There is דעת [knowledge] and אמונה [faith]. We know that דעת has more power than אמונה. Children who once desired their toys and were furious when someone took them away, get to a point of דעת where they stop caring about toys. [Of course, adult have their own toys but that is not our topic]. חומר - the purely material world, only has meaning insofar as we give it meaning. The light of דעת is able to transform all of the material things we see and experience as being vessels to the service of Hashem [or, on a deeper Kabbalistic level, as only existing because they contain the light and energy of Hashem]. The height of creation is when our דעת will be so powerful that all we seek will be to expand our knowledge and understanding of Hashem. "ומלאה הארץ דעה את ה' כמים לים מכסים" - The entire earth will be filled with knowledge of Hashem as the water fills the sea. More than mere אמונה, it will be a דעת that erases all evil in the world.
In our generation there have been numerous challenges presented to אמונה [whether from science, archaeology, Biblical criticism etc. etc.]. This is Hashem's way of getting us to take our אמונה to a new level - דעת. Once there is true דעת, then all challenges fall by the wayside and the truth becomes as clear as day.
[עפ"י תורת הגרי"מ חרל"פ זצ"ל]
