Lesson 6 : Rational Reasoning & Authority Required

1. Lesson 6: Rational Reasoning & Authority Required

2. Rational Reasoning Required • Every student of the Bible functions as either rational or irrational. • To be rational is to: • Gather all the relevant evidence. • Draw only such conclusions as are warranted by the evidence. • Say, “My conclusions cannot outrun the evidence.” • To be irrational is to: • Reject the proper roles of evidence, reason and conclusion. • Draw conclusions for which one does not have adequate evidence. • Hold that faith must involve the acceptance of some inadequately supported conclusion by some “leap in the dark” beyond the evidence. • Reject the Bible and deny that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God.

3. Rational Reasoning Required • Every student of the Bible functions as either rational or irrational. • There is not one thing which God expects men to hold as a constituent element of their faith except that for which He has provided adequate evidence. • If faith is a “leap in the dark,” one would have as much grounds for “leaping” into Buddism, Islam or Atheism as he would for “leaping” into Christianity. • Such an irrational view of faith amounts to a rejection of Christianity, denying that one can know that Christianity is the one true religion of the one true God.

4. Rational Reasoning Required • The Bible demands that men be rational. • The Bible plainly teaches that we can prove and therefore know: • That God exists. • That the Bible is the Word of God. • That Jesus Christ is the Son of God. • That, to be saved, one must believe in, love and obey Jesus Christ.

5. Rational Reasoning Required • The Bible demands that men be rational. • Men must recognize the proper role of reason…. • The Bible not only demands that men reason but that they reason correctly in their study of the evidence which God has given them. • Men must be diligent in their search for & learning of the evidence. • Men must prove (put to the test, examine) all things. • Men must search the Scriptures to see if what men teach is true. • Men must be prepared to give a defense. • After gathering the evidence, men must hold only that which is true. • Jesus is our perfect example of approaching the Bible rationally and providing a reasoned defense thereof. • Christianity is a religion of rational reasoning based upon Biblical authority. 

6. Necessity for Authority in Religious Matters • It is imperative that we be concerned about Bible authority and how to ascertain it. • Unless we know how God (or the Bible) authorizes, we cannot be sure about anything we do or say in the realm of religion. • We must answer, “Is what we are doing from heaven or from men?” (cf. Matt. 21:23-27).

7. Necessity for Authority in Religious Matters • Authority (an objective standard) is absolutely necessary in religious matters. • There is an obvious need for an objective standard in ordinary affairs. • If no objective standards were recognized, there would be chaos in ordinary affairs of everyday life. • In order to have an orderly, rather than chaotic society, we have need for objective standards in our daily lives…