Faith as Epistemology, Not Just Belief

Sor Juana integrated faith with reason and study, treating theology as serious knowledge work. This concept distinguishes between faith as belief-system and faith as epistemology—a framework for understanding the world. Someone might lose doctrinal belief (become a 'leaver') while retaining faith as an interpretive lens: finding meaning, ethics, or transcendence through religious language and tradition without literal assent. Conversely, someone might maintain formal belief while lacking genuine epistemological faith. This distinction opens space between rigid categories. A person can doubt specific doctrines while remaining epistemologically rooted in faith tradition. A leaver can depart institutional structures while retaining faith-based ways of knowing. This framework acknowledges that religious identity is not binary but multidimensional, allowing for more honest self-understanding across the believer-doubter-leaver continuum.