Reason
Notes
Transcript
Reason
Reason
God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
What do we see in all of these verses? What is God doing?
Evaluating—looking at and making a judgement
<chair demonstration—one chair that is good, one that is bad; what do you see?>
You are able to look at something and make a judgement. You actually reasoned in your mind that this chair was not going to work—it was broken and would not support you if you sat down.
What is reason? Logic, sense, can be related to wisdom or knowledge . Reason is the ability to reach conclusions based on premises.
God used wisdom in creating the world
The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens; by his knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew.
O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
He used sense or logic throughout the old testament
All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together. The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Come—reason with me, lets make sense of this
Its important to point out God is far above our wisdom—he is more than we can ever imagine
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Reason can only take us so far and couple with that our flesh is rotten, dead in sin, and so we have to lean on something? What to we use to reason—the truth!
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
There are two main forms of reason: abstract or general such as mathematics or personal experience and observation
If you see a hot stove, what do you not do?
We see certain things so we are able to reason what is going to happen. We do this for protection—if you see rain falling from the sky you put a jacket on.
Humans have the capacity to reason unlike any other living organism. It is another one of the ways we are different and are like God—God is a reasoning God and so we are reasoning people.
We use reason every day to evaluate choices that we make. What will happen if I sleep ten minutes longer? What are the consequences if I do not know this assignment? What good will happen if I work an extra half hour today? What is the result if I speed while driving down this road? What good will come if I go on a run this afternoon? In all those scenarios you look at a choice and determine the result of what you think will happen if you do this or that. You don’t always know the full extent but you know a general idea of what will happen.
We use principles and experience to determine how to interact with others. We know that you can’t just walk up to someone and consistently flick their nose and expect them to carry on a conversation. You cannot walk up to the counter at Wendy’s and just stare at them and expect them to give you the food you want. I also can’t walk into this room and scream at the top of my lungs and expect people not to look at me.
We see this too with ethical issues—you use experience and principles to think through what is best and right.
What about spiritual matters? Do we reason at all?
All knowledge is ultimately based on faith—on accepting unproven and unprovable assumptions as true. No matter how hard you try and how much evidence you collect at some point you are relying on faith. You can study this chair again and again—you can sit in it 1000 times, but there is still a chance it can fail right? You have faith that when you sit down you will remain in place.
However, we use reason to draw a coherent picture of God and His dealings with humanity from the bible.
We have faith that what God says is true, he will protect us, he will never falter, he will take us home. We reason however that if David and Joseph and Peter and Paul and Luke and John faltered, we too will falter.
We don’t just run up to someone and say; “Jesus is truth, trust in him!” and then run away? You have to have faith to be saved, that is true, but there is a sense of God given reason as well. Why should you trust in him? Because he is truth, he is everlasting, he is never failing, he is perfect, he sustains, he protects, he died for us, he rose again conquering death.
We use reason and we grow in that reason as we get older right? When you were a child if someone were to ask about what is so great about Jesus, you answer would be simple right? He always keeps His promises. As you grow older that is still true but you can add things like He protects me in times of trouble, he leads me, he sustains me.
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
We can look at creation and see God and know him
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
We must be prepared to defend what we believe
but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
“Faith and reason are deeply intertwined with each other. both are necessary tools that God has given us to understand the world, each other and Him to fulfill our purpose at His stewards in the world. “
Lets pray
