I came across a discussion among fellow Christians recently that asked whether or not God is somehow beyond logic. That’s an intriguing thought.

Does God follow logic? Can we use logic to understand His nature or being? Is logic unable to help us in our search to better understand God? Here’s what I think:

Human reason is a wonderful tool by which we are able to imagine many things in a functionally effective way — things that we may not be able to actually observe or understand fully. I consider it one of the great gifts of God to human beings. It may be one of the ways in which we are still (even after the fall) sharing in the likeness of God.

We should not, however, think that logic is a tool that truly gives us the ability to see through walls. It gives us the ability to make very good guesses that are based on facts we already have, to postulate what might be on the other side when we don’t really know. The “wall” of course is the barrier created by our ignorance.

It can be truthfully argued (logically) that God is beyond logic, or at least beyond what most of us would consider to be logical. When we consider the humanly perceived opposites, contradictions or paradoxical characteristics revealed in Scripture about God’s nature and/or actions, for example, we may, through logic, reach the conclusion that God’s nature is not something to be logically understood.

I have often found, however, that the problem is not really logic, but our lack of information. Logic can only give us good results if we possess real facts. If we base our ideas of God, or arguments about God, on ideas that are not true then any conclusions produced by attempting to apply logic will also be false.

If we already believe, for example, that a truly loving God cannot order the complete destruction of every person and animal in a region under judgment, or even the whole world (as in Noah’s day), then we may work from there, applying our logic, to arrive at any number of false conclusions regarding God, judgment itself, or even salvation. Or we may go a step further and conclude that any so-called Holy Scripture that says God really will judge people must be false or at least in error. If, on the other hand, we believe that God not only has the right to judge but the wisdom to make fair and necessary judgments in destroying physical life that is incurably diseased by sinful choices and acts, then we may conclude that God is truly working with the best interests of the human race in mind.

The same is true if we are trying to understand the nature of God’s being. Logic will only help us to peek beyond our almost infinite ignorance of God’s being if we are willing to start out with actual known facts. Whatever we consider, at the outset, to be facts known about God will have a huge impact on what logic is able to add to our perceptions and understanding. If we reject the supernatural revelation God has offered us of Himself via the prophets and apostles who gave us the Bible, we will be unable to reach beyond human inventions of divinity. We will always end up with just another comic book or Hollywood god. But if we are willing to accept what the Spirit of God reveals to us in Scripture, we may arrive at some amazing logical impressions of the unlimited greatness, kindness and power of God.

Logic is a fairly straightforward tool that cranks out conclusions based on input. It can be adjusted, skewed, and manipulated in any number of ways to produce results more pleasing to the user. For this reason, we need to be as honest as possible in our gathering of original facts and assumptions, if we really want honest results.

If, on the other hand, we only want to justify our lifestyle, our common human arrogance, our love for darkness and self-imposed ignorance, then we need only to use commonly accepted or popular ideas as our base or premise, and we will probably arrive at the results we want.

Jim