One of the sources of tension between philosophy and Christian faith centers on the relationship between faith and reason. Philosophy attempts to give priority to rationality and has little regard for the religious category of "faith", whereas Christian faith strives to give primary allegiance to faith and unfortunately in many instances has little regard for the philosophical category of "rationality." However, one of the most important questions, which the believer can ask, concerns the rationality of belief in an omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent God.
As notes on previous sections have revealed (such as epistemology and metaphysics) many of the ancient and early philosophers operated with a belief in God's existence, though this was not always the God of "Christian" faith. However, with the emergence of the Enlightenment in the 18th century this began to change. Enlightenment thinkers issued a charge to dismiss all God thought and God talk as leftover superstition of centuries past. The philosophical pantheon of individuals who issued the call consisted of such Enlightenment luminaries as Hume, Voltaire, Rousseau and in a more subtle fashion Kant.
Descriptions of the relationship of faith and reason fall generally under three headings: Faith without Reason, Reason before Faith and Faith before Reason.
