The Importance of Reason
The importance of reason for man is partly obvious.
The reason why we are on the top of the food chain & able to lead and steward the world as we know it and beyond into space is that we are more reasonable than any other physical, natural creature in the world. We are not physically the strongest creature. We are, however, the most reasonable among natural physical creatures on earth. Many of our accomplishments on earth and the advancement of the human race wouldn’t have been possible without the degree of reason that we have.
Reason alone, however, is insufficient to explain the degree to which our society has advanced. Without relevant truth that could be spread and enhanced over time, much of our reason wouldn’t have gotten very far. Truth and reason come together and are applied best in wisdom.
Reason vs Wisdom
Wisdom, one could say, is reason and knowledge thought about well & applied well. Books of faith commonly talk about the importance of wisdom.
Old Testament/Tanakh Importance of Wisdom: Proverbs 4
The Tanakh is the Hebrew Bible, a form of the Christian Old Testament. The Protestant Old Testament & the Jewish Tanakh contain the same 39 books. The Catholic & Orthodox versions of the Bible include deuterocanonical books, which are not present in the Protestant Old Testament or the Tanakh.
Below are passages from the Old Testament/Tanakh on Wisdom, with verses as taken from the Old Testament:
Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction;
pay attention and gain understanding.
2 I give you sound learning,
so do not forsake my teaching.
3 For I too was a son to my father,
still tender, and cherished by my mother.
4 Then he taught me, and he said to me,
“Take hold of my words with all your heart;
keep my commands, and you will live.
5 Get wisdom, get understanding;
do not forget my words or turn away from them.
6 Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you;
love her, and she will watch over you.
7 The beginning of wisdom is this: Get[a] wisdom.
Though it cost all you have,[b] get understanding.
8 Cherish her, and she will exalt you;
embrace her, and she will honor you.
9 She will give you a garland to grace your head
and present you with a glorious crown.”
10 Listen, my son, accept what I say,
and the years of your life will be many.
11 I instruct you in the way of wisdom
and lead you along straight paths.
12 When you walk, your steps will not be hampered;
when you run, you will not stumble.
13 Hold on to instruction, do not let it go;
guard it well, for it is your life.
14 Do not set foot on the path of the wicked
or walk in the way of evildoers.
15 Avoid it, do not travel on it;
turn from it and go on your way.
16 For they cannot rest until they do evil;
they are robbed of sleep till they make someone stumble.
17 They eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
18 The path of the righteous is like the morning sun,
shining ever brighter till the full light of day.
19 But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know what makes them stumble.
20 My son, pay attention to what I say;
turn your ear to my words.
21 Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;
22 for they are life to those who find them
and health to one’s whole body.
23 Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
24 Keep your mouth free of perversity;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead;
fix your gaze directly before you.
26 Give careful thought to the[c] paths for your feet
and be steadfast in all your ways.
27 Do not turn to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.
Keep in mind that wisdom literature is not “promises”. It should be interpreted in probabilistic framing. It was “wise” for America to join World War II after being attacked at Pearl Harbor, despite the cost & despite the fact that for some, it shortened their lives, even though being wise tends to prolong rather than shorten life in probabilistic terms.
New Testament on Wisdom
James 3:13-18 (ESV)
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
Ephesians 5:15–17 (ESV)
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Matthew 7:24–27 (ESV)
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
3 For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4 They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. 5 But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.
See also:
i.e. 1:30 (ESV)
“And because of him[a] you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption”
Examples of Reason in Old Testament/Tanakh
Examples of Reason in New Testament
Acts 17:2–3 — Paul “reasoned with them from the Scriptures.”
Acts 17:11 — They were noble because they were “examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”
1 Thessalonians 5:21 — “test everything; hold fast what is good.”
1 Peter 3:15 — Be prepared “to make a defense… for a reason for the hope that is in you.”
Romans 12:2 — Be transformed “by the renewal of your mind.”
2 Corinthians 10:5 — “take every thought captive to obey Christ.”
Hebrews 5:14 — The mature have “powers of discernment trained by constant practice.”
1 Corinthians 14:20 — “Do not be children in your thinking… in your thinking be mature.”
Luke 14:28 — “which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost?”
People Overestimate Their Reliance on Reason When Considering Faith
The issue of God is far more psychological than many give it credit for. Atheists and agnostics point to the elements of bias in people’s faith often, much more so than people of faith point to the bias of those who are atheists and agnostics influencing their decision-making on matters of religion & purpose in life. Too rarely are the elements of bias in faith in atheism & agnosticism, over alternatives, explored. If faith in the Bible is grounded in objective truth, we should more appropriately acknowledge forms of bias that we share with other religions so that we can be better prepared with objective truth to counter alternative truth claims of other religions. Also, by acknowledging our own forms of bias, we can more readily approach the various arenas of bias of those who are atheists and agnostics without the degree of hypocrisy that we’d have otherwise if we failed to make those acknowledgements.
Agnosticism and atheism present a number of psychological reasons to accept them & reject religion, i.e.:
- The “freedom” of moral relativism, including “freedom” of choice on sex, abortion, substances, and direction in life. Especially those who believe that their sexual choices, which have drug-like addictive effects on the brain, are vital to who they are, might believe that to accept the God of the Bible is to give up an intrinsic aspect of who they are as a person.
- The reduction of feelings of bondage to someone else’s rules that are not built into the law.
- Higher regard by many in many intellectual, scientific, academic, & other secularly oriented fields.
- Accepting God for those who have not accepted Him in the past means accepting that you were wrong.
- Accepting God means accepting that various arenas of your life need change that you may have no interest in changing, and that you believe would not be worth the cost of changing.
People of other faiths outside of Christianity & Judaism Who Grew Up in that Same Faith:
The cost of accepting Jesus is high if you grew up in another faith. It can cost you your family, your friends, your whole way of life. In the case of Islamic extremism regarding departure from faith in the way that the Quran teaches, it can even mean that you are killed for leaving the faith.
People of other faiths outside of Christianity & Judaism Who Did Not Grew Up in that Same Faith:
By choosing your own religion, there’s the added bonus of choosing the religion that you believe is the best fit for who you are and what you already believe. The problem is that your belief system is wrong too often because you don’t know enough about the world to know right from wrong far too often. Hitler thought he was right. Many followed him.
People within Judaism:
Other than Christians, Jewish people have more objective data to believe in their religion than any other people group. The main reason why Jewish people don’t accept Jesus is mentioned in the Bible:
They would be rejected from the synagogue. Since this culture was a communal one, far different from our hyper-individualism today, this rejection made the cost of accepting Jesus too high for many.
People within Christianity:
Even many people within Christianity (myself included) should seek to seriously gain a better understanding of psychology on how it impacts their life and faith. Many of the actions that I do each day are not rational, but are a result of psychological influences that defy reason. Christians should be familiar with the psychological and spiritual battle raging and should seek to fight these battles daily. If we are not familiar with these struggles, we will be more prone to misunderstand the Bible and the purpose of our life. We will not be as good of an example, we will make far more moral compromises, and we will not have the fulfillment that we can have if we are abiding in Christ.