Faith and Reason

by Travis L Quertermous

From The Reminder, August 22, 2010

What exactly is faith? For many people, faith is something one believes in without any evidence for that belief. Some would even say that faith is something one believes in despite evidence to the contrary! In either case, faith and reason would be the opposite of each other. In fact, some think faith is itself unreasonable!

Such a view of faith is completely wrong and unbiblical. The Bible teaches, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). Faith, then, is a conviction based upon the testimony of others. Biblical faith is based upon the testimony of God’s infallible word! In Acts 26:25, the apostle Paul called the New Testament “the words of truth and reason.” So faith and reason are not contradictory ideas, but are perfectly complimentary.

In Hebrews 11:1, we read, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Thus we learn that Biblical faith is grounded upon evidence and reason. God said to the children of Israel, “Come now, and let us reason together…” (Isaiah 1:18). Likewise, the apostle Paul commanded, “Test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thess. 5:22). The same writer reminds Christians that obeying God is “your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1). The Greek word translated “reasonable” is logikos from which we get our English word “logical.”

Christianity does not require one to check his brains at the door of the church building! Quite the contrary, as these and many other verses show. Now let us be sure we conduct ourselves as rational, mature disciples of the Lord!