FAITH AND REASON
When talking about the things of God do we all drop our thinking caps? Should we all? Any good student of the Christian or other religious world view would tell you that there are many questions he/she cannot answer. And that they are better left at that e.g. someone (an atheist) can ask; since you believe in God, what was He doing before He created heaven and earth? My answer;I do not know
In as much as one does not have an answer to these questions and one cannot deny an inquirer his or her right to ask them, we all must know that it is not all in answering questions (which by the way is very important) but rather the provision of a body of coherent meaning found for everyday Life. Yet there is a great place for reasonable inquiry to faith. The Christian faith does demand inquiry and thought, in the words of C.S Lewis, “good philosophy must exist if only because bad philosophy exists”.
Again In the words of St Augustine “unless you have believed, you will not understand”. There is a lot to understand about the Christian faith but to understand these; you have to believe that certain things are true. That is why reasonable arguments alone can never bring one to salvation rather it helps to expose false convictions and strengthens belief. Though one might counter that it is the spirit that provides such illumination, I must interject that for most of us who have received Christ, this illumination has already been provided, and it is for us to apply our minds to them (It is all in the word) .
REASON AND BLIND FAITH, THE DIFFERENCE AND THE DIFFERENCE IT MAKES
Blind faith; “this is the way it is, believe it or not”.
Reason; “you’ve believed Christ? Now let’s talk about it”.
Many of us are still to comprehend what Apostle Peter was speaking when He said; “Be Prepared to give an answer if anyone should ask you, the reason for the hope that is in you”.
Applying our mind will give us the much needed privilege to teach our inquisitive children. You’ll be surprised at the nature of the questions your kids will ask you; the reason for evil? Why did grandpa die? Where is he? Why should I believe in Jesus?
These questions cannot be answered by plain faith alone; faith is strengthened and made alive when one truly understands its immutability. That it is not vague, the reality of the spiritual component of man is as real, factual and scientific as the computer in front of you and it is even covered by a field of science. it is then intriguing when people “switch off” when issues of faith are mentioned.
E.g. on Naira Land, someone argued that God is just a mere psychological projection of men to fulfill their need for a God, a view originally propagated by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Freud was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a movement that popularized the theory that unconscious motives control much of human behavior. From this perspective, God is merely a creation of the human mind, a projection emanating from human need and desire rather than a distinct reality or being that exists independently of the human mind. Freud’s notion of God acting as an idealized father figure for humans, providing a cushion from the harshness of the real world and a comforting friend in the midst of life’s troubles, reduces God to a human construct. Indeed, for Freud, God is made in humanity’s own image and is the “ultimate wish-fulfillment”; God does not actually exist but is merely the creation of humanity’s imagination and desire for a loving father figure. What then should be the Christian response? Imagine if you met Freud at work, and he is willing to hear your view and the reason for your conviction as a Christian, what would you say? Shut up and believe? Like the initial question I mentioned on what God was doing before creation, a typically answer would be “preparing hell for such a questionnaire”!
But really, the most obvious point to make in response is that this Freudian argument about projection cuts both ways. After all, isn’t it equally possible to say that Freud and other atheists deny the existence of God out of a need to escape from a father figure, or to argue that the nonexistence of God springs from a deep seated desire for no father figure to exist? So the argument is not valid for sustaining the non existence of God. Freud himself in a letter to a friend wrote “The bad part of it, especially for me, lies in the fact that science of all things seems to demand the existence of a God”. He wrote that letter in 1913 and the situation has not changed.
So I wrote the questionnaire on Naira land asking him if he could explain why human beings all over the years have sought for this God, have built edifices and temples for different deities. Why the need at all? He replied that on deep meditation one gets to a point where there is no need for questions, he stuck to his conclusion that God still does not exist. I had to point out to him that in his passive state of meditation, he lacks a rationale to conclude that God does not exist, since he made no inquiry, why conclude. He is yet to answer that.
The truth is that the Christian faith welcomes seekers, it can stand an inquiry, science is yet to prove the inexistence of God yet evolution is propagated as if it has been proven beyond reasonable doubt, it is therefore pertinent that we apply our minds on these things and think because “Good philosophy must exist if for no other reason than that bad philosophy exists.” Reasoning doesn’t necessary imply complexity, the message of the cross is a fairly simple one and the simplest of men can convey it. The human experience however is a very complex one and a lot of folks have a lot of theories on life. Reason is therefore needed to clear the “bush” around this simple message so that an honest inquirer can find Truth in the person of Christ.
I have bowed my knees to Him and I have found in Him everything.
I believe that in all cases, a genuine seeker will find out that He is sought.
For more enquiry and references, visit www.rzim.org, you can check the resources and archives.
Thanks.
