Reason and Faith

"The truth is that having the right kind of faith is not an alternative to reason, but an essential element of reason."--Phillip E. Johnson, Against All Gods, p.35

I quote Prof. Johnson here not because he is an authority necessarily, but because he is a good example and also because he states this so succinctly. The dichotomy of faith and reason is a false one made too often by both ignorant people of faith and also by the enemies of faith or those who choose not to be a part of a faith movement at all. I use faith here in this context as an equivalent of religious belief, particularly Christian belief. It would be easy for me to call this a canard, but the word canard implies intent and I honestly believe that most people who make this false dichotomy do so sincerely out of ignorance.

In agreement with Prof. Johnson let me state unequivocally that faith and reason are inseparable. It is clear from Scripture that God expects for our faith to be a well-reasoned faith. God does not ask us to believe against reason or contrary to reason. Never. Quite the opposite God gives us good reason to believe. Let me give a few examples of what I am talking about.

In Isaiah 1 God invites his wayward people to reason with him. Observe:

Isaiah 1:18
“Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
20 but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be eaten by the sword;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Pretty clear, isn't it? Now try this. When Paul is taking the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Greek-speaking world, in Acts 18 we find him in Ephesus and Luke records this:

19 And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there, but he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.

Later on, we read this about Paul's ministry when he returns to Ephesus some time later:

8 And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. 10 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

The ones who "became stubborn and continued in unbelief" in verse 9 were Jews in the synagogue who simply refused to accept Jesus as the Messiah. When the rift became clear, Paul left the synagogue and took his teaching elsewhere. The message, however, is clear. Paul used reason wherever he went in his efforts to persuade men to have faith in Christ. The faith he wanted them to have was based on well-reasoned arguments. Elsewhere Paul writes to the church at Rome:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

The footnote found in the ESV concerning the above highlighted portion "which is your spiritual worship" informs us that an alternate rendering of this phrase would be "your rational service." That, together with the next portion I highlighted make it clear that the great Apostle to the Gentiles and God for whom he is speaking expect our faith to be well-informed, well-thought-out. We are to test and discern. In short we are to think and in doing so we will see that the spiritual worship God expects of us is a rational service.

I am reminded of when Martin Luther stood trial before the Council of Worms on charges of teaching heretical doctrines. What did he say? What was that famous quotation? Oh, yes.

"Unless I am convicted by scripture and plain reason -- I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other -- my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen."--Martin Luther, at the Imperial Diet at Worms, 18 April 1521.

The contention was a theological one. Scripture was considered authoritative by both parties. The appeal is to reason in understanding what the Scriptures say.

In spite of the canard or misconception of many atheists, Christian theism is quite reasonable and appeals to come to that faith are based in reason. I have given just a basic demonstration in this post by quoting some Scripture (both New Testament and Old), giving an example from history, and quoting a contemporary Christian apologist. In my next post I will give an argument which is even more obvious but for some reason doesn't occur to us.