How does a Christian justify free thinking?

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Accepted answer

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, β€œThis 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.

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