but the answer is the point, barring nothing that is true. cf. Thomas Aquinas Summa.

"The open mind is like the open mouth, it is meant to bite down on something nourishing."