Do we check our minds at the door?

by Robert Fraire

Recently I heard someone mention that being a Christian did not require him to stop thinking about issues concerning the faith. So with the assumption that I am talking to Christians, my response to that statement is twofold....


I agree


The Christian faith is not a mystic or blind faith. The Bible requires us to hear God speak through his word (through reading, hearing it preached, etc.), meditate on the Word, then to act on the truths that we understand. This is definitely not the "Let go, Let God" type of faith. Romans 12:2 tells us that we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. And the book of James stresses that we must not only be hearers of the Word, but also doers of the Word. Think about it this way. God has chosen to reveal his character and his commands to his people through the written Word. It makes sense then that we would do everything we could to understand what God has said. Since he is all powerful and Holy with the power to bring about His will, wouldn't it be wise to know what He has written.

As Christians we have everything we need to understand what the Bible teaches. But, that doesn't mean that it does not take diligent study to ascertain the depth of the truth. To illustrate this point consider a young child who finds an Alegbra book and looks at the equations written on the pages. He will probably soon decide that Alegbra is completely unknowable. But given time, and the study of building block mathematical truths he will learn the pieces that make up Algebra so that later when he looks at the Alegebra book it makes complete sense. In fact to him the way to solve the equations is obvious. In a similar fashion, we must not give up easily in working to understand what God has revealed. We must not assign to mystery what God has revealed for us to know! (Deut 29:29)

So I do believe that it is essential for us to use our brains when it comes to our faith. But that is not my entire thoughts.

I disagree

On the other hand I don't agree with the statement. To explain let me say that when I hear a statement like the one we are looking at I wonder what is the basis of the question. In many cases it is the skeptics that say it. They will speak about contradictions in scripture or scientific evidence that refutes the Biblical account. Now as Christians, there is a choice that has to be made. Will we trust in the revealed word of God, or will we trust in our own reasoning? We must understand that the truths of scripture will always be under assault. There will always be someone who casts some doubt using human reasoning. If we use or minds to calculate probabilities or alternatives to scripture then we will be lost in the sea of doubt and our only path to maturity in Christ will be lost.