Faith-Emuna

Kuzari (2:66): Shlomo spoke with Divine power and his great intellect and natural talents concerning all types of knowledge. From the ends of the earth, people came to him to hear his knowledge and to transmit it to the world - even as far as India. In truth the root of all wisdom and its principles was copied from the Jews - first by the Chaldeans and afterwards the Persians and Medes. Afterwards this knowledge went to the Greeks and Romans. However, because these events are distant in time and the many intermediaries in the process it has not been mentioned in the books of science and wisdom that it was taken originally from the Jews. These books mention only that they originated in Greek and Roman sources. …

 Michtav M’Eliyahu (3:177): Proper emuna is acquired step after step as a consequence of deep immersion in Torah study and not by abstract intellectual analysis of theological issues. It is a mistake to think that it is possible to acquire genuine emuna by means of intellectual analysis and philosophy. The intellect is biased by many factors that prevent it from being objective. Personal desires twist and distort thought to conform to it. When a person turns to his intellect and wants that it be the final judge on issues of Emuna  -  that is a clear sign that the person doesn’t really want to have emuna and that is why he is turning to the corrupt judge to make decisions according to his desires. Not only is the intellect inherently biased but it is also limited since it is based upon material imagery which itself is finite. In contrast, emuna which originates inside a person is not restricted by these limitations. Rav Nachman of Breslov noted that emuna starts at the limits of intellect. In fact, we are obligated to clarify emuna with our intellects as the Chovas HaLevavos says in his introduction. The attitude is not “whatever I can make sense of I will accept and otherwise I will reject it” - G d forbid! 

Meiri (Avos Introduction): There is a strong emphasis and constant warning in the Torah to stay far away from idol worship since there has always been a strong attachment to it generation after generation. An intelligent person would naturally ask why this error of idol worship has repeated itself generation after generation? The answer is that the average person more readily believes that which he can perceive and comprehend than that which is intangible and abstract. Therefore, a person’s nature draws him to idol worship.