Lutherans are familiar with Martin Luther’s words as he stood in Worms, Germany, before the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, representatives of the pope, and his own prince, Elector Frederick the Wise. Asked if the books before him were his and if he would renounce them, Luther is said to have responded, “Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason, my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. So help me God. Amen.” Some remembrances add to the end, “Here I stand, I can do no other.”
Pretty tough stuff to say before authorities with the power to have him executed! Heroic words. Yet there is one part we so often skip over. Christians love to quote the part about scripture, but seem to miss the small phrase “and plain reason.”
Are Christians “reasonable” people? Are we called to be such? That is, are Christians those who not only to use scripture as a guide and authority for discipleship, but utilize reason as well? Martin Luther must have thought so. Many times he used reason as he wrestled with scripture and issues of the day. Many times he might have been better served if he had used reason instead of emotion. His comments later in life regarding the Jews come to mind where reason would have been a better approach than angry and frustrated emotion. Early in his ministry he did use reason and scripture in his much more friendly and conciliatory words regarding Jews and Judaism.
What role does reason play in your following of Jesus? Do you use reason in navigating through the pandemic, paying attention to scientists, health guidelines, mask wearing, or do emotions that are tired and frustrated of living this way hold sway?
Perhaps God’s greatest gift to the human body is the brain. It was given to us to use. It was given to us to think and serve as a counter balance to the gift of emotions. Many times our emotions need to have a conversation with our reason. They ought to be in dialog with one another, not competing to take over and dominate.
I am convinced Christians are to be reasonable creatures. This is why so many things can change over the years. I think of ongoing struggle of Christian acceptance of the LGBTQ community. Yes, there was once a kind of consensus among Christians that such went against God’s will. Bible verses were tossed out as “proof”, mostly out of context. Funny how many love to quote Leviticus about this but ignore that they themselves fail to follow most of Leviticus’ laws which appear to most as outdated. (Read Leviticus to see what I mean…how many of those maxims do you follow?)
Over time and constant study with new insights discovered, many Christians, through both scripture and reason have noticed how few texts even deal with homosexuality. And transgender? The Bible knows nothing about such. Over time with the study of scripture and the use of reason many Christians have discovered that for something to be truly biblical, it needs to be held up to all of scripture which in turn has to be held up to Jesus…..Jesus, who is THE message of scripture. Emotions and bible quoting alone are insufficient here. Thinking, reason, needs to be employed.
So it is with climate change. This is not known in the Bible. Yet stewardship of the earth and all its resources are well-known in scripture. The very first chapters of Genesis command Adam, and thusly humanity, to take care of God’s creation. The Bible is silent as to how we might do this regarding climate change and many ecological and biological issues of the day. Reason is required in partnership with God’s order to care for the earth. Reasonable people can dialog and disagree on how to so care for the earth, but there is no freedom to debate if we are called to such stewardship.
Do you see how this works? Yes, we look to Jesus, yes we look to scripture. However, first century and older texts don’t know much about life and the world of 2021. We have to think, we have to use our reason to help bridge the gap from what is biblical to how that might apply in the here and now. Many times we will be wrong in our use of reason. It seems to me even more times people are wrong when they jettison reason and try only using quotes from scripture. The partnership is necessary.
Then there is faith. Where does this come in to play? Faith is the trust that God gave us a brain to use. Faith is the trust that God is a God of grace when our rational methods fail us. Faith is a trust that despite a failure, we can once again move forward with the tools of faith and reason learning from failure and not causing us to divorce the partnership of faith and reason. Faith also can be a help when very reasonable people come to very different conclusions based on reason.
Are the teaching of Jesus reasonable? That is, do they make a difference in our life and can they have an impact on the world? Faith is a trust that they do and they can. The toolbox of faith most always includes scripture, worship, prayer, and, of course, Jesus. Don’t forget to include reason in your toolbox.