God and Reason (5)
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse… Romans 1.18-20
Our reasonable God
We have seen that, according to the teaching of Scripture, God is reasonable. He invites us to reason with Him, to learn His purposes and will, and to prosecute our lives and destinies in the light of His Word and plan. God approaches us, who have been made in His image, with the protocols of reason, so that He may engage with us in ways that go beyond reason in a relationship of love we can experience more readily than express (Eph. 3.19).
At the same time, God is not limited by reason, that is, by the tenets, protocols, and powers of the human mind, so that He must sort all things out in ways that satisfy intellectual curiosity and “make sense” to us in every part. God’s ways are not our ways; His thoughts are higher and more profound than ours (Is. 55.8, 9). At some point we simply must cease trying to figure things out and trust God in His Word, until—if ever—it pleases Him to grant us more understanding. At the same time, as far as reason will allow us to know God and His will, we must be diligent to employ it.
Christians have a mandate to exercise dominion over the world and to advance the Kingdom of Jesus Christ on earth as it is in heaven (Gen. 1.26-28; Matt. 6.10, 33; Heb. 2.1-9). This necessarily will find us engaged with people and things in ways that require profound understanding, which we may expect to gain through the use of our God-given reason, in the light of His revealed Word and will.
Of course, the highest object of our contemplation, that which we have been created and redeemed to know, is God Himself (Jn. 17.3; 2 Pet. 3.18). Believers in Christ understand that our greatest joy, highest fulfillment, and most satisfying reason for being are to be found in Christ, and in His Presence (Phil. 3.14; Ps. 16.11). Thus, we must engage all our faculties—reason the chief among them—in this pursuit of God and His glory, and in making Him known. And in all this undertaking, our focus and touchstone, and the supreme revelation of God to men, is our Lord Jesus Christ.
But is reason reliable by itself to bring us to the knowledge of God? Let’s consider how the Scriptures direct us in thinking about this question.
God knowable by reason
Because the entire creation is the handiwork of God, we should expect to see the stamp of God’s authorship on all that He has made. The heavens, the earth, and all creatures—from the largest, most far-flung galaxies to whatever makes up the Higgs boson particle—have something clear to say to us about the being, attributes, or will of God (Ps. 19.1-4).
And because human beings are made in the image of God and endowed with reasoning minds, it is reasonable to expect that we should be able to discern God on every page of the book of creation.
According to the apostle Paul, this is precisely the case with every human being: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse…” All human beings are able to discern the existence of God from observing the world of creation. They can know something about His being—He is eternal—and His attributes—His power and divinity (spirituality). And more than merely able, all human beings do in fact know God, and they have arrived at this knowledge of God through such rudimentary reasoning protocols as observation, questioning, pondering, comparing, analyzing, synthesizing, intuiting, and concluding.
All human beings know God. This is demonstrated by the way thoughts about God populate the records of philosophy, the arts, ancient religions, and human cultures from every place and time and at every level of sophistication. God is making Himself known through the things He has made, and human beings, using reason, arrive at a true knowledge of God, at least, within certain general parameters. This does not mean, however, that all human beings follow where reason leads them. For, as Paul explains, many have denied the existence of God, turned from the Light of His face and Word, and have embarked on a path of disillusion, degradation, desperation, and destruction. Making themselves to be God, they have bent the gift of reason to mere self-interest and have filled the world with half-truths and lies.
God’s purpose
God’s purpose in making human beings to be reasoning creatures is to pique their curiosity and draw them on in pursuit of more knowledge of God until, their restless hearts hungering and thirsting for Him, they find their full and complete rest in God through faith in Jesus Christ (Augustine). God has given human beings the gift of reason so that, to the extent they are able, they may discern His Presence, hear His invitation to reason further, and seek and search for Him accordingly (Acts 17.27).
Reason is a reliable resource for knowing God. And we whose calling it is to make God known through Jesus Christ may assume that those to whom we communicate this Good News already possess a rudimentary but real knowledge of God, so that it is not necessary for us to invest our time or efforts trying to prove God’s existence. We do not seek to prove the existence of God but to appeal to it, even as we seek to express in in our lives.
But there are problems, in particular, the subversion and corruption of reason by sin.
For reflection
1. Why do we say that the Bible and creation are two “books” of divine revelation? In what ways are you presently reasoning with God through each of these?
2. In what sense can we say that all people already know God? How have they come to know Him? What do they do with that knowledge?
3. Why is it not more evident in our world that all people know God? How can this problem be addressed, so that people may heed God’s invitation and come reason with Him for the benefits He offers?
Next steps—Conversation: What does it mean to know God? To what extent and in what particular ways do you know Him? Reflect on these questions in prayer, then talk with a fellow believer about them.
T. M. Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
An excellent companion to this study is our book, Let God Be True, which is free as a PDF download by clicking here.
This week: Our Read Moore podcast continues readings from our book, The Joy and Rejoicing of My Heart. In our Crosfigellteaching letter, we are studying examples of the spiritual poetry of the Celtic Revival. And in our daily Scriptorium column we are working our way through the Gospel of Matthew. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451. Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
