Why A Reasoning Faith?

Reason and Faith – together? Are the two not separate and opposite ideals? For many faithful through the decades, Reason has been seen as a grave danger, one which stands in total opposition to Faith. The same has frequently been true for intelligent thinkers, who see Faith – particularly in a higher power – as completely unreasonable.

To arrive at any connection between the two, we first examine the position of Reason.

Reason tells us that all things can be understood by the human mind. But in order for this to be true, Reason must logically acknowledge its own faith in the human mind in order to exist at all. From this we conclude that Reason is not a source of Truth, but rather a result of Faith.

Next we propose that Faith – or rather the object thereof – determines the framework within which one reasons. In other words, we interpret observations in such a way as to validate our faith in the object – regardless of whether that object is secular or Divine. This is why highly intelligent people can observe the same artifacts of history and arrive at different conclusions as to their meaning. To the one whose faith is in the human mind or in nature, fossil evidence supports an evolutionary process for the development of our world. At the same time, the one whose faith is in the Divine can observe the same evidence and see proof of the traditional creation account. It is neither the evidence, nor Reason, nor the lack of Reason, which lead to these different interpretations. It is, rather, the object of Faith which is the determining factor.

Which brings us to the point of this missive – Why A Reasoning Faith?

If, as people of Faith in the Divine (in this case specifically in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) we abandon Reason, we are failing to live out our Faith to its fullest extent. Indeed, as the New Testament Scriptures tell us, Faith without works – the work in this case being Reason – is dead. And so to have a living, vibrant faith we must also reason within the framework determined by that faith.

People of faith need not fear Reason; further, we must not ignore it. In the world of knowledge we live in today, the inability to reason is a chief detriment to our ability to share the Gospel. Though it is true that the vast majority of charges of ignorance against God’s people are unfounded, there are just enough among us who either languish or even revel in their ignorance as to make those charges more believable to outside observers.

For too long many of God’s people have followed twin paths of failure. One is the path of rejection of Reason as either unnecessary, difficult, or even heretical. The other is the path of a weak Faith, which yields weak Reason. The true path – the straight and narrow path in which our Creator wishes us to walk – is one of a strong Faith, resulting in strong Reason.

Which is the answer to our question.

Why A Reasoning Faith? Because the community of believers needs to have more of both Faith and Reason. Because the world takes notice when we lack either. And most importantly, because only with strong Faith and strong Reason can we live out the Divine purpose for our lives.