Faith, Reason & Revelation

                                                Faith, Reason & Revelation
 #Epistemology                                                                                                                            #Knowledge
.

Thinking people can’t avoid the question of the relationship between faith and reason. Great minds such as St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas and others have grappled with this through the centuries. Let me be candid. I’m not a philosopher, theologian, or logician, so you don’t have to believe all I say. But I’ll give you the best I can, and pray we come to the truth. Examine carefully the steps of my thinking.
.

The Question of Faith and Reason.
.

Throughout life, we reach conclusions we believe true and call natural human knowledge. Faith and reason are foundational and inseparably joined to form our conclusions. We think and act by faith that our senses give us accurate information and that we exist, that a world outside of us exists, that other persons and minds we can rightly correspond with exists, and that we may discover many things exist that we don’t know how they exist. But we just don’t believe anything—we must first think it’s worth believing or has some basis in reason and fact. Certainly I can't claim the world doesn't exist unless I exist to make the claim.
.

In youth, we accepted a particular religion largely on the authority of our parents, or religious teachers, and identified with it. But in growing older, teachers and friends may present hostile ideas, cause us painful doubts, and to forsake our once held beliefs. How can we know with certainty what to believe? With approximated seven billion people on the earth, and a multitude of different religions, how can we know the religion our parents or teachers taught us just happened to be the right one? Good honest question!
.

The Question of God.
.

The teachings of the Christian faith require supernatural or spiritual knowledge. Supernatural knowledge is not based upon physical things we see every day and can examine firsthand. They are not a visible tangible part of our everyday world, but our limited senses may not tell us everything that exists. Unique events may occur at times and places unknown to us. Honesty compels us to admit these statements are true. This opens the door to consider the Christian faith based upon supernatural or spiritual knowledge that a real God exists who can act in our real world. Although, there’s no rule God must appear or act in obedience to our whims or desires. 
.

The origin of Christian faith is based upon a personal ethical triune Creator God. Unless we can give evidence to show no such Creator exists, it’s an open question. But then we must give evidence to show one could or likely does exist.
.

Common sense and science point us to the biblical God. Common sense tells us if nothing exists, it means no existence of any kind—no matter, no power or force, no consciousness or life, no mind or will. Yet, we know all these things presently exist. Science tells us the universe began to be or came into existence. If it didn’t exist, it couldn’t cause itself—that would be an impossible contradiction. Thus, the universe is the effect of a preceding existing cause that explains and sustains all present dependent existence. What might that cause be like?

.

That cause must be spiritual or nonmaterial since it is the cause of this material dependent universe. That cause must be self-existent, eternal, and unchangeable or else it would have ceased to exist. That cause must be one infinite power everywhere present to uphold every particle comprising this expanding universe. Also, that cause must be a mind and will since mindless force can’t plan or produce anything. So we conclude the cause of the universe is one infinite self-existent, eternal, unchangeable, all-powerful mind or person who willed to create this universe. This corresponds with what we read in Genesis 1:1; Exodus 3:14; Col 1:16-17 and the further teaching of the Creator God of the Bible. Super important at this point is this: The biblical God is what makes everything a rational, dependable, and moral universe and everything we know and do possible.

,

There are some unworthy human ideas about God. Atheists say no god of any kind exists. Atheism destroys the basis for human dignity, ethics, eternal existence, and is a claim to exhaustive knowledge atheists don’t have. Deists say God is the Creator who forsook his creation to run on its own steam. Their God forsook us, is irrelevant and unworthy of our worship. Pantheists or monist religions claim the universe is god. But that leads to a mass of contradictions, they can’t live as though the world is illusion, can’t give proof of reincarnation, it destroys human dignity and ethics, and it ends in human extinction. Polytheists believe in limited local tribal gods that evolved somehow out of nature that fight and destroy themselves and really care nothing for their worshippers. It too is conflicting ideas and makes nature itself supreme. The intellectual’s evolving process god is not sovereign and depends on the world, thus is untrustworthy and irrelevant to human needs. All this is further explained in my other articles, especially worldviews.

.

Islam claims the angel Gabriel spoke God or Allah's  message to Muhammad. But the prophet could give no evidence this claim was true and anybody could make a similar claim. In fact, the Mormon Joseph Smith Jr. did. Further, Muhammad came centuries after Christianity was established and made false statements about the persons, events and teachings of the Bible. We know it's true because our manuscripts today agree with the ancient ones discovered to be thousands of years ago before Muhammad's time. That's why both Jews and Christians rejected him as a false prophet. See my article: What Did Muhammad Say About Jesus?
.

The Question of Which Revelation.
.

There are good reasons to think Christian faith is of God. If a Creator God exists, he is in control and nothing he desires is impossible. But how can we know such a God can act in our world? Just the subjective claim that God spoke to me or to someone is not convincing. That claim can be explained by imagination, hallucination, drugs, a blow to the head, or something I ate. The claimer may even be telling a lie. Some kind of objective, visual sensual events attracting attention and that are unknown or beyond normal human experience are imperative. Moreover, if such events really occurred at one time, the mere passing of time cannot undermine their reality. A Creator can act in our world when and how He desires.

.

