In my spare time I like doing logic puzzles such as sudokus. If only as a means of deflecting my brain from more dubious thoughts. But when the subject of Christianity and logic arises there are those who think that the two going together is some sort of oxymoron. Atheists and secularists think that when people become Christians they kiss their brains goodbye. While some Christians argue that as logic was developed by the pagan Greeks it should be regarded with disdain. They fear that using logic will bring, and in the past has brought, unbiblical ideas into the Church. Though pagan ideas seem to have pervaded the church with or without logical arguments throughout its life. However, one has to ask was Jesus illogical when he argued with opponents? His enemies said many things about Jesus but they did not accuse Him of illogicality. Blasphemous, yes but illogical no. When they tried to trap him they failed to outsmart him, so much so that in the end they gave up trying to trap him. Too often this negative attitude to logic adopted by Christians is in effect hiding sloppy, lazy arguments, that are half-baked. Just because we have the Holy Spirit does not mean that we should not put our brain into gear and think things through before we open our mouths. When one does a logic puzzle one aims to complete it by logical deductions. But some of  the harder puzzles can appear to be impossible to solve without resorting to trial and error. With theological issues there are also some problems that we find easy to solve but with other issues we find Scripture is not so clear. Of course there are also times when we find that things are not working out because we have made mistakes. Atheists and secularists make the error of leaving God out of the equation, and when you omit something so important out of your calculations then you are bound to come to a wrong conclusion. Equally when we add elements that are from non-Biblical sources they can subtly change perceptions. Just because the writers of the New Testament wrote in Greek it would be wrong to assume that because they were using the same mindset as pagan philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle. One of the main differences between the Greek philosophy and Biblical thought is that the Greeks held that the physical realm was evil whereas the Bible states that God created the world and it was good. The source of evil in the world in the Bible is spiritual and not physical. God’s logic is invariably superior to man’s logic. His ways are higher than our ways.

David Rose, 2015.