Between Reason & Faith: Let Us Come Before Him Now

Romans 1:20

"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse."

Can a rational person truly embrace the Judeo-Christian faith? The consensus is that they cannot. The consensus is that intelligence is in inverse proportion to one's belief in those things that one cannot prove beyond the shadow of a doubt. The reductionistic stereotype of the 'Scientist' and the 'Logician' assumes that one must be engaging in some kind of 'magical thinking' and fallacy if they profess to believe in God.

The realm known as 'Apologetics' seeks to bridge, as much as is possible, this gap between Reason & Faith. It seeks to synthesize the Exoteric with the Esoteric. And indeed, many rational people begin approaching any kind of spirituality or religiosity with extreme skepticism. And this is not altogether the wrong approach. After all, the Scriptures make an allowance for honest, rigorous testing of all things, and in fact, admonish God's children to exercise reason and discernment in all of our daily dealings.

Moreover, a descent into a kind of existential 'Hades' is how every believer's faith is strengthened, refined and authenticated. The Lord answers all who seek him, and He gives wisdom to those who earnestly seek it. Asking questions, and even strongly doubting in numinous phenomena does not display a lack of faith-on the contrary, it demonstrates it! Only those who lack the humility to investigate everything because they think they know it all, are in danger of condemnation.

In Romans 1:20, we are told that God can be clearly seen in all of His creation and that no man will have an excuse in the end. I personally find it irrational to reject even a Pascalian Wager concerning the existence of a sovereign, omniscient and omnipotent Deity. Even given what little we currently have been allowed by God's good grace to discover in the realms of Science, etc. I see plenty of evidence of the existence of God. Yet I see it, not only in the affirmatives, but in the negatives-or the lack of knowledge that our epistemological cup still runneth over with.

It seems therefore, more rational to me, (or perhaps just 'wise') that we lack any other equitably sufficient explanation other than what God reveals through special revelation and through general revelation through both His Word and His creation, and therefore, should not be embarrassed at all, as rational, thinking adults, to embrace the Judeo-Christian faith.

Furthermore, many mock the Judeo-Christian believer because they erroneously assume that they are merely taking the 'easy way out'. Or they believe that they are engaging in childish naivete beyond their years. But I can attest from hard won personal experience, that choosing to follow Jesus Christ is anything but the easiest path. It is, if undertaken following a genuine conversion, that is, an entering into an intense battle between one's basest nature and the will of God. And running this gauntlet is unlike any other than one will ever encounter.

In Ephesians, we are reminded that we are not battling against flesh and flesh, but against dark principalities which flesh alone, cannot slay. Becoming a Christian is also more of a choice to submit one's whole being into a relationship with the Lord over all of creation who holds the power of both life and death. That, is anything but an easy commitment! That is to say, choosing to believe in God is not undertaken by genuine believers in a cavalier manner, or with an intention of escapism. On the contrary, embracing God's will and choosing His Truth, places accountability squarely upon our fragile mortal shoulders in a way that no other so-called 'religion' or philosophy can or does. If that is not an indication of its authenticity, I don't know what is. After all: What person seeking to escape reality and to abdicate their own personal responsibilities, would choose this?! None.

Moreover, even the naturalistic evidence points more and more towards the authentic historicity of the Holy Bible. Even the 'miracles' recorded therein, actually have naturalistic explanations, even if every little detail has not yet been revealed to us. In truth, what we refer to as 'miracles' are merely a manifestation of those realities (but realities nevertheless) which we cannot fully grasp. The realms of human study often referred to as 'theoretical', are merely 'theory' for the time being. Some 'theories' will become 'discoveries', and others, will merely fall by the wayside according with the will of the One who knows all, and providently guides and directs all towards his intention that all should be given a chance to repent and to return unto Him before the end.

Yes, in the end, we will all find it both wise and perfectly logical to bow before Him. But let us instead, taking a leap of both Reason and Faith, choose to come before Him at present, and He will tell us all that we need to know. And in due time, everything will make perfect sense.