Reason

[Sheva]

I’m curious to see what the majority opinion is on this. What is your view on reason where the bible is concerned.
.
1. If I don’t think it is logical I won’t believe it.
2. If the Bible says it I believe it.
3. Some other view.

 

[Bernergirl]

2. If the Bible says it I believe it.

However, I would add that I am open to being wrong in my personal interpretation.

 

[billwald]

The Bible doesn't "say" anything. We interpret statements.

 

[DailyBlessings]

Where something in the Bible appears to contradict plain reason, or observations of the Creation itself, that passage is misunderstood or does not belong in Scripture.

 

[Bernergirl]

Such as...?

 

[RaddMadd]

If the Bible says it I believe it. except maybe if there are any wrong interpretations of it.

 

[OD3]

The bible is interesting at best. I dont follow it at all. Too many contradictions.

"Thou shalt not kill"

"...he shall be put to death".

One of hundreds of examples...

 

[artybloke]

Other. The Bible is full of great wisdom, and a fair amount of foolishness, isn't intended to be a book of rules or history or science, and tells some great stories. Those stories are meaningful and true at a deep, symbolic level, even where they aren't historical.

I don't believe there's one true and for all time interpretation of anything, except possibly instructions on how to use a washing machine.

 

[ebia]

I’m curious to see what the majority opinion is on this. What is your view on reason where the bible is concerned.
.
1. If I don’t think it is logical I won’t believe it.
2. If the Bible says it I believe it.
3. Some other view.

Without reason, the bible is a load of sqiggly black lines on pieces of paper.

 

[nate2705]

I’m curious to see what the majority opinion is on this. What is your view on reason where the bible is concerned.
.
1. If I don’t think it is logical I won’t believe it.
2. If the Bible says it I believe it.
3. Some other view.

I would say that if the Bible says it, than I would accept it as true, unless it is absolutely and clearly contradicted.
For example, our friend OD3 said there is a contradiction with:

"Thou shalt not kill"

"...he shall be put to death".

That word kill is murder. After all, looking back at Genesis you see Cain killed Abel. However he also murdered Abel when the story is read. In NKJV Exodus 20:13 says "You should not murder" in the ten commandments. Murder is an evil act. Killing is not neccessarily evil, though it can be.
Putting one to death is punishment for some heinous crime that was commited (like murder). Those two are different, thus it is not a contradiction, but it can be questioned like OD3 did. Murder is a specific definition of kill. There is also manslaughter which is an accidental kill. God had rules about that too. There were cities in which a person who accidently killed another could flee to and be safe. They could stay there as long as it was determined to be an accident.

I do not think that there are any clear cut
contradictions in the Bible. I think there are questions about verses, but not contradictions. After all we are man. There will be questions about words by God. He has a greater understanding than we do. We don't even use 20% of our brain (which would explain why there are so many questions about what he said in His word). I hope that there will be a time when we can use 100%. That may be after Jesus comes back which I look forward to.

 

[intricatic]

Some other view.

If it's illogical, I look for why it's illogical and try to reconcile it to reason based on the rest of the Bible as a whole. So far, I haven't been let down.

 

[UnderHisWings4Ever]

I’m curious to see what the majority opinion is on this. What is your view on reason where the bible is concerned.
.
1. If I don’t think it is logical I won’t believe it.
2. If the Bible says it I believe it.
3. Some other view.

2.
The Bible is the infallible Word of God. I believe this is one of the cornerstones of our faith, and I will never waiver from it. If I do not understand something, the fault lies with me and not with God's Word. I will pray and meditate on the scripture until God reveals the fallacy in my logic/ understanding.

The Bible is NOT open to interpretation, only to revelation. If it is not revelation from the Holy Spirit, it is simply fallible human understanding, but the Holy Spirit will never contradict the Word, nor can it ever contradict itself.

 

[Bernergirl]

Here are three reasons to trust the Bible over "reason" (when reason is common accepted science of the time):

- For many years, the assumption was that the universe was eternal. It never began, it has just always been. The Big Bang theory (the accepted scientific theory of the origins of the universe today) suggests that everything came into existence from nothing.

