Faith, Reason, and Truth (part 3)

I know whom I have believed (2 Timothy 1:12)

Faith precedes knowledge: believing comes before understanding
True faith seeks understanding: putting effort to understand what we believe is the natural
consequence of true faith

Isaiah 7:9 Nisi credideritis, non intelligetis

In English: If you dont believe then you wont understand.
Faith is the necessary condition for understanding: one is unable to understand if he/she does
not believe.

St. Augustine of Hippo

He was one of the most important figure in the history of Christianity:
He established many important teachings of Christianity
He wrote many important books that are very influential even until this day
He was one of the most brilliant people at his time. He was a professor of philosophy and
rhetoric since he was 17. He had broad knowledge in philosophy and initially rejected the Bible.
Since he was a teenager, he enjoyed lustful life. During the day, he acts as a respectful
university academics, and during the night, he went to prostitutes to fulfil his uncontrollable
sexual desire. He enjoyed this kind of dualistic life for many years.
During his time, there was a sort of religion called Manichaeism, which teaches that the reality
of this world is a constant battle of the good and evil. This view says there are two gods: the
god of the good and the god of evil. They are always in battle. Sometimes the good god wins,
so that man can be a nice and good person at one time. On the other time, the evil god wins, so
that the same person who was good, can behave very bad.
Augustine found that this religions teaching suits his life very much. Therefore, he chose to be
the follower of such religion.
His reason suggested him that Manichaeism is true, since it fits his empirical
experiences
However, his mother, Monica, was a devout christian. Everyday, she went in prayer with tears,
asking God to save her genius son. She was unwilling to let her extremely intelligent son live in
a sinful life.
Monicas prayers and struggling for years finally gave effect. At a time, Augustine heard children
singing a song take up and read. This led him to take the Bible out of the most isolated part of
his bookshelf. When he opened the Bible, he at once read Romans 13:13-14, which stroke him
straightaway on his favourite sin. He was beholding the glory of God and realised how sinful he
was.
From this moment on, Augustine repented and fully believed All truth of the Bible. He no longer
put his belief in Manichaeism, although their teaching supported him to commit all things that he
 liked. Instead, he put his distinguished intelligence under the authority of God through faith in
Jesus Christ. Starting from this point, he became a great religious leader who was very
influential at that time.

What we can learn from Augustine story? We have our faith, not because we think that the faith suits
our lifestyle / personality. In fact, our faith defines what the ideal that we are always lacking during our
past; so that it leads us towards a life changing experience.

Where is the truth?

We cannot find truth inside ourselves. But sin suggests us to define truth for ourselves.
Dr. Stephen Tong: Until one brings back his/her reason to the truth, he/she will always regard
him/herself as the truth.
John 14:6 Jesus Christ is the truth
Jesus did not say that He knew the truth and He will show it
He says that He Himself is the truth
Truth is not an impersonal object, but is the living God Himself, expressed in the person
of Jesus Christ
Jesus is the only religious leader who claims that He is the truth (while others only claim that
they know the way to go to the truth)
3 possibilities: (C. S. Lewis Trilemma Apologetics)
Jesus tells a lie; but nobody is willing to die for a lie
Jesus lost his sanity; but no crazy people would gain respects and followers as many as
Jesus
Jesus tells the truth; this is the only possible reality
To have faith in Jesus = to bring back our created, limited, and polluted reason to the truth; to
put our whole being supremely under the authority of God.

How to get to the truth?

1. God is truth
2. Spirit of God reveals the truth to man
3. Man perceives the revelation through faith
4. The truth leads mans reason
5. Man obeys the truths instruction through reason
6. Man arrives at the ultimate truth

Faith and faithful?

In English, we have the term fidelity which means faithfulness. The root of this term comes
from the Latin word fide, which means faith. This means that there is a strong relationship
between faith and the character of faithful.
Generally, we say that a person is faithful if (s)he is loyal and keep all promises firmly.
Faith means that being faithful to the truth.
Luther: reason is a whore
Does not mean to oppose / diminish reason.
 By its default nature, reason is unable to stand by itself independently. It has to stick to a
particular worldview.
Reason is a whore, because it always finds its own justification for the worldview to
which it sticks.
We will always find justification to keep doing our favourite sin, until we meet Jesus who
saves us from our own foolishness. When we put our faith in Jesus, the truth of God will
set us free from the whore, i.e. the reason.
John 8:32 the real truth will set us free from the whore

Glossary

Faithful : steadfast in affection or allegiance

Lust : intense or unbridled sexual desire
Perceive : to attain awareness or understanding of
Revelation : an act of revealing or communicating divine truth
Rhetoric : the art of speaking or writing effectively
Whore : prostitutes, a woman who engages in sexual acts for money

Verse 1 Verse 1
Dulu ku bertinggi hati, blum pernah rendah hati
Hingga Tuhan nyatakan diri, ku baru berbakti
Walau ku menganiaya, Tuhan tetap mencariku
Kasih ajaib tlah tundukkanku, kekallah ku milikNya

Verse 2 Verse 2
Dulu mataku tlah buta dan hidup dalam gelap
Hingga Tuhan membrikan iman, ku baru milik
trang
Walau Iblis memblengguku, kuasa Hulah
membebaskan
Verse 3 Kasih Hu tlah mengubahkanku, kini ku milik Tuhan

Verse 3
Dulu ku keraskan hati, mnempuh jalan sendiri
Hingga Tuhan memanggil daku, ku baru tahu
kehendakMu
Walau ku tlah menolak Roh, Dia menarikku
kembali
Jalan Tuhan di atas jalanku, ku mau taat padaNya