Replies

Not exactly sure what you said. But here is my take on reason.

God says, "Come let us reason together, though your sins are like scarlet they shall be white as snow".

Seems to me like God gave us a mind and still expects us to use it to reason. But the key phrase is "reason together"

If we had lost the ability to reason then how could we be held accountable for our sins?

But Rom 1:20 says " For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse."

I don't believe God expects total blind faith from the start. He gives us a base of information to reason from. What we do with that is up to us.

That base includes creation, prophecies, miracles, scripture, and works. "John 14:11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves."

We are also told "That the heart of man is deceitful" and to "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;" and "Prov 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."

The heart influences our reasoning. So much so that Jesus referred to "reasoning in your hearts", Luke 5:22-26 “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”

Here you have an example of God not only providing evidence to reason with but also correcting our reasoning.

We must still use reason to come to the point of believing that God exists and trusting God. And that's the point where faith takes over in my opinion. We trust in the goodness of God and we study his word to learn more of his nature and truth that may not be obvious to our own reasoning. And our faith grows.

And a man's heart is key in whether he will choose to seek out God or hide in darkness. "John 3:19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God

Knowledge of God is imprinted on the heart and abundant in the creation around us. Knowledge of God's plan of salvation does take hearing. But the condition of the heart determines whether a person will choose to listen.

Romans 10:4 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Not exactly sure what you said. But here is my take on reason.

If yo think for a moment, you will begin to understand what Aquinas said as well as what I am saying that contradicts his thesis.

What Aquinas essentially said is that in the Fall (from innocence) Adam's nature became unrighteous, unreliable, fallible, corrupted; but his ability to reason, with enough diligence, and in the absence of prompting by Jehovah, did not.

What I am saying is that man's ability to reason did also fall, became corrupted, imperfect; and left alone, inevitably leads to unreliable conclusions. In your comment, your next sentence abandons the issue being discussed and immediately drags in a product of Special Revelation, quoting the Written Word of God, which tactic is contrary to the stipulation of man's inability through reason alone to have the concept that a supernatural entity exists, let alone prove it.

Then you go on and on, never addressing the issue of the fallenness of sinful humanity's reasoning powers.

That fallenness appears instantly in the same chapter that tells of The Fall--Genesis 3--and persists throughout the history of mankind right up to the time we are at. You have said nothing to prove otherwise.

So ponder on that for just a little longer. What has happened is described by the infallible Word of God, which an atheist denies even exists:

"But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them" (2 Cor. 4:3-4 AV).

It seems obvious that your own power to reason through what I said was so lacking that you didn't even pursue it before setting out to register your own opinion.