Faith, Reason, and Beyond Reason

One can judge the character of an author by his self-deprecation. Immediately, in the introduction to Faith, Reason and Beyond Reason, Mark Boone [@SaintAugustine] makes clear he does not know it all. Knowledge (epistemology) is the framework for Boone’s book, yet his first paragraph admits how much he learned from a student. Were I a screenwriter, the phrase, “You had me at humility,” would be in the script. One learns a great deal about a person when there is an obvious focus on others. Indeed, the whole book is an exercise in the question, “How much can others teach me?” Scholars from Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, and Christianity all receive a fair hearing. What’s more, an openness to nuance helps the biblical interpreter better understand God’s Word by listening to others. Neither accommodation nor compromise are concerns. What is clear is that however much we may think we have a corner on proper interpretive approaches, humility settles us.

Dr. Boone is thoroughly orthodox, evangelical, biblical, and hermeneutically sound in any way that conservative thinkers would be, but it is his broadmindedness that maintains his intellectual modesty. “I still have much to learn” (xv) is a Godsend to anyone who believes that research has a chance at being unbiased. The table of contents tells the reader the work will not be doctrinaire. On the contrary, hearing that the views of Augustine and William James, for instance, might be synthesized makes the reader’s eyes go wide. Drawing from the works of Islamic scholar Iqbal or the postmodernist Jean-Luc Marion, Boone shows over and over that pieces of Truth exist in places we would not consider, all the while being dedicated to Scripture’s reliability, authority, inerrancy, and reasonableness. “Uses of this book” (xiv-xv) gives a path for any philosopher or theologian to follow for further study and application.

So many helpful segments give a practicality to the book. Twelve commonsense principles about knowledge, distinct from skepticism, begin the argument for Christianity that “belief is rational” (8), which does not require evidence (9), but is defensible (14), concluding “no other worldview is consistent with such a criterion for rationality, warrant, or proper basicality” (in contradistinction to skepticism, 22-23). A philosopher’s mind is at work in chapters one and two defining such words as “warrant” and “function” while demonstrating the benefits of Alvin Plantinga’s work, including “natural theology” (42).

Chapters three through six find the synthesis of William James’ pragmatism with Augustine’s religious epistemology where “faith can be rational in the absence of knowledge and yet itself may lead towards knowledge” (61). Linking the approaches of William James and Allama Iqbal, Boone concludes:

Both argue that a thoroughgoing empiricism must consider religious experience as a legitimate form of experience and a possible source of knowledge. They both argue that a religious belief is tested by its fruits [enriching] our understanding of the topic of faith and reason (81-82).

Chapter five then asks the obvious follow-up, “Can faith be empirical?” Biblically weaving the words “faith,” “trust,” “knowledge,” “authority,” and the importance of “eyewitnesses” (93-94, 114), Boone shows how all these ideas fit together. He explains that both the scientist and the non-scientist trust, suggesting that the scientist’s experience is similar to that of the religious – both can be verified (94-105). And that knowledge, in Boone’s view, is a “credit system” (109), as in “being given credit is the state of being trusted” (114, emphasis his). In so doing, Boone shows the false dichotomy between trust in science and trust in religion (114-19), saying, “I am only pointing out that science is rooted in trust; and, since science is a type of knowledge, other beliefs rooted in testimony can also be knowledge” (119, emphasis his).

The threefold understanding of faith or trust is clearly marked by Hebrews 11:1-4. “Faith” is the content of belief, the “what” Christians believe in. “Faith” is also credible, marked by the words “assurance” and “conviction,” Greek words noting trustworthiness. “By faith” is the individual commitment of believers exhibited in the phrase throughout Hebrews 11. Boone’s chapter seven cites multiple New Testament passages which identify Christian content-credibility-commitment as “life-change” (133), “the action performed on us” (134, emphasis his), “based on objective facts,” (135), producing a “steadiness of mind” (136), “confirmed by the down-payment of the Holy Spirit” (137). The Christian faith here is tested and found reliable.

Faith’s dependability in chapter eight is premised upon “the inerrant authority of Jesus Christ” (154), pointing forward to the imperative chapter nine which requires a careful, slow read. Boone clearly frames inerrancy within the confines of The Chicago Statement on Biblical Hermeneutics (176), going to great lengths to clarify authorial intent and the application of Scripture from the early Church Fathers to contemporary exegetes (174-83). The authority of Scripture is in full view as the author’s intention points to “essential truths of the faith,” providing a “check on error,” and a “goal for interpretation,” grounding a “community of interpretation” for The Church (179-80, emphasis his). Chapter nine is bursting with imperative concerns from a striving toward humility while doing the hard work of biblical interpretation and application. Perhaps it is a concluding comment in chapter ten that summarizes the lot:

We know the requirements of ethics and religion by expressing them in our lives. Christ requires that we follow him; we know him by relating this requirement to our lives. Expressing the truth of the incarnation in our lives is holistic. No part of our lives can escape it. It is at least as passionate as it is intellectual. The truth must fill up every corner of a person’s life (206).

Playfully serious, chapter eleven finalizes the book with a fictitious illuminating dialogue between “Phil” and “Sophy.” Herein we see the glint in Boone’s eye, a way of concluding “there’s no moral law without a law giver” (244), yet reminding the reader that no study is ever “finished,” saying that Christians need a thoroughness of hermeneutics which considers the best of Christian scholarship (246). Boone addresses “divine hiddenness” (248-50) – thankful for God letting Himself be known – which leads us toward Anselm, following Augustine, “I believe in order to understand” (249), saying again, “Faith transcends reason” (250). Ultimately, it is the choice of commitment that Phil leaves Sophy to decide (252).

Boone is a first-rate philosopher-theologian. He takes on difficult issues, explains with clarity, gives opposing perspectives their due, while never straying from biblical authority. His mastery of sources and interpretive knowledge is breathtaking. Hesitant as I am to use the word “conversation,” which can mean for some an attempt to quiet or distance individuals from stalwart positions, Boone nonetheless maintains an equilibrium of critique without softening his own biblical interpretations within the guardrails of authorial intent and orthodoxy. Boone is logically consistent, broadened by expansive knowledge and erudition in vastly different points of view, including international Christian higher education experience in Pakistan and Hong Kong. Honesty in assessment of divergent voices, a broadminded kindness toward all perspectives and the people who hold them is rarely seen. His scholarship is wrapped in humble honesty. The years spent ruminating, wrestling, writing, researching, critiquing, and teaching is obvious. Mark Boone is a gift to Christian thinking in higher education, and, well, honestly, in any educational setting. Boone’s online presence on platforms such as YouTube, Rumble, and Ricochet contains a dizzying amount of knowledge. By way of full disclosure, I have worked with Mark on numerous projects over the years. Faith, Reason, and Beyond Reason is but one of his excellent works marking Dr. Mark Boone as a generational voice.

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Mark J. Boone, Faith, Reason, and Beyond Reason: Essays on Epistemology and Theology. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2024. Reviewed by Mark D. Eckel, Executive Director of the Center for Biblical Integration at Liberty University, Lynchburg VA. [First published at MarkEckel.com ]