The Relationship between Faith and Free-will from the Viewpoint of ‘Allāma Ṭabāṭabā’ī and Paul Tillich

Document Type : Original Article

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1 PhD student

2 department of philosophy, faculty of theology,Qom university, Qom, Iran

Abstract

The relationship between faith and human free-will has always been discussed in Western and Eastern societies. In this research, the authors have discussed the relationship between faith and free-will and have compared the views of ‘Allāma Ṭabāṭabā’ī and Paul Tillich. ‘Allāma Ṭabāṭabā’ī, while maintaining the free-will in acquisition of faith, rates it in rank of heart and as second to the early knowledge of religion, and considers faith to be preliminary to action and obedience. Whereas, Paul Tillich defines faith as the ultimate end or final attachment and considers it to be the outcome of the action of all areas of human existence, such as reason, will, and feeling. He considers the first stage of faith, which is finding the object (muta‘allaq) of faith, to be voluntary and the stage of submission and attachment to be involuntary, and considers obedience as a product of faith. Therefore, in order to explain the difference between the relationship of faith to human free-will in the Islamic and Protestant Christian perspectives, as well as to find out the impact and relationship of human free-will in reaching faith in these two perspectives, we have compared the views of these two thinkers in a comparative and analytical method.
Paul Tillich, the Protestant philosopher and theologian, also discusses reason, faith, and agency with him in his books, The Dynamics of Faith and Systematic Theology. From Tillich's point of view, faith is neither knowledge of truth, nor knowledge of proposition, nor authority of belief.

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