Kaliwanagan Kay Kristo (June 13, 2017): Faith is the Opposite of Reason || John Pesebre

Question 1: What is the brief statement of the doubt?

Sa isang discussion ng kanyang propesor sa humanities back in the 90s, nagsimulang magduda si Phillip dahil sa sinabi ng kanyang propesor na ang “pananampalataya” daw ay salungat sa batas ng “reason.” Dito nagsimulang maglakwatsa si Philip sa atheism subalit buti na lang, later on he gave his life to Christ. Marami pong ganitong kaisipan na umiikot sa Pinoy. So ang brief statement ng doubt or objection na sasagutin natin sa apologetics episode na ito is, “Faith is the opposite of reason.”

Question 2: Where did this doubt come from?

Isa sa mga kilalang figures sa America na si Dan Barker na dating evangelical preacher pero naging atheist, tells the story of how he started taking the route of atheism,

• Faith and reason began a war within me. And it kept escalating. I would cry out to God for answers, and none would come. Like the battered wife who clings to hope, I kept trusting that God would someday come through. He never did. The only proposed answer was faith, and I gradually grew to dislike the smell of that word. I finally realized that faith is a cop-out, a defeat–an admission that the truths of religion are unknowable through evidence and reason. It is only undemonstrable assertions that require the suspension of reason, and weak ideas that require faith. I just lost faith in faith. Biblical contradictions became more and more discrepant, apologist arguments more and more absurd and, when I finally discarded faith, things became more and more clear. 

It is not very difficult to see sa mga universities na may ganitong idea ang mga college students. Hindi malayong isipin kasi nga the object of faith is a transcendent at infinite God. Sa universe nga sabi Billy Graham ay, “It staggers our mind,” eh ano pa kaya kung yung Creator pa nyang universe na yan. So hindi mahirap gawan ng pagpapasunud-sunod kung paano nagkaroon ng idea na ang hindi maabot ng reason, ilinalagay natin sa faith.

Nauunawaan ko rin na kung totoo nga na hindi mo gagamitin ang reason sa faith ay nag iintellectual suicide ka at ito ang malimit na dahilan kung bakit ang mga non-believers especially yung mga inquisitive ones would find it hard to even consider our faith.

Question 3: What is wrong about this doubt?

Hindi po totoo na faith or belief is the opposite of reason.

Question 4: How is it wrong?

By way of affirming muna what we believe concerning this para naman wag lang mag appear na kumokontra tayo at wala tayong pundasyon, let me say that “faith and reason work together to help us know and love our Maker.” Sabi sa Isaiah 1:18, “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.” Sa Tagalog ay mangatuwiran daw. Ang Hebrew word for “mangatuwiran” is with a legal use actually kasi dito sa verse na ito it is used in a “covenant lawsuit” (TWOT Lexicon) na konteksto. Napakalinaw sa pag aaral sa occurences na ito sa Hebrew na ang salitang ito ay gamit sa mga kaso at pagdedesisyon ng mga matatanda at ng hukuman. Kumbaga may forensics siya na hinihingi. Ang forensics ay ang mga tests o technique na giangamit sa pag detect ng crime. Yan pong ganyang usapan malimit nating matatagpuan ang Hebrew word na ito for “mangatuwiran.”

Sa pagkaunawa natin na yan maiisip mo na kung hinihingi yang brain activity na yan ng Diyos, malamang alam niya na may design plan siya for the mind kasi nga Siya ang may gawa nito. Alam niya, at dapat din alam natin itong gamitin. Kaya naman nasa pundasyon ng affirmation na ito ang admonition ni Peter sa 1 Peter 3:15 na nararapat lamang na maging handa tayo sa “pagsagot sa bawa’t tao na humihingi sa [atin] ng katuwiran tungkol sa pag asang nasa inyo.”

By way of refutation naman, contrary sa maraming pinupuntahan pa minsan ng mga maraming mananampalataya na reason is against faith, ang Panginoon pa mismo ang nagsasabi na gamitin natin ang ating kaisipan sa relationship sa Kanya. “Love the Lord . . . with all your mind” kasama yung heart, soul and strength. Naalala ko minsan ang isang taong galit na galit sa Christians dahl kontra daw ang Christianity sa science at reason. Tinanon ko siya kung kilala niya sila Galileo, Newton, Faraday, Kepler, Boyle, Gascendi, Ohm, Paschal, atbp. Sabi niya mga first rate scientists. Sa ko mukhang aagree ka pala kay Neil DeGrasse Tyson na si Newton ay “unimpeachable genius.” Sabi niya, “Oo.” So I added a follow up response na “Alam mo ba sir na yang mga nabanggit kong scientists ay hindi atheists?” To my surprise hindi siya aware. Mukhang etong mga scientists na ito did not think faith is opposite reason. One can argue pa nga very strongly na it was their Christianity that motivated them to do science.

Question 5: What wrong idea about God is this doubt trying to create?

This objection communicates Christianity as anti-intellectual at may diyos tayo, kung meron man ayon sa kanila, ito ay ang isang diyos na galit sa paggamit ng reasoning. Most probably etong diyos-diyosan na ito ang kanilang nire reject.

Question 6: What is the Biblical teaching about God that recuperates this wrong idea about God?

Let’s read Isaiah 1:18 again, “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.”

In this verse you see here a corrective from the idol in Question 5. God here is described as desiring the engagement of reason.

Question 7: What application can you draw from this correct teaching about God?

Study. Who here is inviting to reason with him? What do you think is the argument the speaker is building at? How is he arguing this?

Meditate. What do you think is God’s reason for paying off your sins through Jesus Christ?

Question 8: What action point can you resolve to do at this point?

Constant encounter with the truth of God is a necessity for the Christian life. Our lives are frequently tempted to think wrong about a lot of things. One of the way we can do that is to have daily study of God’s word and engage in confession prayers concerning false things that made its way in our minds and lives.