Can Reason Be Elevated Above Divine Revelation?
Albert Mohler has an excellent article on his website today dealing with Thomas Jefferson and the quest for the historical Jesus. His comments on Jefferson’s beliefs are enlightening. He also does a great job dealing with the futility of the “quest for the historical Jesus”. There are not two Jesuses. There is only one. Either he was who he said he was, God in flesh, or he was not. The historical Jesus is the Jesus of the New Testament.
Dr. Mohler made a comment in his article, however, that always makes me cringe. Speaking of the effort to secularize Jesus, he states:
This effort began with the emergence of Enlightenment thought and the elevation of human reason above divine revelation
It seems that reason and revelation are often thought of in an antagonistic sort of way. Reason fights against revelation, and revelation opposes reason. There certainly does appear to have been times in the scripture when God revealed his plans for an individual that may not have appeared reasonable to that individual. This is not, however, typical of God’s divine revelation. In fact, God’s revelation is perfectly rational (note, not naturalistic, but rational).
Reason is not, in my opinion, something that is in opposition to faith or revelation. Reason is simply a tool that has been given to mankind by God for the purpose of arriving at correct and true beliefs about ourselves, the world, and our God. Erroneous beliefs result, not from elevating reason above revelation, but by misapplying and misusing our rational faculties. I believe that people arrive at different conclusions, not because they rely too much on reason, but because they rely too little on reason. Their reason is corrupted by preconceived wishes, beliefs, and desires.
Reason has led me to God. I could not confess something to be true which was against reason. God’s revelation is rational. The world itself is rational because God is a rational being. He expects us to use our reason, along with the scriptures (revelation), to arrive at true knowledge.