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Reason and Faith: Difference between revisions
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Is reason and thinking opposed to God? | Is reason and thinking opposed to God? | ||
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:'''''"We don't have to understand it, that’s where faith comes in.” | :'''''"We don't have to understand it, that’s where faith comes in.” | ||
=The Bible | <youtube width='440' height='320'>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJoOhbf3_Ts</youtube> | ||
=What William Branham taught= | |||
William Branham stated: | |||
:''So don’t try to use your own intellectuals, use your heart. Now remember, '''you don’t never try to reason; we cast down reasoning.''' In the garden of Eden, the devil took a man’s head to work through; God took a man’s heart. And the man’s always working to what he can see, and faith makes him believe things he cannot see. But he believes it because God said so. That settles it. That’s just the—the story of faith.<ref>William Branham, 59-0423 - Abraham's Seed, para. 29</ref> | |||
:''Notice, we cannot, we must not, listen to any other man’s word. We don’t care how smart, how educated. '''The Bible, in Proverbs, says, “We must cast down reasonings.”''' See? Now, here in this second realm… First realm is your senses of see, taste, feel, smell, and hear. That’s in your outer body. On the inner body, which is the spirit, is reasonings and thought, and so forth. We must cast all that down. '''Can’t reason''', say, “Now wait, if God is a good God…” And we’re told so much today that He is. “If He is a good God, then if I be sincere, though I can’t see that in that Bible being right, though I be sincere, I’ll be saved.” You’ll be lost. <ref>William Branham, 65-0822M - Christ Is Revealed In His Own Word, para. 130</ref> | |||
William Branham appears to be misquoting the 1890 Darby translation (although William Branham never mentions Darby... ever) of 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (and not Proverbs) which states: | |||
:''For the arms of our warfare are not fleshly, but powerful according to God to the overthrow of strongholds; '''overthrowing reasonings''' and every high thing that lifts itself up against the knowledge of God, and leading captive every thought into the obedience of the Christ...<ref>John Nelson Darby, The Holy Scriptures: A New Translation from the Original Languages (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1996), 2 Co 10:4–5.</ref> | |||
To get a clearer picture of what this means, we can look at a couple of other translations of this passage: | |||
:'' | :''We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ...<ref>2 Cor 10:5, ESV</ref> | ||
:'' | :''We demolish arguments and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to obey Christ.<ref>2 Cor 10:5, Holman Christian Standard Bible</ref> | ||
How do you destroy or demolish arguments? With better arguments and reasoning... that's exactly what Paul did with the Jews in the synagogues that he visited. | |||
: | William Branham said: | ||
:''That's how you know God is by faith, NOT BY REASON. Your reason power within yourself, but faith comes from God. Faith is something that's born in you, something that God gives you. "And it's the substance of things hoped for, and '''the evidence of things not REASONE'''D." Hallelujah.<ref>54-1024 THE.UNPARDONABLE.SIN_ JEFFERSONVILLE.IN</ref> | |||
William Branham changes scripture (again) to suit his anti-intellectual bias. | |||
But what Paul actually said is that “we live by faith, not by sight.”<ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), 2 Co 5:7</ref> Paul never says, “We walk by faith, not by reason.” Paul never says, “We walk by faith, not by thinking,” because faith and reason, faith and thinking are not opposed to each other. Faith and sight are opposed to each other, because faith is being controlled by the truth.<ref>Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).</ref> | |||
Another favorite for the "blind-faith" crowd is the story of doubting Thomas in John 20:24-29: | |||
:''Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” | |||
:''Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” | |||
Anytime someone asks for rational support for a belief, they are accused of being a "doubting thomas" and liken their own blind faith as the model that Jesus says was "blessed." | |||
But note that Thomas was not satisfied to have trust or faith even in the first hand, eye-witness accounts of his peers, he wanted EMPIRICAL evidence, to SEE with his eyes, to FEEL with his hands. This is the very epitome of the Natural Scientism worldview, if it can't be observed, handled, tested, etc, then it isn't believable. | |||
