Logic's Place in the Christian's Life

Some things just don't make sense in Christianity. They seem contradictory or improbable or downright impossible. Like the Trinity, for example. Or an existence where predestination works hand in hand with free will. I can understand if skeptics find themselves overcooking their noodle over certain concepts within the Bible. My mind can't wrap itself around these ideas, either. I'm left taking it on faith.

See, there's kind of the problem. What is faith? We don't seem to ever have a consistent, clearly-defined meaning for the word. And, depending on the interpretation, the skeptic may or may not be applying faith of some form in their own lives, further complicating the issue. We can't even settle on whether or not faith and reason are compatible or diametrically opposed to one another. Pascal and Kierkegaard supported the latter while Descartes and Thomas Aquinas believed in the former; all of these men were great thinkers and contributers to Christian thought.  Frankly, I'm at a loss as to what to believe.

Not that taking a side is somehow a deal-breaker with Christ or anything. I do wonder, however, whether one's relationship with Christ would be more rewarding intellectually. But then, something occurred to me. What if these elements in our faith, among others, are perfectly within a reason outside our reach?

In high school, I had an Earth Science teacher who told us once or twice that our knowledge of the universe is only as great as the technology that's available to us. Now I never got the impression that she was someone of faith, but her words have always stuck with me. It's a perfectly obvious fact that's lost on us.

Think of yourself as a child. You look at the world and see so many things and you have no idea why they work the way they do or their function. Yet we are completely aware that the adults around us do know these things and, as we grow more mature, we come to learn and understand the world.

I think that's mankind. Maybe the Trinity falls within a completely logical, rational means and we just haven't grown enough in spirit to understand it. Maybe we just need to be one on one with the Lord so He can explain it to us. And I'm okay with that. I think that's fair. It doesn't necessarily mean that the answer isn't available to us in this life. For all I know, God could reveal the answer tomorrow. I doubt it, but it could happen. I guess maybe that's where faith comes in.

-L. Travis Hoffman

2/15/15