The only foundation upon which one should build their life is the truth. The truth should be sound, logical, and justifiable. Most, if not all people would agree with that sentiment. However, the factors that one uses to determine what is true and what role truth ultimately plays in one’s life are where worldviews tend to diverge. Therefore, it is necessary for each individual to build or understand the epistemic structures that are reliable guides in how to determine what is true about the world around them. Logic is necessary!
Scottish poet and Christian minister George MacDonald said, “to give truth to him who loves it not is but to give him more plentiful material for misinterpretation.” Therefore, the first question to be asked and answered is, are you open to the truth wherever it may lead? Additionally, whether one presupposes a Christian or atheistic worldview, there are further delineations that exist in either framework. Within a Christian worldview some believe that reason or philosophy as a means to acquire truth subverts the essence of faith. Others believe that without some level of reasoning ability we can never truly come to faith. Let’s explore the perceived tension between faith and reason with a particular focus on the potential ramifications for misunderstanding how the Bible supports and encourages our reasoning capabilities. The fact is that the ability to reason soundly is wholly intertwined with sustaining Christian faith, which is trust in Jesus Christ.
FAITH IS…
Noah Webster, the creator of the dictionary that bears his name and the Father of Christian Education famously said, “education is useless without the Bible.” [[1]] In 1828 he published the first edition of his dictionary. Within that dictionary the word faith was defined as an affectionate practical confidence in the testimony of God. It was further defined as “a firm, cordial belief in the veracity of God, in all the declarations of his word; or a full and affectionate confidence in the certainty of those things which God has declared, and because he has declared them.” [[2]] The current definition of the word faith in the subsidiary dictionary of Noah Webster, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary reads, “a firm belief in something for which there is no proof.” [[3]] That is quite a departure from how faith was once defined, and it adequately reflects the current societal disengagement with anything remotely religious.
The idea that Christians place their faith or trust in a God for whom no evidence exists is popular, but apologists, scientists and philosophers are providing the material to combat that notion. Craig and Moreland write, “One of the awesome tasks of Christian philosophers is to help turn the contemporary intellectual tide in such a way as to foster a sociocultural milieu in which Christian faith can be regarded as an intellectually credible option for thinking men and women.” [[4]] Christian faith can therefore be defined as trusting in the eternal person, presence and work of God. The Bible clearly states that without faith it is impossible to please God. [[5]] However, the Bible never calls us to have blind faith. As we will see, God the Father, Jesus and the Biblical authors place a high view on evidence, thinking and reasoning.
REASON IS…
Unfortunately, there exists within current Christianity a wave of anti-intellectualism. Moreland notes, that as early as the mid-19th century anti-intellectualism was beginning to have an impact. He writes:
But their overall effect was to overemphasize immediate personal conversion to Christ instead of a studied period of reflection and conviction; emotional, simple, popular preaching instead of intellectually careful and doctrinally precise sermons; and personal feelings and relationship to Christ instead of a deep grasp of the nature of Christian teaching and ideas. Sadly, as historian George Marsden notes, ‘anti-intellectualism was a feature of American revivalism.’ [[6]]
The impact of anti-intellectualism has only been accelerated with the advent of postmodernism. Reason is necessary in order to push back against a postmodern mindset, which denies absolutes and objective realities. Such a mindset actually becomes self-refuting and that fact can only be demonstrated by engaging in sound philosophy. It is to this task that the Christian and especially the apologist must not retreat. Therefore, in order to move forward we must define reason. Moreland writes, “By reason, I simply mean the faculties, in isolation or in combination, I use to gain knowledge and justify my beliefs.”[[7]]
The point was made that postmodernism in many instances becomes self-refuting. For example, Nicolas Wolterstorff references:
A lecture by Anthony Flew, which contended that if one scrutinizes how people guard their religious convictions one sees that they treat them as compatible with the happening of anything whatsoever. In other words, these beliefs are not falsifiable. And because they are not falsifiable they do not constitute genuine assertions. They make no claims on actuality… scientists convinced of the truth of some scientific theory behave exactly the way Flew says religious believers do.[[8]]
Here we can see that such a scientist becomes guilty of the same type of faith they falsely accuse the Christian of exercising.
Already, it has been demonstrated how accurate reasoning can be employed to diffuse the often-incomplete reasoning of naturalists and how a lack of philosophy can do much to hinder the advancement of the church. In order to apply this understanding of reason and its necessity one should also consider the futility of eschewing reasoning in the attainment or sustainment of the Christian faith. Even if someone got saved in a miraculous spiritual experience they would still have to make a decision not to simply write that experience off as a freak event. A choice must be made regarding whether or not one will acknowledge that experience as evidence of God’s existence. Once that choice is made you have engaged your reasoning ability.
Even to come to the conclusion that faith, which often comes from reading the Bible, is the essential component for acquiring faith or a proper understanding of Christianity, you have arrived at that conclusion by employing your reasoning abilities. To say otherwise would be akin to an atheist like Richard Dawkins writing about the nonexistence of God but not recognizing that the rationality necessary to make such a statement only exists if God exists. If our brains are simply a product of time, matter and chance that would hardly be the recipe for a source of sound reasoning. Or it is like the postmodernist who writes that no objective truths exist while desiring us to believe their own reasoning embedded in such a statement. Reason, if real, presupposes the ability to know that we have the structural components to choose between a range of options.
The naturalist cannot sustain this proposition and the theist who places an undo emphasis on faith without reason equally cannot sustain the proposition unless they posit that God miraculously causes only some people to have faith in Him. “The law of the excluded middle says that P is either true or false; or, put somewhat differently, either P is true or its negation, not-P, is true.”[[9]] In other words we all must make a choice. The option to not choose is invalid. Either reason is firmly grounded in the mind and nature of God our Creator or we don’t have the ability to reason at all. However, if we do have it, it must be because God desires that we use it.
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[1] Luteria Archambault, Challenges and Objections: Meeting Them Head On. (Bloomington, IN: Westbow Press, 2013), 5.
[2] Noah Webster, A Dictionary of the English Language. (London, England: Black, Young and Young, 1828).
[3] The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (Martinsburg, WV: Quad Graphics, 2016).
[4] J.P. Moreland and William Lane Craig, Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2017), 4.
[5] Hebrews 11:6 NKJV
[6] J.P. Moreland, Love Your God With All Your Mind. (Colorado Springs, CO: NAVPRESS Publishers, Inc., 1997), 16.
[7] Ibid., 45.
[8] Nicolas Wolterstorff, Reason Within the Bounds of Religion. (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1984), 24.
[9] Moreland, Philosophical Foundations, 120.