Love, Apologetics, and Logic, Part 2

Here is my follow-up letter. I’ll insert a summary of the comment and concerns of my friend to make some sense of my responses:

As Christians we should never separate what God has united: A heart for God and a mind for truth (The RTS motto).  Earlier I appealed to biblical examples such as Paul’s example of appealing, persuading, etc., and in response you have reinterpreted the words in a way that works around the point I made. Did Paul “proclaim” the gospel as you’ve said? Of course! “Proclaiming” the gospel can and should be combined with “arguing for,” and persuading people of it’s truth. I don’t use the word reconcile, because I don’t believe that reason, logic, and argument and heart-felt faith need to be reconciled…they aren’t at odds!  I don’t define an  “argument” as a heated discussion, but rather providing clear reasons for the convictions we hold dear.

Here I respond to my friend’s point that Paul doesn’t appeal to abstract reasoning, but instead Luke records in Acts that Paul reasoned from the Bible itself:

Yes, you’re right,  there are several instances in Acts where Paul is “reasoning” from the Scriptures (i.e. evangelizing) with an audience of Jews who are familiar with the Old Testament. On this point you are completely correct and we agree 100% (Acts 13 is a good example of this). But you might also want to take into account Acts 17, where Paul is proclaiming and persuading biblically illiterate pagans of the truth of his Christian worldview. The Bible says that this was Paul’s usual custom (Act 17:2), as he says in 2 Cor. 5:11, “Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others” (emphasis mine).

My point is this: logic is not inherently sinful. It is simply the discipline of reasoning clearly and avoiding mistakes in thinking. It can, and must, be used in a God-honoring fashion. Verses you’ve cited about the wisdom of the world (like 1 Cor. 1-2) , etc., are all true, but let’s look at the context. The point Paul is making in all of those verses can be reduced to a few simple points: 1) the truth of the gospel cannot be reduced or explained merely be “fancy-talking” (what Paul calls “persuasive words,” “worldly wisdom,” etc), and 2) unbelievers show their hostility to God by taking a gift that He has given them (the capacity to think) and trying to use it against Him.

Paul says, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ” (Col. 2:8) This verse, though commonly thought to rule out learning philosophy, logic, etc. all together, actually does no such thing.  What this verse does do, however, is rule out doing these things when done “not according to Christ.” So, believers should seek to sharpen their reasoning abilities precisely because they seek to honor the Lord who gave them this capacity and whose righteous thinking we are to reflect.  Paul tells Christians not be conformed to the world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:2), and considering the contexting, Paul is speaking about the doctrines he has been speaking of in the first 11 chapters of Romans. The Pharisees and their ilk didn’t truly reason with Christ, they tried to rationalize their legalism. Big difference. It was bad, flawed, and ungodly thinking and spiritual rebellion that caused them to oppose the sinless Son of God. If we blame it on “logic,” then let’s agree that it was logic “not according to Christ.” Logic is not something man made, but rather reflects the mind of God whose thinking is clear, unified, and without error or confusion.

Is trying to persuade people that Christianity is true a bad thing? Perhaps you have a negative understanding attached to the word persuade that I do not. Jude tells us to “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3), Paul instructs Timothy to “correct opponents” (2 Tim. 2:25), that Scripture is profitable for correction and reproof (2 Tim. 3:16), as well as to “reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching” (2 Tim. 4:2). Like to Titus Paul teaches that Elders must “hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it (Titus 1:9),” and that false teaches “must be silenced” (Titus 1:11).  All of these verses in the pages of God’s word command us to, at appropriate times, contend are “argue” that the biblical understanding of God, the world, man, sin, Christ, etc. is the correct view. These are biblical passages that must be taken seriously.

Just because unbelievers misuse “logic” (though as I said before, I don’t think it’s the proper use of logic), that doesn’t mean that Christians are disqualified from using it. In fact, again, the line of reasoning that says that if unbelievers had corrupted something then Christians should stay away from it proves much too much. This would mean no longer use music as a means of  conveying the gospel because that is also one of the world’s tactics.  We are both all too familiar with the type of anti-God music out there. It would also mean that Christians may not longer use theatre, poetry, or allegorical writings because they are all tactics the world (and other religions) use to convey their belief systems. But this is where this line of thinking takes us.

Again, please do not get the impression that  I’m advocating a heartless, dry intellectualism. This is not the case. When I seek to hone my thinking, I seek to honor God. I believe with all my heart that Scripture is God’s word, and as a result can stand up to all supposed “intellectual” attacks made by those who oppose His word. I believe that the best thinking shows, demonstrates, coheres with, and is in accordance with everything that we find in the Bible.  Do I believe this because I’ve worked out all of the problems and can safely tell unbelievers that there are no challenges? No! I believe in Christ, and all that Scripture teaches because God has revealed them.  I believe these things because God has opened my heart, causing me to repent of my sin, and has given me new eyes to see His world. The Holy Spirit has taken the scales off my eyes, shown me the beauty of Christ as the One in whom “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3).

Part 3, coming soon…