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In the classic Miracle on 34th Street, Maureen O'Hara's Doris finally comes to believe in Santa Claus. Natalie Wood's Susan, her inquiring daughter, wonders about this change. So Doris warmly shares this bit of wisdom with Susan: "Faith is believing in things ... when common sense tells you not to."

Then there's that wise character from All in the Family, Archie Bunker. About faith he says, "It ain't supposed to make sense; it's faith. Faith is something that you believe that nobody in his right mind would believe."

For some reason, it seems, nearly the entire world, Christians included, have bought into this type of thinking. Adhereing to the sagacity of a Santa Claus movie and the wisdom of Archie Bunker, we now agree that faith and reason do not coexist. If it is faith it is not reason, and if it is reason it is not faith. And that, dear readers, is pure, unadulterated nonsense.

One of the primary complaints against Christianity is that it "doesn't make sense". Christians like to tell skeptics "Well, it's a matter of faith. God's ways are not our ways. You just have to believe." The really wise Christian might even point to Deuteronomy: "The secret things belong to the LORD our God" (Deut. 29:29). And to those Christians who object, there is a volley of Scripture to prove otherwise. "Lean not on your own understanding", "We walk by faith, not by sight", and "Knowledge puffs up."

Is this so? Are faith and reason opposites? Are we not to think, not to reason, not to figure things out? Well, the first clue comes from Deuteronomy 29:29. The second half of that verse says, "But the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever." So, what is revealed? The Word of God is revealed. It is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ, and it is revealed in the Bible we have. So while we must absolutely concur that God, being infinite, has not/cannot/will not reveal all of Himself to the finite, we must also see that we possess what He has revealed and learn to handle it rightly. That takes ... reason.

While much of Christianity has headed toward a rending of the mind from faith, Scripture seems to contradict this. We are commanded to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37). Nor is God opposed to human reasoning. He tells Isaiah, "Come now, and let us reason together" (Isaiah 1:18). And while knowledge without love will make you arrogant (1 Corinthians 8:1), Proverbs is full of the call to knowledge (Proverbs 1:22; 2:10; 8:9-12; 10:14; 11:9; 12:1; 14:18; 15:2 ...). In Paul's first epistle to the church at Corinth, Paul lays out a classic logical argument for the resurrection. His approach is formally called reductio ad absurdum, and he shows that if there is no resurrection, there is no Christianity (1 Corinthians 15:12-19).

But let's take it one step further. When we look in the New Testament, we find the word "faith" repeatedly used. The standard Greek word is pistis or some form of it, and it means, according to Vine's, "firm persuasion". "Persuasion". The Bible says that "faith comes by hearing". In fact, Strong's says it means "to be convinced (by argument, true or false)".

What a pity! While so many Christians have been spending so much time trying to distance their faith from reason, it would appear that we are commanded to reason and that biblical faith itself is predicated on reason. Maybe Archie Bunker and Doris Walker weren't right in their explanation of faith after all? And maybe, instead of preserving the integrity of Christianity by avoiding rational discussion, we are actually doing harm? Now that's a sobering thought.

"God's Words For US" from Cecelia Lester

Renew a Right Spirit