Yet Paul says we walk by faith, not by sight. Every single believer who has lived on the Earth who has put his faith in the objective, historical reality of Jesus' death and resurrection and the recorded witness of that event qualifies under Jesus statement: "blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Again, Jesus did NOT say: "blessed are those who have not THOUGHT and yet believed." | |||
==William Branham and reasoning== | |||
Paul reasoned in the synagogues and persuaded men to be Christians. What did William Branham think of this? | |||
William Branham was opposed to reasoning: | William Branham was opposed to reasoning: | ||
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'''The Bible clearly does not say to "cast down reasoning".''' | '''The Bible clearly does not say to "cast down reasoning".''' | ||
=The Bible requires us to think= | |||
:''Brothers, '''do not be children in your thinking'''. Be infants in evil, but '''in your thinking be mature'''.<ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), 1 Cor 14:20.</ref> | |||
:''Let those of us who are mature '''think this way''', and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.<ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Php 3:15.</ref> | |||
:''Surely I would speak to the Almighty, and '''I desire to reason with God'''.<ref>Job 13:3 (KJV)</ref> | |||
:''Come now, and '''let us reason together, saith the Lord''' : though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.<ref>Isaiah 1:18 (KJV)</ref> | |||
==Jesus wants us to think!== | |||
Jesus indicated many times that he wanted people to think. For example: | |||
:'''''What do you think?''' If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?<ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mt 18:12.</ref> | |||
:''Which of these three, '''do you think''', proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” <ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Lk 10:36.</ref> | |||
There are many other times where Jesus asked people to think. Why? '''He was challenging them to think about what He was saying so that they could come to faith!''' | |||
==Paul made the Jews think== | |||
:''So '''he reasoned in the synagogue''' with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.<ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ac 17:17.</ref> | |||
:''And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, '''reasoning and persuading''' them about the kingdom of God. But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, '''reasoning daily''' in the hall of Tyrannus. This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.<ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ac 19:8–10.</ref> | |||
=How does faith start?= | =How does faith start?= | ||
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Lastly, some of you are Christians, but you’re not very consistent Christians because, really, so many people come out of fundamentalism or come out of liberalism or out of all these different churches, and they all really do bypass the mind. Don’t you dare. You need to study the Word of God. You have to let the Word of God sink in. You have to let your mind be completely bathed in the authority of God.<ref>Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).</ref> | Lastly, some of you are Christians, but you’re not very consistent Christians because, really, so many people come out of fundamentalism or come out of liberalism or out of all these different churches, and they all really do bypass the mind. Don’t you dare. You need to study the Word of God. You have to let the Word of God sink in. You have to let your mind be completely bathed in the authority of God.<ref>Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).</ref> | ||
=How are we supposed to think?= | ==How are we supposed to think?== | ||
:''We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ...<ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), 2 Cor 10:5.</ref> | :''We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ...<ref>The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), 2 Cor 10:5.</ref> | ||
= | =The relationship between faith and reason= | ||
Richard Dawkins once said: | Richard Dawkins once said: | ||
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Followers of William Branham should do likewise and closely examine the evidence that is available surrounding his ministry. | Followers of William Branham should do likewise and closely examine the evidence that is available surrounding his ministry. | ||
=Christians Are Called to A Reasonable Faith= | ==Christians Are Called to A Reasonable Faith== | ||