Just like in the Bible. (Genesis)

- People "back in the day" commonly thought that the Earth was supported by a giant person-like-thing (Atlas) or by pillars or something. Then we found out that the Earth is suspended in the universe.

Just like in the Bible. (Job)

- Rain was thought to come from some sort of store or holding place in heaven. Now we know about the hydrologic cycle.

Just like in the Bible. (Job)

There are others. The circulatory system (Levticus), the orbit of the sun (Psalms - note: not geocentric orbit; the sun is not stationary like it was thought for many years; it does, indeed have an orbit), the seed of woman (egg - Genesis), the sphericity of the earth (Isaiah), the reflection of light off of the moon from the sun (Psalms), and the paths in the sea (Psalms).

So, yes, I trust the Bible.

May God use this to be a blessing to you.

Lissa

 

[ReformedChapin]

I’m curious to see what the majority opinion is on this. What is your view on reason where the bible is concerned.
.
1. If I don’t think it is logical I won’t believe it.
2. If the Bible says it I believe it.
3. Some other view.

If you take the foundamentalist perspective and you see the bible as the infalliabel word of God then his word DEFINES reason. So by that logic, our human reason is limited compared to God therefore if he says it, it is. Although I haven't seen one statement in the bible which defies human reason, it all has made sense to me so far.

So I guess that's a combination of 2 and 3 =P

 

[nate2705]

Here are three reasons to trust the Bible over "reason" (when reason is common accepted science of the time):

- For many years, the assumption was that the universe was eternal. It never began, it has just always been. The Big Bang theory (the accepted scientific theory of the origins of the universe today) suggests that everything came into existence from nothing.

Just like in the Bible. (Genesis)

- People "back in the day" commonly thought that the Earth was supported by a giant person-like-thing (Atlas) or by pillars or something. Then we found out that the Earth is suspended in the universe.

Just like in the Bible. (Job)

- Rain was thought to come from some sort of store or holding place in heaven. Now we know about the hydrologic cycle.

Just like in the Bible. (Job)

There are others. The circulatory system (Levticus), the orbit of the sun (Psalms - note: not geocentric orbit; the sun is not stationary like it was thought for many years; it does, indeed have an orbit), the seed of woman (egg - Genesis), the sphericity of the earth (Isaiah), the reflection of light off of the moon from the sun (Psalms), and the paths in the sea (Psalms).

So, yes, I trust the Bible.

May God use this to be a blessing to you.

Lissa

I agree with this fully. I'm also aware that many things were told of in the Bible before modern science even knew about them. Job is indeed a great book for that. It even mentions the dinosaurs.
I am fond of saying "If you just know the Bible for what the Bible says (without any preconceived ideas), you can defend it against anyone, athiests or otherwise."
I'm been reading it for what it is, the infallible word of God. If my church tries to interpret it for me I always look to see if it's within context before accepting what they say. The majority of the time it has been.

 

[stumpjumper]

Fides et ratio

 

[SoC]

If the Bible says it, I believe it. If it seems to contradict something, then I'm missing a piece of the puzzle and need to study that portion more.

You cannot pick and choose which parts of the bible are logical and which are not. Which you will believe and which you won't. You either believe the whole thing, or you don't. There is no middle ground. If you say, "well this one passage is wrong based on this evidence," what's to stop you from saying "I don't believe this passage is right, so I won't follow it," later on? That's how cults like Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses start and things like the "health and wealth" doctrine come from and where people get the idea that being homosexual is okay by God.

"Thou shalt not kill"

"...he shall be put to death".

Show me where it says "Thou shalt not kill." If you're going to say the "Ten Commandments" then you better read them again. The one you're thinking of says "Thou shalt not murder." Big difference.

 

[Be11e]

I'd say option two...at least i try to. I know that the scriptures are all truth...but if it goes against my logic i can find it hard to believe. Sometimes i think 'hmmm, maybe that's just metaphorical'. I also agree with what someone else has said...i believe that the bible is truth, but my interpretation may be incorrect.

 

[billwald]

Who believes Paul's clear statement that all citizens of Crete are liars and lazy slugs?