The Age of Reason became a part of Western Civilization in the 18th century. It centered on the power of the mind to think, understand, and form judgments logically. It was seeped in the concept that man could reform society with toleration, science, and skepticism. Skepticism is not, as many might suppose, contrary to Christianity. Paul admonished, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Science literally means knowledge through observation (and experimentation) of the physical world. The Bible is more scientifically accurate than so called Science often was in the past. God (Isaiah 1:18) pleaded with His people, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD."
But, what happened to reason and toleration in today's world? Voltaire is said to have said, "I disapprove of what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Toleration of free speech (part of the Bill of Rights in our constitution) has been slain by the dragon of political correctness -- along with reason. Then there is the degradation of our society through human reason. Our intellectual social engineers have succeeded in transforming the social mores of America from the Puritan piety of sexual purity to the "acceptance" (?) of abortion, sexual permissibleness, homosexualism, and same-sex marriage. All of which are not only contrary to God's Word but also to the universal practice, human experience and reason. No wonder Paul pointed out, "the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe" (1 Corinthians 1:21)
Speaking of reason, Paul pointed out, in the 1st century, "the Greeks seek after wisdom" (1 Corinthians 1:22) and that "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty" (1 Corinthians 1:27). It seems that it was Plato that opined, "We cannot know God except He reveal Himself to us." The Greek world of the 1stcentury was looking for a messenger from God to reveal His will, whom they called the Logos or Word. John begins his Gospel, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not" (John 1:1-5).
God, in His wisdom, decided to reveal His will to mankind in the Gospel. Reasoning was central to both the Reformation Movement (1500s) and the Restoration Movement of the 1800s in America. The central criteria of these movements was, "What saith the Scriptures? Man is expected to use reason to understand God's words in context. Words have meaning. Words have context. The miracles of the Bible are not unreasonable! God used them to confirm that His message was the real deal. Mark said, "they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following" (Mark 16:20). Paul pointed out Jesus Christ was "declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holinesss, by the resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:4).
Dale I. Royal, Elk City, OK