Reason is a . . . um . . . Prostitute

Reason is both a lovely helpmate and a whore. I have been exploring that idea quite a bit the last few months while writing this Skeptical Believer book. (Among other things, I’m looking for a more acceptable word than “whore,” which I am sure is considered offensive on many fronts these days. How about, “reason will serve any master”?)

The basic idea is that reason, while certainly a gift and a powerful tool, is so prone to manipulation by the other aspects of our being—hopes, desires, will, prejudice, fears, etc.—that to claim one’s ideas, views, and actions are governed by reason is hopelessly naïve. Anyone who understands how reason operates in real life (as opposed to in the abstract) understands what a secondary role it plays in the lives of even the most rational seeming persons.

John Goldingay, the Old Testament scholar (whose book, Key Questions about Biblical Interpretation, I recommend), writes “Christian theological interpretation of Scripture is always inclined to come down to the elucidation of our already-determined Christian doctrines” (p. 155). That is, most people have some form of a theology in place as they read the Bible (largely formed by preaching and teaching), and they will interpret what they read in a way that confirms their theology (and personality)—scholars more than anyone.

This is not unique to Christians, however. Anyone with any kind of pre-commitment (and that’s almost everyone), will argue, reason, think, and present evidence with the intention of ending up in the place they want to end up (think politics, economics, marriages). And when, voila, they do end up there, they will say, “I’m simply being logical.” If you want to get to some conclusion, reason will help you get there. If you want to get to an opposite conclusion, reason will help you get there too. “Just name your destination, master.”

This may seem too cynical and a discouragement to holding faith in a rationally defensible way. I don’t think it is. I think by seeing reason for what it is, a useful but limited tool, we free faith from the Enlightenment illusion that “If you can’t prove it, it’s crap.” Keeping reason in its place frees us for a risky, relational, mystery-respecting, story-shaped faith in God. Might also make us a tad more humble.