Thinking

So where does rational thinking, cogitation, fit into the Christian life? When, if ever, are we relying too much upon rational thought, and when, if ever, do we need to think more? Or is it not so much a question of thinking more or less, but of how we think, or what we think?

I’d like to discuss these questions in reverse order, just because to me, it seems easier that way.

What we Think. For the Orthodox Christian, no subject is off limits. We may question anything and everything. There are, of course, certain things more profitable to ponder than others. It may be a waste of time to try to figure out how God can exist “before time” – or rather, can “super-exist,” since He also created existence itself. Or the waste of time may not be complete if wrestling with such questions, whose answers are beyond our reach, teaches us some humility. Or teaches us about the importance of apophatic language. (Apophatic language is saying what you do not mean instead of what you do, because what you do is inexpressible. Thus, for example, we say God became Man, and what we do not mean by this is that His divinity was in any way compromised, or that there was any confusion of the two natures in Christ, or that there was any compartmentalization, or that there could be any separation of the two natures. What we do mean is something we cannot capture in words, but all those are what we do not mean.)

Apart from the wisdom of knowing which questions are important, though, we are allowed to ask whatever we want. We are not expected simply to accept something despite our issues with it; instead, we are encouraged to keep struggling for as long as it takes until our issues are resolved.

How We Think. For the Orthodox Christian, it is important always to think with as much love and as much humility as we can. We must not insist upon our own opinion, for that is not loving, and love is what Orthodox Christianity is all about. Neither must we rely upon our own opinion, as if the Holy Spirit had inspired us and not the rest of the Church, past and present. When we wrestle with a teaching or a practice of the Church, we ought to consider from the outset that we are not wiser than all the other Christians, that it is certain we are missing a piece of the picture, and that the probable reason we are missing it is our lack of love and/or lack of humility. In fact, it’s almost certain we are not the first to raise the difficulty at hand, and therefore, it’s highly likely the Church has dealt with it long since.

When do We Need to Think More? Often. While Orthodox theology is internally consistent, heterodox thinking often contradicts itself, and even twists the sacred Scriptures to make them contradict themselves as well. Genuine Mystery and pure nonsense are often confused. Here, some additional rational thinking is needed, because God is not the Author of confusion. There is no contradiction in Him, or in His ways or in His self-disclosure to us.

When Are We Relying Too Much on Rational Thought? There are two main ways in which, without realizing it, Christians often misuse our God-given reason.

One of these is when reason becomes the source of our faith. This error is called Rationalism, defined in Merriam-Webster Online as “1 : reliance on reason as the basis for establishment of religious truth 2 a : a theory that reason is in itself a source of knowledge superior to and independent of sense perceptions”.

Christianity is, as we all know, a revealed religion. As St. Peter writes (2 Peter 1:16), we haven’t made this stuff up. It doesn’t come out of our heads. “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” Christianity is revealed.

Now revelation does not happen in somebody’s cogitations or his emotions or his imagination, nor yet in a Book. Revelation happens in real life. Noah did not consult any scripture to come to the conclusion that he ought to build the Ark. God did not come to Moses via the Prophet’s imagination, but in a burning bush. God did not reveal His power to Pharaoh via the tyrant’s reason, but in real-life disasters. Mary did not consent to some thought her mind had constructed about having a divine Baby; God’s message came to her via an Archangel. Jesus didn’t merely teach His disciples in words Who He was (that, too), but demonstrated it over and over again. St. Paul didn't preach in fancy language, appealing to reason, but "in power and demonstration of the Spirit."

Only afterward were these revelations recorded. Holy Writ is the witness of these and more revelations, and not the source of them (although it is true that reading them can and does give us constant new insights). Scripture was not the source of revelation in all the millennia during which it was being written, nor is it the source today, at least not for the Orthodox Christian. For us, the revelation in real life is ongoing, showing us the same, ancient truths every day anew. The Bible confirms what the Holy Spirit has always taught the Church (not the other way around). Revelation comes in the living of the Orthodox Christian Life. It is the error of Rationalism to make Holy Scripture – which always means your or your denomination’s interpretation of it – into the source or basis of your faith.

An even sadder misuse of our God-given reason, and another way Rationalism creeps in, is when thoughts become the content of our religion. Orthodox doctrines never describe simply our thinking, even thinking applied to Scripture. Instead, they describe aspects of the real-world life we live, the life of the Church, the life in Christ. They explain to us, for example, what has happened to us in Holy Baptism, teach us about the Person we encounter in our life together, what is this Fire in which we live and move, how we can cultivate love of neighbor and what to do to find deeper communion in Christ. Christian theology is not merely a “baptized” philosophy. The misuse of reason enters when what we ponder and debate and pray and feel and perhaps even practice – is our thoughts. Our own thoughts. When it’s all in our heads, it’s imaginary, even when we put it into action. We're then putting imaginary stuff into action.

Put another way, for the Christian, Christ, as the Holy Spirit reveals Him to us in real life, is supposed to be the subject matter, the content, the input for our brains to ponder. Thought concerning that Life is supposed to be part of our output. We’re “thinking too much” when thought – even prayerful thought about the Bible – becomes the input.