Three lines of evidence demonstrate the Creator acting in our world. First, miracles. Consider God parting the Red Sea with walls of water on each side, Jesus walking on the sea, immediate healing of blindness, lameness and all kinds of diseases, stilling a storm, restoring a man’s cut off ear, raising the dead, being transformed into light, ascending into the sky. If someone claims to be from God and could perform such extraordinary actions, we have certain reason to believe it’s true and of God. It’s true especially when Jesus did such things repeatedly for more than three years before skeptical astonished disciples and hostile critics.  Moreover, Jesus’ disciples who witnessed these things underwent inhuman tortures and gave their life’s blood for what they knew to be true. What world religion can claim such things of their founder? NONE!

.

Another line of evidence is fulfilled predictions in accord with certain objective criteria. A prophet of God must say things in accord with the teaching of God already known and be recognized by other established prophets. He must predict specific details that can’t be attributed to guess or in line with present trends or be artificially fulfilled. He must make short-term predictions fulfilled in his time so people will believe long-term predictions will be fulfilled. Biblical prophets made hundreds of such prophecies about individuals, surrounding nations, and about a coming Messiah.
.
Consider just some predictions made centuries before of the coming Messiah--his virgin birth (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23), miracles (Isa. 35:5-6; Matt. 11:4-6), rejection (Ps.69:8; John. 1:11) death for sinners (Isa. 53:6-7; Jn. 1:29), resurrection (Ps. 16:10; Mark 16:6-7; Acts 16:35), and ascension (Ps. 68:18; Eph. 4:8). The chances against these predictions being fulfilled is in the trillions and simply impossible. They have to be given the prophets by an all-knowing God. And no future prophetic fulfillments are found among world religions.
.

A third reason the Christian faith is of God is that the things said of Jesus could only be true of God. Jesus lived without sin, forgave sin--will judge the world of sin. Jesus was with the Father before creation, addressed by the Father from Heaven, is one with the Father, and to accept him is to receive the Father. Jesus who was attended by angels and commanded demons will return in glory. At his trial, the only charge against him was that he said he was God. It’s clear that the man Jesus, who walked among us 2,000 years ago and said he was God, actually was and is God. Now, whatever God says is final authority, and we will be judged accordingly. Nothing like this is claimed of other world religion founders.
.

There are reasons to think non-Christian religions and philosophies are not of God. As both men and women are created in God’s image, and both contain the same genes, both deserve the same respectful treatment not shown in world religions. As we all descended from human parents, we are on the same plane so that class distinctions, or castes between peoples is seriously wrong. Moreover, we have the same freedoms and rights without discrimination. It’s clear to everyone that men and women are designed for each other and for family living. Jesus said God intended a one-flesh union so many spouses shows the hardness of our hearts and indifference to the needs of singles. The Lord Jesus who died to save us, in utter fairness and complete knowledge will one day judge our every action and abuse. Unlike other religions, biblical Christianity is not a blind leap into the dark, but a step of faith into the light.
.

Won’t you trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to be your Savior and life Guide? Christian teaching is supported by reasonable evidence, but we come to Christian faith only when the person of God’s Spirit convicts, convinces, and converts our sinful rebellious heart.
.
Objections generally boil down to two. Either in pride we give some intellectual excuse that Christianity doesn’t make sense, as I want it to make sense. Or, more likely, I just don’t want anyone including God telling me what to do. Reasonable arguments can clear away the cobwebs, but God doesn’t force us to believe. One must willingly respond to the person of the Holy Spirit who convicts, convinces, and converts us of our sin and need of the Savior (Matt. 16:16-17; Jn. 16:8-10). We can understand intellectually, but reject God’s truth spiritually and experientially (John 1:12-13; 1 Cor. 2:14). ,Consistent habitual sinful living is the proof we’re not in Christ (1 John. 3:4-6).
.

We must come to understand that our Maker and Judge is a Holy Moral Lawgiver, who despises sin and desires we live a consistent holy life. “You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). Joining a church, or attending church, serving in a church office, being baptized, burning candles, carrying a cross, knelling before an altar, shaking a pastor’s hand, giving money, saying a prayer, confessing to a priest, or any other good deeds are not what saves us. If our good deeds save us, then Jesus' death on the cross to pay for our sins would be useless, even stupid (Rom. 11:6; Gal. 2:16).
.
The Scripture says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." (Acts 16:31). He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him (Jn. 3:36). For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works (Eph. 2:8-10).
.

Won’t you enter into a love-trust relationship with the One who died to save you and which issues in a life of obedience. Salvation of us sinners must be received by faith as God’s gift. Pray, Lord I’m an unworthy sinner deserving eternal separation from you in the eternal Hell of wrath, despair, darkness, tears, and torments. But right now and from this day on I trust you to make me a clean child of God to live a consistent life before you that brings you the glory. Amen (So be it).
.
Now you can render the greatest service to your Lord & for others by linking & sharing these articles with friends & relations. Your efforts may be the reason you will see them in Heaven one day & have a better world here. God bless.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Let me recommend some books. For everybody, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, by Norman L. Geisler & Frank Turek, Understanding the Times, by David A. Noebel. For pastors, The Fundamentals For The Twenty- Century-First Century, by Mal Couch. The Popular Enclopedia of Apologetics, by Ed Hindson & Ergun Caner. See my other article on epistemology: Jesus, Faith, & Knowledge.
.