Reason or Faith?

As if these are antithesis of each other, many, both christian and atheist, feel reason and faith are incompatible. I would argue that they are complementary.

Many times I hear Christians say that we should have a "simple faith," "blind faith," or just "faith to believe." It seems that this is usually referenced against us using our minds. When one uses "reason" one must not be using "faith." I not only find this saddening but also know the Bible does not teach this view, it is unbiblical.

In Isaiah 1:18 it says "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Here, God asks those people to reason. In fact, in John one we read of Jesus being the "Word." The Greek work for this one is logos, it stems back to the same word that we use in English to mean reason, the word logic. Romans 12:1 Paul says " I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." The last part, "reasonable service" can be translated "logical service". The Greek word is logikos, this is were we get the word "logical". In other words we do have logical expectations to fulfill as Christians.

In fact we did not even have to look at the biblical text, we only have to reflect upon it, and understand that if we did not use logic or reason we could not understand each other, we could not make books, talk, do science, and many other things.

We also could look at the antonyms for these words and see that the opposite of faith is faithless or lack of trust. The opposite of reason and logic is unreasonable and illogical.

In addition, Christianity stands out as a "sore thumb" in the world of religions, why? Because it can be demonstrated. The apostles note several places that it is true because of eyewitness testimony (1 Corinthians 15 and 1 John 1). It can be falsified, if Jesus did not raise from the dead, our hope is in vain (1 Corinthians 15).

For me, I want to have trust in God because it is reasonable. Without reason, I could not even read, understand and follow the Bible!

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