While we’re in GA I have limited access to the internet (I hope to buy a laptop next week, and not have this problem in the future).  I want everyone to know we’re alive and well, and not give up on The Master’s Table as one of the blogs you read.  Hopefully this will tide you over:

The Internet Monk is in transition to being Jesusshaped.com.  In the meantime, he wants everyone to keep up with what’s going on at http://jesusshaped.wordpress.com, the temporary home during this transition phase.  Check his new stuff out there.

We’re having Ricky from Two Channel Station as a guest blogger (he just doesn’t know it yet).  I’m sure he’ll be thrilled.  If you don’t know about Two Channel Station, this will be a good introduction, and keeps with the theme of The Master’s Table quite well also.  Ricky writes:

Logic vs. Faith

How do you know that Christianity is the only way? How can you say that? Do you know for a fact that Christ did all that he supposedly did? Logically, how is that possible?

Excellent questions. The answer to each of those is, I don’t know (logically). Yet, that isn’t enough. Why do I believe what I do? Logically it doesn’t make sense. Take a look at the following statement, and ask yourself, does any of this make logical sense?

There was a man. He was both man, and deity–fully deity and fully man at the same time. He came down to earth and was born to a virgin Jew, and when he grew up, he was touched with God’s spirit and performed great miracles in Israel. He claimed to be the Son of God, the fulfillment of the law and ancient prophecies, and the religious leaders killed him, yet supposedly, this man/God rose from the dead, and ascended to Heaven, providing mankind their only chance to save themselves from eternal death by having faith in Jesus Christ.

While I greatly paraphrased the entire story of Jesus Christ, in essence this is what I and most Christians believe. But logically, this is an astronomical chance that this even happened let alone that it is true. I was not there when Christ walked the earth. I did not see any miracles as recorded in the Bible, nor was I there to hear the ancient prophets speak about the future coming of Christ. Arguably, my Bible is merely the product of human translation of ancient texts that are extremely hard to find in the original. You could claim all this, and you would be perfectly correct.

Logically none of the supernatural/spiritual claims of Christ, the Bible, etc. can be proven. Something spiritual, supernatural, etc. cannot be proven or dis-proven logically. It’s impossible, and this I believe, is for a reason. Notice how Christ never asked humans to prove/believe in his claims based on logic or their personal experiences, or their knowledge; it always came down to faith. If salvation required only human logic to secure it, wouldn’t that mean that we are capable of understanding all of the supernatural and spiritual inner-workings of God? Wouldn’t that be putting us on the same level as God? No, to be human is to not be God. This is why faith is the requirement.

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” This quote, found in the Bible, I believe to be a completely non-Christian idea in the grand scheme of things. But here’s the clincher. Why do Christians believe all this illogical stuff? Because it is illogical to believe otherwise.

Yes, illogical to not believe in God, or Jesus Christ. How so? Think about it.

• If Jesus Christ existed and did everything we read and hear about him, and his statement that he was the only way to the Father is true, then the consequence of not believing/accepting Christ would be eternally destructive (according to Scripture).

• If Jesus Christ did not exist, and did nothing we read and hear about him, and his statement that he was the only way to God is false, then the consequence of not believing/accepting Christ would be of no consequence to us eternally.

I for one am not willing to risk any chance of being separated from God eternally. Too much of my life has been impacted quite clearly by supernatural forces. For myself, the only logical choice was to believe in the god of the Bible. All of it makes sense. Immediately after I put my faith in Christ, my life dramatically changed.

To question things based on problems with human logic is natural and never bad. However it is a futile attempt. Human logic cannot comprehend much, no less the supernatural. Ultimately, it comes down to this: either one believes and has faith in the claims of the Bible and Jesus Christ, or you don’t. Logically there are two results in this situation. Eternal life/death or no consequence (just physical death).

Is your quest for clear logic too important to consider the eternal and supernatural–the seemingly illogical?

If you like this article, try this post also: The failure of science vs. religion