Christians are not called to make decisions without good evidence. The God of the Bible does not call his children to obey blindly. The Gospels are themselves an important form of direct evidence; the testimony of eyewitnesses who observed the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus. That’s why the scriptures repeatedly call us to have a reasoned belief in Christ, and not to resort to the behavior of unreasoning animals: | Christians are not called to make decisions without good evidence. The God of the Bible does not call his children to obey blindly. The Gospels are themselves an important form of direct evidence; the testimony of eyewitnesses who observed the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus. That’s why the scriptures repeatedly call us to have a reasoned belief in Christ, and not to resort to the behavior of unreasoning animals: | ||
=What the Bible says= | |||
Jude 1:10 | Jude 1:10 | ||
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Christians in all disciplines of inquiry and discovery have used their reasoning power to investigate the evidence. Christians are not irrational, and Christian faith is not blind. The rich intellectual history of Christianity calls each of us to have a reasonable, examined, evidential, case-making faith. This kind of faith honors God and withstands skeptical criticism and personal doubt.<ref>http://coldcasechristianity.com/2013/the-reasonable-evidential-nature-of-christian-faith/</ref> | Christians in all disciplines of inquiry and discovery have used their reasoning power to investigate the evidence. Christians are not irrational, and Christian faith is not blind. The rich intellectual history of Christianity calls each of us to have a reasonable, examined, evidential, case-making faith. This kind of faith honors God and withstands skeptical criticism and personal doubt.<ref>http://coldcasechristianity.com/2013/the-reasonable-evidential-nature-of-christian-faith/</ref> | ||
=Christianity | =Christianity promotes rational thinking= | ||
Anais Nin, the avant-garde author and diarist, once said, | Anais Nin, the avant-garde author and diarist, once said, | ||
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This encouragement is consistent with the notion that the evidence will lead us to a rational conclusion about the nature of Jesus. In fact, Jesus also encouraged his followers to consider the evidence he provided about his deity (John 14:11 and Acts 1:2-3). Christian faith is not blind. Instead, the Christian faith encourages investigation related to Jesus and to the world around us. Christians ought to understand the distinctions between unreasonable, blind and reasonable faith: | This encouragement is consistent with the notion that the evidence will lead us to a rational conclusion about the nature of Jesus. In fact, Jesus also encouraged his followers to consider the evidence he provided about his deity (John 14:11 and Acts 1:2-3). Christian faith is not blind. Instead, the Christian faith encourages investigation related to Jesus and to the world around us. Christians ought to understand the distinctions between unreasonable, blind and reasonable faith: | ||
=Unreasonable Faith= | |||
If you believe in something '''IN SPITE of the evidence''', you are holding to an unreasonable faith - where we refuse to accept or acknowledge evidence that exists, is easily accessible and clearly refutes what we believe. | If you believe in something '''IN SPITE of the evidence''', you are holding to an unreasonable faith - where we refuse to accept or acknowledge evidence that exists, is easily accessible and clearly refutes what we believe. | ||
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Blind faith is believing in something '''WITHOUT any evidence'''. We hold a blind faith when we accept something even though there is no evidence to support our beliefs. We don’t search for ANY evidence that either supports or refutes what we are determined to believe | Blind faith is believing in something '''WITHOUT any evidence'''. We hold a blind faith when we accept something even though there is no evidence to support our beliefs. We don’t search for ANY evidence that either supports or refutes what we are determined to believe | ||
=Reasonable Faith= | |||
Believing in something '''BECAUSE of the evidence'''. We hold a reasonable faith when we believe in something because it is the most reasonable conclusion from the evidence that exists. '''The Bible repeatedly makes evidential claims'''. It offers eyewitness accounts of historical events that can be verified archeologically, prophetically and even scientifically. | Believing in something '''BECAUSE of the evidence'''. We hold a reasonable faith when we believe in something because it is the most reasonable conclusion from the evidence that exists. '''The Bible repeatedly makes evidential claims'''. It offers eyewitness accounts of historical events that can be verified archeologically, prophetically and even scientifically. | ||
