Upper Yosemite Falls, 1,430 ft. drop, Yosemite National Park, CA
March 14, 2020
The conflict between logic/reasoning and Faith is an age old problem that humanity has wrestled with since the dawn of time. We are a people which, through time, have always demonstrated a knowledge that God exists, and almost always left behind evidence of that in the form of buildings, monuments, writings, orally transmitted beliefs, religions, and written structures of moral law and penalties in governing institutions. On the other hand, mankind’s material progress through time has been achieved through experiencing and coming to understand the natural laws which govern the behavior of matter and living organisms, primarily through observation, experimentation and logic. This has brought mankind through various stages of history, including learning to use fire, the Iron and Bronze Ages, the practice of farming, domesticating animals, invention of the wheel, irrigation, construction of cities, development of governmental systems, the concept of money, harnessing of electricity, creation of machines, cars, aircraft, computers, and finally the Age of Technology that we find ourselves engulfed in today. All these were the result of experimentation, trial and error, logic and reasoning. Through this process, we’ve learned what works and doesn’t work, and through time have kept adding to our knowledge, eventually building great civilizations.
Many people feel that there is a conflict between Faith and reason and tend to side with one or the other, becoming hopelessly entrenched and antagonistic to the opposing view. This has produced atheistic naturalists who believe in only what they can see, sense and observe to govern their lives, as well as devout believers in God who find their guidance in religion, prayer, and sacred writings, such as the Bible. Both of these factions have some of earth’s available truth, but if one side ignores the opposite faction’s body of knowledge and methodology, it will be missing essential truths the other side has discovered and put to use. This is because, on earth, we live in two vastly different worlds simultaneously–the physical and the spiritual. If you discount the value of one of these realms, in time you will suffer for it.
For people, the physical world consists primarily of their bodies, but also consists of all other physical elements they might encounter, including all other life forms; the physical world in which we live, such as soil, rocks, valleys and mountains; oceans, rivers and lakes; the sun, moon and stars; the atmosphere with its rain, snow, wind and clouds; and the entire universe that we can observe.
However, an entirely different world, not made of matter, continuously lives here with us, including our human spirits, the spirits of all the plants, animals, and other life forms, God’s spirit, and other spiritual beings such as angels, demons, and Satan. Even non-material concepts, such as love, compassion, peace, virtue, choice, justice, good and evil, and free will, also live with us and impact our lives. None of these are made of matter, so they can’t be studied and analyzed in the same way scientists have done with material things. But since all of these beings and concepts live here with us, we can study them by observing the effect they have on the material world, other people, and on our own spirits. This is why we have civil laws, why religions are born, why we pray, go to church, believe in and obey God, and why we follow the moral teachings and commandments in the Bible. This awareness of and interaction with the spiritual world sets us apart from all of the animals, putting us in an entirely different category altogether.
So, to answer the question posed in the title to this article, yes, people who have faith in God need to incorporate reason and logic into their lives. The opposite is also true, and really much more important. People on earth who think that the material world is all that exists, would greatly benefit by taking a chance and reaching out to God to experience and understand the One who made all that is, as well as embedding it with his purposes. Without that knowledge of Him hidden within material creation, one misses out on the glorious revelation and experience of intimately knowing and fellowshipping with God, who is infinitely greater than the material world that he is responsible for bringing into existence! This is the ultimate purpose for which God even created matter anyway. People who lack Faith can get hopelessly stuck and entrenched in essentially trying to fashion material creation into a kind of God which they rely on and praise as Creator and sustainer of their very lives. This effort has given us phrases referring to alternate origins of mankind such as “Mother Earth” and “human evolution” which are merely impotent pseudo creators taking God’s rightful place. I implore and urge all those reading this who believe that the material world is all that exists, to reach out to God in all sincerity, and meet spirit to spirit with their true Creator. This is the greatest thing that anyone can accomplish on this earth. Don’t be afraid!
So why do people of faith need logic and reasoning? So that they can make effective use of their free will, and make good and beneficial choices in their everyday lives. This can be about learning to determine what’s right or wrong, what’s beneficial or destructive, and even what religion to follow, if any, or in determining what God’s will is or isn’t in their lives. Jesus says that by their fruit you will know what kind of person a human is inside. You can check your own fruit as well, to see if how you behave in life matches who you believe yourself to be inside. This is very important, because all decisions that people make both betray as well as form who they are. This is everyone’s personal responsibility, which is why we will be held accountable on earth through earthly laws, and after death when we will face God and be judged for what we did on earth.
All choices require some kind of logical reasoning process to decide among the alternatives. This could be about large or small issues. When I was young, my choices concerned where I would go or what I would do each day on our farm. As I got older, I had to decide whether I wanted to go to school or not. I distinctly remember informing my Mom after the first week of kindergarten that I didn’t like it, and wouldn’t be going back. Here’s where I came face to face with one of the first times I needed to logically decide what to do based on consequences, as my Mom informed me that, “Well, you have to go!” I instinctively knew that fighting her would be a losing battle, so I resigned myself to obeying rather that putting up a fuss.
Choices generally involve assessing the possible consequences of an action to decide whether to do it or not. The more that you know about a certain situation, usually the better decision you’ll be able to make. You need to be knowledgable about life and how it works, and that is why learning and school are so important. Being informed and making logical decisions have helped me to decide who my friends would be, whether to go out for sports or not, whether to go to college after high school, get married, move to another state, have nine kids, change jobs, coach sports, buy a certain house, ban television from our family, value people over money, drink alcohol, try drugs, and many other things that people typically have to make decisions on. These decisions need to be made using knowledge, logic, and reasoning.
Sometimes we decide to do things by following what other people are doing or other peoples’ advice. But even here we have to decide which people to follow or what advice to heed, so we are still responsible for the consequences we will have to face. We also need to decide things when faith in God is involved. Should we go to church and what church should we go to? What actions are moral and which are immoral? Which Christian teachers are closer to the truth? How do you decide what the Bible is telling us to do or how to live our lives when there are conflicting opinions? These are all difficult questions that we all must decide on, and all take knowledge, reason and logic.
But there is one source of direction that is better than all the rest, but even that requires a choice–the choice to pray and humbly ask God to reveal the right thing to do, especially when the choice is really difficult. For that you need a real and close relationship with God, and you need to maintain that relationship every day through prayer. God’s presence within me has helped me to make decisions throughout my entire life. He brings constant comfort and security and peace to me as I make decisions every day. Seek him with your whole heart, and he will help you too!
Journey to Truth 