Let me explain why. There are two main reasons why the oft-repeated contrast between \u201cthe Bible\u201d on the one hand and \u201chuman reason\u201d on the other is nonsensical. The first is that human reason cannot be bypassed when it comes to the Bible. To give just a couple of examples, without human reason, you would not have English translations of the text. Without your own human reason, you could not make sense of words on the page. And your human reason is involved in making sense of the words you read. Otherwise there would be no need for translations \u2013 you could study the Hebrew and Greek text and, in spite of not knowing the languages, understand, because human reason is not required for this process.<\/div>\n
This leads to the second main point. Many fundamentalist readers of Scripture will tell you that they do not \u201cinterpret\u201d the Bible \u2013 they merely read<\/em> it.<\/p>\nThis claim too is utter bunk.<\/em><\/p>\nTheir human reason\u00a0(or \u201cskill\u201d as interpreters, to put it another way) can be seen quite clearly kicking in when Jesus tells them that they must give up all their possessions to be his disciples. It is visible kicking into action\u00a0when Paul\u2019s language about justification by faith apart from works of the Law is allowed to trump those passages that depict judgment on the basis of works. It is there when someone claims to know that the six days in Genesis 1 are literal but the dome is a metaphor.
\nBut apart from these obvious instances, it is there all along, because apart from \u201chuman reason\u201d there is no reading and no comprehension.\n
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<\/a>I have yet to encounter a fundamentalist who was able to actually demonstrate what would admittedly be an impressive trick: reading without using their brains. I\u00a0always try to remain\u00a0open to changing my mind, and so if you are able to do it, please do show\u00a0me how. But if when you read your EEG does not flatline, then please stop pretending things are otherwise.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
And if you would say that the act of bypassing human reason occurs not in the process of reading, but in the choice of putting your faith in the Bible in the first place, it may indeed be the case that you ignored reason when doing so. But that ought to worry you, not provide comfort, because it is possible to ignore reason and place one\u2019s faith in just about anything. And unless such a person at some point is willing to allow reason its proper role, then it is unclear how anyone, even God,\u00a0would be able to\u00a0get through to them and persuade them to think differently. And to be in that situation ought to be worrying, not reassuring.<\/div>\n
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