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We, as Christians are called to hold a REASONABLE FAITH that is grounded in this evidence. The pages of Scripture support the notion of “reasonable faith”. <ref>http://coldcasechristianity.com/2012/christianity-promotes-rational-and-evidential-exploration/ Christianity Promotes Rational (and Evidential) Exploration]</ref> | We, as Christians are called to hold a REASONABLE FAITH that is grounded in this evidence. The pages of Scripture support the notion of “reasonable faith”. <ref>http://coldcasechristianity.com/2012/christianity-promotes-rational-and-evidential-exploration/ Christianity Promotes Rational (and Evidential) Exploration]</ref> | ||
=Doesn’t the Bible Say True Faith is Blind?= | ==Doesn’t the Bible Say True Faith is Blind?== | ||
The Biblical definition of faith is a reasoned trust in light of the evidence. Jesus told us to trust his claims in light of the miracles that confirmed his words evidentially (John 14:11), and he spent 40 days with the disciples after the resurrection, providing them with many convincing proofs that he was alive (Acts 1:2-3). | |||
There are several passages in scripture that, at face value, seem to be saying that faith is blind. For example, Hebrews 11 starts by saying that “''faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.''” This seems to be saying that faith is made out of hopes, and that having faith is evidence enough. It appears to be the closest Biblical statement affirming a “blind faith” that is not restricted to things that can be supported by evidence. | |||
But is that what this verse actually says? Let’s take a closer look at the passage in the NASB: | |||
Hebrews 11:1 | Hebrews 11:1 | ||
= | :''Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. | ||
The context of Hebrews 11:1, following Hebrews 10, is essential in understand what the writer of Hebrews is referring to in this passage concerning faith. In Hebrews 10, the author ends the section encouraging his readers to continue in their faith and to “endure” (verse 36) in spite of “reproaches” and “tribulations” they may have experienced or observed. He finishes by saying, “''…we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul''.” In the very next line (the passage we are considering at 11:1) the author says that "''faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.''” | |||
So what is it here that is connected to “faith” and is also “unseen”? Is it “evidence”? Is the author saying, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, when the evidence is unseen?” | |||
No, he’s saying just the opposite. When considering chapter 10 prior to interpreting verse 11:1, it’s clear that the author is encouraging his readers to endure those times when God seems absent; those times when trials and tribulations cause us to question God’s existence. Where is God in these difficult situations? Why can’t we see Him? Why can’t we see His activity in our lives? | |||
In verse 11:1, the author of Hebrews says that we can trust that God’s salvation, protection and provision are still there for us, even though they may appear to be “things not seen.” In spite of their apparent absence, we are told to trust that they exist. Why? On what basis? On the basis of what we can see. | |||
Over and over again the Old Testament saints, when questioning God’s goodness, provision or protection, were encouraged by a leader or prophet to '''remember what God did for them''' in Egypt. God’s rescue efforts in Egypt were provided as a '''piece of evidence''', demonstrating that He was capable of rescuing His children again. God has given us visible assurance that he exists, and the writer of Hebrews is simply asking us to trust this assurance when God and his mercies seem like they are “things not seen”. Even the writer of Hebrews understood the conviction and assurance that resulted from evidence: the evidence of God’s Old Testament activities and the evidence of Jesus’ New Testament miracles.<ref>http://coldcasechristianity.com/2012/doesnt-the-bible-say-true-faith-is-blind/ Doesn’t the Bible Say True Faith is Blind?</ref> | |||
=Adding to the Bible?= | |||
<br> | |||
William Branham misquoted the Bible and then built a doctrine around his addition to the Bible. We challenge anyone in the message to find the following passage referenced by William Branham: | |||
:''That's the reason you can't rise up in faith, because you got intellectuals there. Your intellectual part says, "Well, this, or that." It's a reasoning. '''We want to cast down reasonings, the Bible tells us.'''<ref>56-0121, The Inter-Veil</ref> | |||
:''But now, as long as you dwell in that mental reasonings, you'll never be no different. Now, '''the Bible said we've got to cast down reasoning'''.<ref>56-0128, Inspiration</ref> | |||
:'''''The Bible said, "We cast down reasons.'''"<ref>62-1014M, The Stature Of A Perfect Man</ref> | |||
:'''''The Bible, in Proverbs, says, "We must cast down reasonings.'''<ref>65-0822M, Christ Is Revealed In His Own Word</ref> | |||
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[[Category:Doctrines]] | |||
[[Category:Critical analysis of William Branham]] | |||
[[Category:Adding to the Bible]] | |||