On Failure of Man’s Intellect to Understand Many Truths
This is according to Hani Chitchian, a member of the Quran and Etrat School of the University of Tehran, speaking in the 25th session in a series on Surah At-Tawbah. Following are excerpts from his remarks in the session:
Verse 30 of Surah Al-Muddaththir talks about “nineteen” guards that oversee Hell. There is a delicate point in this verse. What God has mentioned in this verse cannot be confirmed or rejected by one’s thoughts. Disbelievers mocked this number and questioned its meaning. Meanwhile, believers may ask God for the reason for referring to this number. What difference does the number make to our belief system?
The human mind fails to understand many facts
Our minds fail to understand many facts and truths. The truth is far beyond our mind, if we say that we only accept the truth with our mind, we will be far from understanding the dimensions of the truth. One cannot search for all the truth in their own thoughts. Religion offers issues within the framework of rationality, meanwhile, reason cannot confirm many dimensions of truth, because it does not have the necessary tools and information.
Intellect can understand issues according to the information that it receives. It should go hand in hand with revelation. Belief in revelation must have a rational basis. All contents cannot be advanced with reason. Religion has come to promote rationality. Man is not supposed to remain ignorant of truths, but this journey requires the power of thinking and faith. It is necessary for intellect and faith to go together. Religion is definitely supposed to make people grow, on the other hand, intellect without faith is useless; intellect and faith both make people grow.
