Reason Meets Faith: An Unsearchable God

A new book has emerged entitled "When Faith Meets Reason" authored by Charles Hedrick who had some skepticism about his faith-based beliefs. Mr. Hedrick was a past contributor to the News-Leader of Springfield, Missouri. He wrote to several theologians who are connected with the Jesus Seminar movement to contribute to his book about theological doubts. Many are academics who follow the historical Jesus in order to confirm the logical probability that a divine Christ existed in reality. The problem arises when we look for physical or tangible or historical evidence about the "resurrection of Christ" from the grave. When a scientific approach is taken and one relies upon the physical world as a basis for how and why one believes truth statements this could limit one's ability to accept what can be known by other than the five senses.

There is nothing inherently wrong with being skeptical about religious truth claims. This is how we grow in knowledge and actually arrive at a confirmation of our faith-based beliefs. But it is important to understand that the not everything is seen or even known in the physical world and that there are some things in heaven and earth that go beyond what can even be imagined in our philosophies, as Shakespeare so aptly put it. There are many things even in science which rely upon conjecture, intuition, best guess, logical premise, coincidence, or a preponderance of the evidence.

God is certainly not hidden, there are signs of God all around us, but the who, what, how, why and when of God fall within God's prerogative for disclosure to the general public. Just like the FBI or the CIA, the higher you go in the chain of command, the less disclosure you are apt to be privy to unless you work for the guys or have some kind of "need to know." If one were to know all things at all times one would be the very definition of God. Can people know with certainty the past which no longer exists? Can they know with certainty the future which is not even in existence yet? The Bible clearly tells us that, "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the honor of kings is to search out a matter." (Proverbs 25:2). This statement possibly written by the wisest man ever to have lived King Solomon tells us that God expects us to search, but the providence of whether to expose or reveal something lies with God as Supreme Being.

The prophet Job suffered many persecutions without explanation until God asked him outright if he (Job) was there when the world was created. Job was not the master builder of life as we know it, why should the world have to answer to one man? Job tells us that God does indeed do "marvellous things without number." (Job 5:8). This is an interesting concept in and of itself because it presents the mathematical proof of infinity or infinite being - that one can count numbers forever and never come to an end. Either that or no number or mathematical equation exists at all to define God's infinite amount of things which are marvellous. Scientists believe in an infinity as a mathematical construct - can they prove it? or does it just make common sense?

God's judgments are "unsearchable" and "his ways past finding out" (Romans 11:33). Does this mean that the ways of God can never be known? If this is so, how can we know with assurance that there are ways of God or even if a God with judgments exists? This is where Mr. Hedrick and the Jesus Seminar people step off. The nature and being of God will not be found in historical documents, thats only what people heard and saw. Remember, life-changing faith in someone is the acceptance of things not seen - this does not mean that they are things not known. Just like married folks who have "faith" in their partners, confidence in another can arise from past experience, what we are told by others, a deep and comfortable relationship, or even help in time of need. We believe what ancient scholars have told us based upon our own personal experiences.

One simply cannot even imagine the possibilities of God and what God can do. However, we see glimpses every day in miracles, justice served, the kindness of strangers, lives saved, extraordinary courage or patience all arrived at by the grace of God. The beautiful frescoe by Michaelangelo which appears at the Sistine Chapel entitled the "Creation of Adam" shows God enfolded inside a brain full of people. God may be elusive, but God can be found in the collective acceptance of many. Economics, philosophy, psychology, sociology and theology are not tangible, physically-dependent sciences. Like the economy, the mind, the emotion and the culture, things we believe in are not always so cut and dry. We accept the reality of our presuppositions based upon the strength of the belief and confirmation of that realistic belief by others. Atheists and skeptics simply have too many people to convince otherwise when it comes to our faith-based beliefs based upon personal convictions.