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Faith and reason are necessary. They are part and parcel of each other. No faith is sound without reason and to reason accurately will bring you to faith. But of course to develop faith or to reason to acquire faith there must be something to work with - a foundation.

If we are talking about faith in God then the basis is the Bible for all those who profess to be Christians or to have some belief in Biblical standards. So what does the Bible say about Faith and Reason.

A good example is given when Paul is preaching among the people in Beroea. He had this to say about them:

1) "Immediately by night the brothers sent both Paul and Silas out to Beroea, and these, upon arriving, went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 Now the latter were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with the greatest eagerness of mind, carefully examining the Scriptures daily as to whether these things were so. 12 Therefore many of them became believers, and so did not a few of the reputable Greek women and of the men" (Acts 17:11)

Notice that these Beroeans did not take Paul or Silas at their word. They listened intently but, they themselves, "with greatest eagerness of mind," CAREFULLY EXAMINED THE SCRIPTURES DAILY. Many of these along with some Greek men and women became believers, not because they accepted what they heard, not because they listened to their emotional response, but because they carefully examined the scriptures. This action came before their "faith" came into being.

Notice also what Paul had to say to the Corinthians and Hebrews about why it is important to read, reason, think or ponder and understand the scriptures:

2) For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but powerful by God for overturning strongly entrenched things. 5 For we are overturning reasonings and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God; and we are bringing every thought into captivity to make it obedient to the Christ; (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)

3) For the word of God is alive and exerts power and is sharper than any two-edged sword and pierces even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and of joints and [their] marrow, and [is] able to discern thoughts and intentions of [the] heart.

These scriptures tell us that if we pay attention to the scriptures, grapple with our own imperfect leanings and the misinformation we have learned, our reasoning on the scriptures will overturn firmly entrenched things such as non Biblical beliefs and even lead us to a new personality, one that is pleasing to God.(Ephesians 4:22-24)

To come to a faith that is working takes effort on our part. (James 1:22-25, James 2:26)) It begins with developing an accurate knowledge of God and the one he sent forth Jesus Christ. (John 17:3) Without accurate knowledge our reasoning is faulty and our faith has no firm foundation. The accurate knowledge comes from the Bible. It is not a hidden secret. God wants us to know the truth even as his Son wants us to know the truth and left us a pattern to follow in his footsteps closely. (1 Peter2:21) Even in his hour of death he left us a simple and clear message:

4) Sanctify them by means of the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:17)

If someone sincerely wants to know the Truth, it is possible. Pray and search.

Learn more about this author, Carol Jo Campbell.
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