JAN 28

Wilkens presents a well constructed argument which concludes that faith is a driving factor in the everyday life of a human. He begins to explain how it is we trust people, the objects in our everyday lives, and nearly every existing concept. For example, when you order a Baconator at Wendy’s, you trust that the item you are given is certain to be a quality burger. You trust that the elements which compose it are real, and therefore you act upon it and eat the burger in confidence. The text explains that this is so with many other things, and that this trust in what you are told and what you see is impossible to not have. Wilkens explains that trust also surpasses the material world and transcends into all sorts of human intricacies. These include: placing trust in the witnesses of history’s events who tell the tales, trusting the knowledge taught to one in classes, trust in the theories which serve as the foundation to the sciences, and much more. Wilkens formally states that: “The term believing signals that one is speaking about knowledge that is probable, not certain.” when explaining that the understanding Augustine tries to develop. This argument being that the understanding we have of history is a mere belief, as we can never confirm and know anything for certain. Wilkens uses all of the arguments and explanations presented to conclude that: “Without faith, that is, without confidence in the truthfulness of others, in Augustine’s language, without authority, ‘the sacred bond of the human race’ would be shattered: ‘Nothing would remain stable in human society if we determined to believe only what can be held with absolute certainty.”.