Why I am Rational

I am a thinker.  I like to spend time thinking about ideas and how some ideas connect to other ideas and how changing one idea affects other ideas.  I am a rational person, and that rationality extends to my faith and theology.

Let me unpack that a bit.

I believe that our faith - as much as is possible - must make sense.  To be sure, there are aspects of theology that we will never understand completely.  No matter how rational theology is, it will not be able to come to a logical understanding of the Trinity or of eternity.  Such things are beyond human capability to understand.

However, that does not mean that we should throw up our hands, toss logic out the window and surrender to a faith that makes no sense and follows no logic.  As Galileo famously said in response to a church stuck in irrational ways of thinking:

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."

Amen.  I couldn't agree more.  And that is why I am resolutely rational in my approach to faith and theology.

To be clear, I do not believe that we can ever achieve a faith or theology that is completely logical.  But I believe that we have an obligation to seek reasonable answers where they can be found.  I further believe that we have a responsibility to not cop out and hide from this task.

To some it is more important to feel safe and comfortable with what they believe than it is to do the work of having a faith that is coherent and makes sense.  Rather than put their God-given sense, reason and intellect to use, they end up believing a list of contradictory things that simply defy logic or reason.


When we refuse to be rational about our faith, we have no ground on which to discuss our faith with those who currently do not believe.  We end up with conversations like this:

Person A: "How do you know the Bible is God's Word?"
Person B: "It says right here...*quotes Bible verse*."
Person A: "But I'm not sure the Bible is God's Word, so how does quoting the Bible prove it is?"
Person B: ...

And an opportunity to discuss matters of faith and theology is missed because Person B has never learned to approach their faith in a rational manner.

Logic matters in faith and theology.  It certainly is not the only thing that matters, but it definitely plays an important role - at least in the way I approach it.

jB