How does a Christian justify free thinking?
score:9
Thinking is actually commendable and encouraged for Christians.
In Thessalonica, Paul's witness is recorded as follows:
And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” Acts 17:2-3
So, Paul's method was to reason and logically demonstrate the truthfulness of the Gospel.
After Thessalonica Paul traveled to Berea, who were commended by Luke as follows:
Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Acts 17:11 ESV
The Bereans were commended for doing their research, considering what Paul was saying, and searching the Scriptures to verify the truthfulness of Paul's claims. So, thinking was commended.
Throughout Scripture, God asks us to think, to consider, to contemplate. Proverbs is full of exhortations to the many who makes wise decisions. I have heard that the book of Romans apparently used to be used in Law Schools in America to demonstrate how to construct a logical argument.
Christianity proclaims itself as a logical, rational, convincing truth. It invites the skeptic, the critic, and the scoffer to ponder. Many of such people have done so and come to faith in Christ, notably Josh McDowell and Lee Strobel, among many others.
Upvote:2
Our God is a God of reason who gave us the facilities to critically think about all things. To disallow the use of a gift God gave us is a form of insult to the giver. Indeed, many the Enlightenment scientists understood the purpose of study and reason to be the glorification of God and thankfulness for the facilities he gave us.
Upvote:2
I don't know what you mean by 'free thinking' but God wishes us to engage our brain in our Christianity.
Romans 12:2 - Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect
It's quite clear that our intellectual faculties, such as they may be, are an integral part of our growing in faith.
Upvote:3
I'm not sure what you mean by "free thinking" but you make it sound like a combination of "whatever I feel like" and "things I shouldn't be thinking about".
We are always free in our thoughts (constrained by our experiences, previous choices, mental faculties, education, etc) but just because we are free to think about anything doesn't mean we should let our minds wander hither and thither just for freedom's sake.
The thoughts that you dwell upon do have an effect on you and your actions so it is always profitable to think on wholesome things over vile things. Anger, lust, pride... these are all harmful things that begin as a seed of thought.
2 Corinthians 10:5
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
It takes conscious effort to discern the Holy Spirit's guidance. You don't become a robot waiting for instructions.
More post
- 📝 Doesn't the Trinitarian reading of Genesis 1:26 violate hermeneutical principles?
- 📝 What does it mean when Jesus cannot be separated from the Father and the Holy Ghost?
- 📝 Do Biblical Unitarians consider worshiping Jesus and/or the Holy Spirit as God to be idolatry?
- 📝 Who does Paul consider to be "Saints" in Romans 1:7?
- 📝 Reiterating John 3:16, as in its whole meaning…
- 📝 How can 1 Corithians 15:3 and Psalms 49:7 be reconciled?
- 📝 Does a Roman Catholic priest have to intellectually understand a confession in order to grant absolution?
- 📝 What is the textual evidence from the Bible that the resurrection for believers happens in stages (a Dispensationalist View)?
- 📝 How do young earth creationists explain the evidence for ice ages?
- 📝 According to the Catholic Church, what did Jesus mean by saying that the least in the kingdom of heaven in greater than John the Baptist?
- 📝 How is new humanism different from the catholic teaching?
- 📝 If Jesus was God (the famous John 1:1), why was He exalted to a higher position?
- 📝 In 1 Peter 4:18, what does Peter mean by the righteous having difficulty to be saved?
- 📝 The seven churches that were condemned; did any of them repent?
- 📝 What denominations, besides JWs, hold that the Star of Bethlehem was sent by Satan?
- 📝 In what order were the Sacraments added?
- 📝 Are there any instances in the Old Testament of a person receiving genuine visions, and then later turning to lies and fabricating visions?
- 📝 What is the "Catholic Church" acording to Anglicanism?
- 📝 Did Jesus really had to be God for the atonement of sin to work?
- 📝 What are the Biblical reasons for getting married?
- 📝 Was charging interest on loans ever forbidden to laymen in the Eastern Orthodox Church? If so, when was this promulgated and when was it revoked?
- 📝 What is the significance of the donkey Jesus rode on Palm Sunday?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for testing the truthfulness of every statement made by Prophets or Apostles who have been confirmed as 'real'?
- 📝 Does Deuteronomy 17:18 prevent bible translation copyright?
- 📝 Is there is any external source about Demas, Paul's fellow worker?
- 📝 Why did Cardinal Ratzinger stop supporting a literal interpretation of creation in Genesis?
- 📝 History of the formation of the Biblical canon. Searching for accessible bibliographical references
- 📝 What are the various eternal destinies or after lives that are possible in LDS Mormon Doctrine?
- 📝 Transcript of This Ven. Fulton Sheen Talk on the Christian Laity?
- 📝 Apparent Discrepancy in Mark 2:26
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 How does a Christian justify free thinking?
- 📝 How does free will fit with the doctrine of predestination?
- 📝 How does a Christian reject another's theology without rejecting their faith?
- 📝 How does the New Testament define a Christian and a non-Christian, a brother in Christ and not a brother in Christ?
- 📝 How does Free Grace Theology reconcile 1 John?
- 📝 In light of grace, How does a Christian consider the devotedness of Muslims and Jews?
- 📝 How does Western Christian theology explain the doctrine of the Filioque within the context of the Old Testament?
- 📝 How does Ravi Zacharias reconcile prayer with free will?
- 📝 How does Roman Catholicism justify a literal meaning of 'Hoc est meum corpus'?
- 📝 How does a Catholic theocracy differ from other Christian theocracies?
- 📝 Does an understanding of how the Bible was written, play a strong role in any Christian sect?
- 📝 How does scholars' denial of the possibility of NT autographs affect the Christian doctrines of biblical inerrancy and infallibility?
- 📝 How does the Catholic doctrine of free will reconcile with peccability?
- 📝 How effective is Christian outreach and how much does it cost?
- 📝 How does the Catholic church prioritize different sources of information in coming to doctrinal/theological conclusions, and how do they justify that?
- 📝 How does the mainstream Christian view of the physical body differ from that presented in The Gospel of Thomas?
- 📝 How much money does the Christian Church save because of religious tax exemption in the United States?
- 📝 Soteriology: How does God save free moral agents?
- 📝 How does the Bible justify geocentrism?
- 📝 How does the Catholic Church justify discouraging romantic freedoms of h*m*sexuals?
- 📝 How is the Christian Jesus different from the Muslim Jesus?
- 📝 If the Ten Commandments say “thou shalt not kill” how can a Christian fight in a war?
- 📝 How do Catholics justify confessing to a priest?
- 📝 How does current Church of England polity compare with Richard Hooker's teaching?
- 📝 Does being a Christian mean being a Bible literalist?
- 📝 If God controls our decisions, does this mean we don't have free will?
- 📝 How does Matthew 25:31-46 ("The Sheep and the Goats") reconcile with salvation by faith?
- 📝 How does the Catholic church explain Matthew 19:9, which seems to allow divorce in case of sexual misconduct?
- 📝 How does LDS doctrine reconcile monotheism with men becoming gods?
- 📝 Does "Mere Christianity" represent the core of Christian belief?