They have to be taken as separate parts and styles of understanding the same reality. Taken together they can create a cohesive picture of our reality. The issue is that the idea of "faith" is thrown around in some odd ways. The way i look at it all that is needed is faith in the remnants of instinct. The knowledge that is already within us can be grasped. The hints we get from it can be likened to the "word of god" or classical thoughts on the inspirational muses. Art itself tries to convey something beyond the definition of words as the definition limits meaning. It connects with empathy and the struggle between the two is very right brain left brain for me. One defines to allow simple and understandable connection (left brain, mathematics and language centers) with the other is more abstract and visual (right brain). People tend to have a style or inadvertently pick one or the other up. From that point on it becomes rather difficult to see the other side as anything but irrational.
I believe that there is knowledge within all of us that is ignored and it requires a certain mount of that faith to look at it. That knowledge is interpreted in many different ways which is where i think much of religion comes from, especially shamanic tendencies.
For the TL/DR version and because i have work in a few hours, i think that they have to be understood as balancing forces within the mind and taking either to an extreme is counterproductive. So its not whether they can or cant work together, but that they have to work together to truly try to understand the world.
