Redeeming Reason (eBook)

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God’s Rationality

If we are to have a foundation for human reasoning, that foundation must be found ultimately in God. God is absolute. He is not dependent on the world or on anything in the world. Neither is he dependent on us. We are dependent on him—thoroughly. That includes our reasoning. Human reasoning does have meaning. That meaning derives ultimately from God, who created us in his image (Gen. 1:26–27) and sustains us day by day.

Dependence on God

How might we confirm that our reasoning is dependent on God? There are many ways. One may argue that the laws of logic reveal God and display the attributes of God.1 A similar type of argument can be used starting with scientific laws or simply with truth.2 Let us consider a similar argument here, starting with principles for reasoning.

One principle for reasoning is the law of noncontradiction.3 Two contradictory statements cannot both be true. It is a valid principle. It holds true everywhere in the universe. It holds true at all times. It is unchangeably true. So it displays three attributes that are classically associated with God: omnipresence (being everywhere), eternality (transcending all times), and immutability (unchangeability). (See table 2.1.)

Table 2.1: Some Attributes of God and Logical Principle

The Attributes of God

We can extend the list of attributes. The principle of noncontradiction is not a material thing like an apple or an eraser. It is immaterial. It holds true with respect to statements that we might make about apples or erasers. It applies to material things. But it is not a “thing,” an object in the world. Next, it is invisible—though visible in its implications with respect to apples or erasers. It is truthful; it is reliable.

It is omnipotent. By that we mean that nothing escapes its grip, its control. It transcends all particular cases. It is also immanent, in the sense that it operates with and in each particular case. Immateriality, invisibility, truthfulness, reliability, omnipotence, transcendence, and immanence are all attributes of God. (See table 2.2.)

Table 2.2: More Attributes of God and Logical Principle

What we are seeing here is analogous to what is said in Romans 1:19–20:

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Romans 1:19–20 is focusing on created things (“the things that have been made”). These created things reveal the attributes of God. In contrast to this focus on things, we are now focusing on principles governing created things. These principles also reveal the attributes of God.

A crucial question that remains is whether these eternal, immutable, and omnipotent principles are impersonal or personal. Is there one God? And is he personal?

First, is there only one God? There cannot be two omnipotents, because they would compete for control. The unified principles governing the world display unity in their source. So yes, there is only one God. This conclusion is a further confirmation of what we know from Scripture. Scripture affirms that there is only one true God (Deut. 6:4; Mark 12:29; 1 Cor. 8:6; James 2:19).

Is God personal? The Bible teaches that he is personal. Is that truth reinforced by general revelation? One route to show that God is personal is to observe that a law presupposes a lawgiver. And a lawgiver is personal. Or, if this movement seems too simple, we may observe that the governing laws or principles for the world are rational and language-like. Rationality is characteristic of persons but not of rocks. The governing laws are also language-like. We do not literally hear a voice speaking them, but we are able to express the laws in language. The complexity and articulability of the laws are characteristic of persons. (Some smart animals, such as dogs, can interpret simple verbal commands. But their understanding still falls far below our ability to use the complexities of language.)

The law of noncontradiction testifies to God. It does so because God is the source of the law and it is an expression or reflection of his character. It presupposes God, who is the lawgiver. God is absolute, as implied in his omnipotence. He is also personal, as implied by the rational, language-like character of the principle of noncontradiction. As we observed above, it is best to understand this conclusion as an instance where we start with the Bible’s revelation of God, and then see how its truths are also expressed as we look at how he rules the world. One aspect of God’s rule is that he specifies and maintains the law of noncontradiction (see fig. 2.1).

Figure 2.1: God as the Source of Laws

God Is Trinity

God is the trinitarian God of the Bible. This truth is derivable from the Bible. And reading the Bible is the best route to the truth about God, because of the corruption of the human mind by sin. Quite a few books show how the doctrine of the Trinity derives from the Bible.4 Can we see expressions of the truth of the Trinity by looking at how God displays himself in the world? And would the truth of the Trinity also be reflected in the nature of human reasoning?

Once we know that God is trinitarian, there are various ways in which we find expressions and reflections of his being trinitarian. We can look at God’s ability to speak, or his attribute of love, or how he is the source of morality and scientific laws.5 Instead of using one of these routes, let us focus on the norms for reasoning. We ought to reason well. That sense of “ought” is a norm. The norms include not violating the law of noncontradiction. A source of norms has to be there, as a presupposition for the operation of laws of reasoning. The ultimate norm is God. God is absolute, since he is the ultimate norm. He is also personal, since we have to be responsible to persons, not to impersonal states of affairs.

The topic of norms belongs to the realm of ethics. We can set forth a more specific argument, indicating the trinitarian basis of ethics. First, let us understand that the entire realm of ethics can be viewed from each of three perspectives. (1) The normative perspective focuses on ethical norms (like the Ten Commandments). (2) The situational perspective focuses on the situations in which people must act. (3) The existential perspective focuses on the people in the situation, and their motivations.6 The existential perspective is also called the personal perspective, because it focuses on the persons who are acting ethically. Each of these is a perspective on the whole field of ethics. The norms...