In Defense of the Critical Thinker
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)
In the English translation of the original Greek New Testament manuscript, “word” was translated from the Greek “logos.” In Greek, logos means “reason” and “rational thought.”
Thus capturing the author’s intent, John 1:1 would read this way: “In the beginning was reason and rational thought, and reason and rational thought was with God, and reason and rational thought was God.”
We equate the “word” with Jesus Christ, as John tells us further in verse 14, “and the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” In Christ, we find the earthly pinnacle of intelligence, built upon a foundation of reason and rational thought.
Would it seem logical then that that man who would draw nearest to God is the man who pursues knowledge through reason and rational thought?
In matters of religious inquiry, we often defer to faith. Faith is a necessary and useful principle while we “see through a glass darkly” as the Apostle Paul so eloquently stated. But faith can only take us so far. Faith is not knowledge, but a hope or belief. Faith precedes knowledge, and faith is productive only when it is placed in things that are true. Faith is best employed judiciously, never credulously.
The highest manifestation of our intelligence is not in defaulting to blind faith, but in investing the time and effort to gain light and truth through thorough investigation.
The age-old aphorism "know thyself" is inscribed in the portico of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Socrates interpreted it to mean ‘knowing about yourself…who you are, what you stand for, etc.’ When I was at Delphi years ago, I overheard someone say it has an older, more esoteric meaning…”to know for yourself, to learn first-hand…to seek, search, prove, find. If truth is knowledge of things as they are, were, and are to come, then the path to truth is inquiry.
The longer I live, the more I realize that truth is not always found where I expect it. My greatest discoveries have come from reaching beyond and opening my mind, being willing to acknowledge truth wherever and whatever it may be. A closed mind is the product of fear, an open mind is the product of courage.
Paul further counseled, “Prove all things and hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). The responsibility to separate truth from error is a personal obligation and not to be abdicated to another. In addition to our birth-rite agency, we were given reason, logic, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and personal inspiration to help navigate the world around us, including religion.
What we can’t understand or resolve through rational inquiry we are ultimately left to accept on faith. Much, however, can and will be revealed to the honest seeker of truth through reason and rational thought. If these are the fabric of which God Himself is woven, then their pursuit is paramount to becoming like Him.
Marc K. Ensign
TOC (May 2023)
