Faith and Reason

Sunday Sermons

Mark Dunagan
03/26/06 - Sunday Evening

Faith and Reason

“But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence” (1 Peter 3:15)

The Greek word apologia is translated in the above verse by the expression make a defense. The term means to give an answer back, or give a speech in defense. Paul used the same word in Philippians 1:16 when he said, “I am set for the defense of the gospel”. The verse makes it clear that the Christian must not only know what he or she believes but equally be able to reasonably explain why they believe it. “It is always right that a man should be able to render a reason for the faith that is within him” (Sydney Smith, Lady Holland’s Memoirs, I). “The unexamined life isn’t worth living and the unexamined faith isn’t worth believing” (Arlie J. Hoover, Fallacies of Unbelief, p. 1).

The Use of Reason

“And according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead” (Acts 17:2-3); “He was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks” (18:4). See also Acts 24:25; 1 Thessalonians 5:21; Hebrews 5:14.

· Reason is simply the mental activity used in the search for truth.

· “We cannot believe unless belief is more rational than unbelief. We cannot believe at will, arbitrarily; or against reason. Reason and faith are not antagonists, but rather coadjutors. No faith is of worth unless it is justified by the severest use of reason” (The Divine Demonstration, Harvey W. Everest, p. 13).

· “The Bible reveals a system claiming to be divine in its origin and invites man to ‘Come now, and let us reason together’ (Isaiah 1:18).

The Strength of Evidence

“Evidence consists of those bits of information which bear witness to and confirm the validity of truth” (The Fall of Unbelief, Roger E. Dickson p. 21). The Bible not only claims that the evidence for God’s existence is strong, clear and universal (Romans 1:20), the Bible itself is also evidence. And a faith or theory without any evidence is only superstition.

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Faith is both assurance and conviction. The word conviction could also be translated “proof or proving”. “The Greek word translated ‘assurance’ is also rendered in the American Standard Version footnote, ‘the giving substance to’. When the Bible speaks of faith as evidence, we realize that the faith itself is based upon evidence, and that it can be a valid faith only if it is grounded upon valid evidence”(Dickson p. 34). Other passages equally point out that Christianity is not wishful thinking, but one becomes a Christian as a result of examining the evidence (Acts 17:11; Romans 10:14 “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?”; Romans 10:17 “So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ”).

The Limits of Reason

By examining the universe we can reach the conclusion that God exists and that He is powerful (Romans 1:20), yet without further revelation from God we would be helpless in figuring out such questions as, “What does God want me to do?” “Reason can go so far in our belief in God, and then, revelation must carry on from there” (Dickson p. 33). The Scriptures remind us that unaided human reason has definite limitations (Jeremiah 10:23; 1 Corinthians 1:21; Romans 1:22). “Every person who has more faith in reason than in revelation should be reminded that man is still fallible. Man needs more than reason alone to guide his life. He needs God’s revelation” (Dickson p. 33). “The great and impending danger of reason is that it many times advances to rationalism, and rationalism is almost always substituted for revelation in religion. The enthronement of reason means the enthronement of man who becomes his own lawgiver” (Dickson p. 33). What this means is that when a church stops believing that the Bible is the word of God, they will start believing that the words of men are the final authority. “Such reasoning is portrayed in Leo Tolstoy when he said: ‘If there is no higher reason—and there is not—then my own reason must be the supreme judge of my life” (My Confession).

Remaining Objective

There are many reasons why we need God’s revelation, but one reason is that apart from God’s truth it is very difficult to remain objective. There are a number of problems that creep into man’s thinking:

· Wishful thinking: Feelings have a way of clouding our thinking (Proverbs 16:25). Often people skew reality for what they wish were true.

· Personal prejudices: Psalm 19:13 “It may be that the atheist cannot find God for the same reason a thief cannot find a policeman” (Dickson p. 57).

· Blind acceptance of human tradition as the ultimate authority (Matthew 15:8-9)

· Human ignorance, for man is fallible and limited to say the least.

“Thomas Paine stated in Part 1 of his work Age of Reason: ‘I had neither Bible nor Testament to refer to, though I was writing against both’. Paine is stating here that he had been criticizing the Bible, but he did not have a copy of it to examine first hand. Later in the preface of Age of Reason, Part 2, he stated: ‘I have now furnished myself with the Bible and a Testament, and I can say also that I have found them both to be much worse books than I had conceived. That is prejudiced reasoning” (Dickson p. 29). At this point some might attempt to muddy the water and claim that total objectively is impossible among men and therefore the truth is unknowable, or that man is not accountable, seeing that he cannot find it. Yet, the Bible says otherwise. First, the Bible clearly teaches:

· The truth can be known (John 8:32; Proverbs 23:23).

· The truth can be equally known by all men (Ephesians 3:4; 1 Timothy 2:4).

· Man is a sinner, and even Christians are imperfect (1 John 1:8-10), yet man can still walk in the truth (3 John 4).

· Objectivity can be a reality if we love the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12); and if we hold to God’s word as the final authority(John 17:17).

The Atheist and Faith

While many atheists claim that they only deal in facts, this is not true. The atheist believes:

· Life came from non-life.

· Consciousness arose from innate matter.

· Emotions came from that which has no emotion.

· Personality came from the impersonal.

· Intelligence came from the unintelligent.

· Reasoning came from that which cannot reason.

Yet he cannot prove any of this, in fact, the evidence that is all around us in the universe says otherwise. “Theodore Christlieb wrote: ‘The denial of the existence of God involves a perfectly monstrous hypothesis; it is, when looked at more closely, an unconscionable assumption. Before one can say that the world is without a God, he must first have become thoroughly conversant with the whole world. In other words, ‘it would be necessary for you to know everything before you could dogmatically affirm that there is no God, because if you did not know everything, the very thing which may have escaped your notice is God” (Dickson p. 56). This is one reason why God says that the atheist is a fool (Psalm 14:1).

Faith and Doubt

It is clear that God is not impressed by the person who cannot make a commitment and is continually doubting, moving in one direction and then in the other and back and forth (James 1:6). Yet God does encourage the Christian to study, grow, learn and find answers (1 Peter 3:15; 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22). Thus it is not unnatural or contradictory for faith to seek answers. Consider the following:

· Anyone who starts to study the Bible honestly will admit that many of their “questions” and “doubts” are answered even before they obeyed the gospel.

· Anyone who has continued to study and grow will only confirm that more and more “thorny issues” are resolved in the years that follow conversion.

· It is equally easy to forget that the atheist has many doubts, but the difference is that his doubts increase and he advances in this unbelief. “The motion picture director Federico Felline explains the situation of those like himself, who have no faith, no spiritual security: ‘Like many people, I have no religion and I am just sitting in a small boat drifting with the tide. I live in the doubts of my duties… Today we stand naked, defenseless, and more alone than at any time in history” (Dickson p. 53).

· Thus, it would be a very profitable exercise for the Christian to write down his or her “unanswered questions thus far”, and then make a list of the doubts and dilemmas that confront the unbeliever. In addition, do not forget to make a list of all the doubts that you no longer have to endure.

Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017