PAPER NO. 92

THE RELEVANCE OF REASON

An Apologetic for Logic

1. Introduction: Logic and Reason

The term “logic” comes from the Greek term “logos” which means reason, account, word, explanation.

The Logos is the focus of the Prologue to the Gospel of John: In the beginning was the Word (Logos). The Logos is the Word of God that reveals God in every way. The Logos is Truth in its fullness.

The Logos is the object of study in all academic disciplines: biology, psychology, epistemology, etc.

The purpose of the study of logic is to develop confidence and competence in the use of reason, to find meaning and to settle disputes.

The following is an apologetic for logic, which explains the relevance of reason.

2. Reason and Thought
   1. It is self-evident that we think: we form concepts, judgments, and arguments, the forms of all thought.
   2. It is self-evident that there are laws of thought: the law of identity: a is a; non-contradiction: not both a and non-a (at the same time and in the same respect); excluded middle: either a or non-a. The laws of thought are reason in itself.
   3. When a law of thought is violated, thinking ceases. One cannot think a is non-a; a is non-a as a whole is meaningless.
3. Reason and Meaning
   1. Reason in itself as the laws of thought is the test for meaning.
   2. If a law of thought is violated then thinking ceases and meaning therefore ceases.
   3. Reason is not neutral with respect to truth. Meaning is more basic than truth. Where there is no meaning there can be no truth.
4. Reason and Authority
   1. Reason as the test for meaning is authoritative for all thought. There can be no objection to thought by what is non-thought (by the non-cognitive, by what is neither true nor false).
   2. Reason as the laws of thought cannot be questioned since it makes questioning possible. It is unquestionable, needing no proof.
   3. Reason as the laws of thought is self-attesting. Only reason is self-attesting. The highest authority must be self-attesting.
5. Reason and Human Nature
   1. Human nature is man’s essence—the set of qualities that all men have, that they always have and that distinguishes them from all other beings.
   2. Man is a thinking being having a real body. He is a mind and a body, a rational animal. He is both body and soul in the unity of one being.
   3. Man is the image of God, crowned with the light of reason (to know God) and honor (to rule over the creation).
6. Reason and the Word of God
   1. God makes himself known through his Word. The Logos is the eternal Word of God who makes God known. All things were made by him (the Logos) (John 1:1-3).
   2. The life of the Logos is in all men as light. That light, by which we see (that is, understand), is reason. Reason in man is ineradicable and irresistible (John 1:4-5).
   3. By reason, all other forms of revelation are understood: in creation (general revelation) (10); in history (special revelation in Scripture) (11); in person (incarnate in Jesus Christ) (14); in the Church (in its councils and creeds) (John 16:13); in believers (through regeneration and sanctification) (John 3:3; 17:17).
   4. Reason is the most basic form of the Word of God for human knowledge; it is the self-attesting Word of God present in all men.
7. Reason and Common Ground
   1. Common Ground is that set of conditions necessary for thought and discourse. Common Ground begins with reason. Discourse without Common Ground is futile.
   2. Human society is a society of rational beings. Full participation depends on the exercise of one’s full capacity to reason.
   3. Human dignity is affirmed when we are treated as rational beings responsible for the use of reason.
   4. Common Ground also includes: integrity as a concern for consistency; addressing what is more basic before the less basic and a commitment to the Principle of Clarity—that some things are clear to reason.
8. Reason and Clarity
   1. The Principle of Clarity states: some things are clear; the basic things are clear; the basic things about God and man (metaphysics) and good and evil (ethics) are clear to reason (epistemology).
   2. If nothing is clear to reason, then meaning and morality (inexcusability) are not possible. Then Christianity, which assumes the clarity of general revelation and the inexcusability of unbelief (Romans 1:20), is not possible.
   3. If what can be known of God through general revelation is clear to reason, then there is a meaningful answer to the problem of evil and the necessity for redemptive revelation can be understood.
9. Faith and Reason
   1. Biblical faith is belief based on understanding. Faith is not dogmatism or fideism, which is belief without understanding. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).
   2. Understanding is by the use of reason. Understanding connects disparate pieces of knowledge so that one can see the Truth.
   3. Faith is inseparable from reason as truth is inseparable from meaning.
   4. Faith grows as understanding grows; faith is tested as understanding is tested.
10. Reason and Being
    1. Reason is ontological; it applies to being as well as thought.
    2. Reason applies to all being; to the highest being; to God’s being. For instance, God is not both eternal and not eternal at the same time and in the same respect.
    3. What violates a law of reason cannot be thought and cannot exist: there are no square circles; there are no uncaused events; there is no being from non-being.
    4. Miracles do not violate the uncreated laws of reason, but supervene by an act of God on the created laws of nature.
11. Reason and Good and Evil
    1. The good for a being is according to the nature of that being; evil is what is contrary to the nature of that being.
    2. The good for man as a rational being is the use of reason to the fullest, to understand the nature of things, which reveal the nature of God. The good for man therefore is the knowledge of God.
    3. Moral evil is to neglect, avoid, resist, or deny reason regarding what is clear about God. The inherent consequence of not seeking God is not understanding the meaning of things. It is meaninglessness, boredom and guilt—without end.
12. Reason and Integrity
    1. Integrity is a concern for consistency in thought and action.
    2. Integrity is necessary to avoid the logically absurd and the existentially (self-referentially) absurd.
    3. Integrity is a commitment to reason as a rational being. It is necessary and sufficient to see what is clear.
    4. Lack of integrity produces an intellectual stupor resulting from self-deception and self-justification regarding one’s commitment to reason.
13. Reason and History
    1. Presuppositions are basic beliefs used to give meaning to one’s experience.
    2. There are two sets of basic beliefs: in epistemology: some things are clear vs. nothing is clear; in metaphysics: all is eternal vs. only some is eternal; in ethics: the good is the end in itself vs. the good is virtue (means to the end) or happiness (the effect of the end).
    3. These sets of beliefs are contradictory: they cannot both be true and they cannot both be false. We are more or less conscious and consistent in our basic beliefs. We should be more conscious and consistent.
    4. History is an outworking of the conflict of basic beliefs in each person and each culture.
    5. Only what retains meaning will last; what is inherently contradictory cannot last.
14. Reason and Regeneration
    1. Left to oneself, no one seeks God; no one understands; no one does what is right (Romans 3:10-11). In himself man is spiritually dead.
    2. Man is restored from spiritual death to life by regeneration (John 3:3). In regeneration man is restored to the life of the Logos in him as light (reason).
    3. Restoration to the self-critical use of reason produces conviction of sin and death and the need for repentance and faith (conversion).
15. Reason and Unity
    1. Man is sanctified (made more Christ-like) through knowing the Truth. The Logos is Truth (John 17:17).
    2. Understanding the Truth comes through suffering (trials of faith).
    3. The Holy Spirit leads the Church into all Truth (John 16:13). In response to challenges, after much discussion, the Church comes to agreement summed up in creeds, delivered to all believers for the unity of the faith (Acts 15).
    4. The first principles are the foundation of the faith (Hebrews 6:1). Without foundation there are divisions and apostasy in the Church, and decay and collapse in the culture. With foundation, there is maturity, fruitfulness, unity, and fullness (Ephesians 4:10-16).
16. Conclusion: Reason and Hope

In the spiritual war (between belief and unbelief), which is age long and agonizing, good will overcome evil (Genesis 3:15).

In the clarity of the Logos, the light shines in the darkness: unbelief cannot overcome or withstand belief (Romans 1:20; John 1:5).

In the rule of Christ, through his body, the Church, the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:9; Revelation 19:11-21).

© 2016 Logos Papers Press