Faith and Reason

Hebrews 11:1-5

 

Today people celebrate the graduation of students from various institutions of learning. Christians need to remember that it is the Lord’s desire that we not be an ignorant people, but wise, prudent and knowledgeable in all the arts of learning. The Church is not only God’s evangelist, but also God’s educator. The greater our knowledge, the greater His Glory as we better understand His works. However, there is an ever increasing hostility and intolerance of Christian faith, and the errant notion that reason is in conflict with that faith. We totally reject that premise and note that if it continues to be unchallenged, we not only lose the culture but our own children.

1. Faith Is Indispensable. The false notion that faith is incompatible with reason ignores history, in which great scientists, scholars and thinkers were Christians. It also ignores the foundations of faith which reason assumes as fact, such as the coherence of truth, the interconnectedness of all things, and the fundamental precepts of cause and effect, and consistency and uniformity in nature instead of random chaos (inductive inference).

2. Faith Is Inspirational. Faith not only informs the soul, but motivates the individual to action. Faith inspires us to take practical steps toward achieving milestones, advancing truth.

3. Faith Is Investigative. We recognize the validity of science, but not scientism, or the promotion of man’s rejection of God and His truth for false philosophical notions. Faith is to be integrated into all aspects of our lives, guiding the validity of concepts and practices of our thoughts, words and deeds.