God and Reason (4)
“And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29.13
Improve reason
Thus far, we have answered our first question, Is God reasonable? both affirmatively and in the negative: With respect to humankind’s ability to reason, God is and is not reasonable. He is reasonable in that He invites us to reason with Him, using the familiar tools and protocols of reason. And He is not reasonable—not to us, anyway—in that there are matters relating to God, His works, and His ways that our reason will never be able to understand, at least, not in the same way as they are reasonable to God.
What are the implications of this for humankind’s ability to reason with God?First, since it pleases God to use human reasoning skills to communicate Himself and His will, we do well to improve our use of reason to the full extent, and to apply our reasoning powers to every medium and means by which God is pleased to reveal Himself to us. Reason can be understood as the action of our minds in seeking to understand the nature, associations, and implications of a particular fact. The fact of God is accessible to our reason, at least in part; yet only as we apply our reason to the fact of God may we expect to gain the benefit of that activity which God intends by inviting us to reason with Him.
Put another way, if we are sluggish in reason, so that we do not like to have to think hard and long about matters; or if our skills in reasoning are inadequate, poorly honed, or rusty from disuse, then we should make it our business to overcome our laziness and improve our use of reason, since the great prize of reasoning with and knowing God lies open to us.
Seek the sources
Second, the fact that we can know God through reason encourages us to appeal to all those places where God has declared that He is willing to meet and reason with us. These may be described in two general categories: the revelation of God in Scripture, and the revelation of God in creation.
First, we should apply our reasoning powers to the study of Scripture. We will hear God speaking to us in Scripture when we seek Him there with all our heart, that is, with all our desire and longing focused on knowing Him. The Bible over and over declares itself to be the very Word of God, the primary verbal source by which we may reason with and know God. The Bible is written in human language, following the rules of human grammar and syntax, using words and meanings accessible to human reason. The more we read and study the Bible, and the more we use the tools of reason in doing so, the more we should expect to engage with God in a reasoning exchange of mutual knowledge and understanding. And because the Bible is given to us in language with reason, reading, studying, and meditating on Scripture can train and nurture our reasoning powers so that they more reflect the way God thinks.
Conversely, if we neglect the Scriptures, or if our use of Scripture is spotty or haphazard, or merely self-interested, then we will not be using our reason aright, and we cannot expect to gain the benefit God intends for us by His invitation to come and reason with Him.
Improving time in God’s Word is the most important discipline for improving reason.
Second, and in light of what God reveals about Himself in Scripture, we should seek to know the Lord by reasoning over the creation and the works of human culture as part of the revelation of God in creation (Ps. 68.18; Acts 14.17).
“The problem with nature,” opined the Downton Dowager, “is that there’s just so much of it.” And that being so, “nature”—that is, the creation all around us—is easily taken for granted. But God is glorifying Himself throughout creation, showing His steadfast love at every turn (Ps. 119.64, where “mercy” should be translated “lovingkindness”). We must learn to pay careful attention to the works of God in creation, history, the peoples of the world, and the experiences and legacy of our forebears in the faith. We may learn about God from studying the arts and literature, history and biography, the human as well as the natural sciences, looking to Scripture to guide our reasoning about creation.
I can hear it now: “Oh, man, T. M., that’s school stuff, and I’m way over all that.”
But we’re never finished in the school of the Holy Spirit, and His agenda is to teach us the things of Christ, both in Scripture and creation.
God can be known by our reason, and He urges us to seek and search for Him where He may be found. We will be good stewards of our ability as reasoning beings as we take up His invitation and come to reason with Him in Scripture and creation.
Two caveats
At the same time, we must not waste our reason on frivolous or sinful things, for this would not be good stewardship. We only have so much time, and we are called to make the most of it and not to dally in the diversions and distractions of fools (Eph. 5.15-17). If we compromise, corrupt, or confuse our reasoning powers by applying them to things that do not contribute to the knowledge of God and His glory, then we betray the fundamental purpose for which God has given us reasoning skills.
But, second, since God is not bound by our reason, we must consider whether there are other ways of knowing Him which go beyondreason, or work alongside or with reason, or which complement our reasoning abilities. Here I have in mind such matters as singing, contemplating works of art, reading poetry, biographies, and edifying fiction. We’ll use reason to get into these, but they can reveal God’s glory to us in ways that seem to reach the heart before they enter the mind. We’ll have more to say about these in the final part of our study of reason and faith.
God is reasonable, but He is not limited in His will or ways by our ability to figure Him out. Let us accept His invitation to come and reason as He guides us into a deeper understanding of the use of reason in our relationship with Him.
For reflection
1. God calls us to come and reason with Him, and to seek and search for Him with all our heart. Describe your present approach to this summons.
2. What does God promise to those who take up the call to seek and search for Him with their reason?
3. Meditate on Hebrews 11.6. Besides sound reason, what else is necessary to gain the benefit God intends from reasoning with Him? What’s the difference between this and reason?
Next steps—Preparation: Review your practice of seeking and searching for God. What’s one thing you can do to engage more of your reason in seeking to reason with God?
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.
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