Well I'm Just Thanking
One of the first words children say is, "Why?"
And think of the thousands of times you've said "because!" It
is simply amazing how many times a day the word "because" comes off the
tongues of millions of people all over the world.
Indeed, you may have noticed that it makes little difference
from what nation one comes, by what tongue one converses, or what
beliefs one holds the word "because" slips off the tongue as easily as
blinking ones eye.
Even those who contend there is no such thing as cause and
effect (only "chance") use that word constantly.
Why is this?
Apparently we come into this world asking why;
apparently we grow up wondering why; apparently we spend a lot of time
trying to find reasons for everything that happens in our world.
It seems we are always trying to find the
reasons for the causes and the effects.
Think about a time you may have had to have your roof
repaired. I remember a friend telling about that.
There was a terrible storm in December that blew shingles off
the roof.
It leaked like a sieve but, because it was so wet and rainy we
could only put temporary patches on it.
Here is a series of cause and effects: a storm caused shingles
to blow off a roof; because of the loss of the shingle "it leaked like a
sieve"; because the weather was wet and rainy the work could not be
done properly; because the work couldn't be done properly the repairs
had to wait for better weather: cause and effect over and over.
When we look at what the Word of God says about
this phenomenon we discover man’s faculty for reasoning.
The Bible has much to say about reasons and reasoning. We are
reasoning when we thinking from cause to effect.
For instance we say: "because-then" or "therefore, we acted."
Noah Webster also, who studied the Scriptures in relation to the
definition of words, gives us further insight into the subject of
reasoning.
He tells us it is:
A faculty of the mind by which it distinguishes
truth from falsehood, and good from evil, and which enables the
possessor to deduce inferences from facts or from propositions.
For instance, Samuel reasoned with the
Israelites to prove they already had a king: God.
He said..., "It is the Lord that advanced Moses and Aaron, and
that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt."
"Listen," he said, "and I will reason with you before the Lord
of all the righteous acts of the Lord, which he did to
you." 1 Samuel 12:6-25.
How could they know God was their king?
All they had to do was exercise their reasoning powers: "Because
God is the one who took care of us through Moses and Aaron, because He
is the one who gave us victory over our enemies: therefore the Lord our
God is our king."
In Isaiah God, himself, stated plainly that not
only were the Israelites sinners but there was a remedy for that
condition.
He said "Come now, and let us reason together" in regard to
their plight.
He said, in effect, "Although you are stained by sin, you can
be white as snow," referring to the sacrifice their Messiah would make
on the cross.
Much later Paul reasoned with pagans, stating
that men can reason from that which may be seen (visible) to that which
can be "clearly seen from the foundation of the world" in order that
they may know the truth about themselves and the Creator of the world.
He reminded them that they were without excuse because all
they had to do is look at the universe which had to have had a creator.
Paul states clearly, "the invisible things of God from the
creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things
that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are
without excuse," (Romans 1:20).
Paul argues that, obviously, the ability to
reason was one of the things man was able to do from the very beginning.
We see this in the fact that the second
conversation between God and man took place in regard to a discussion
requiring the man to "come, now and reason": God said to Adam, "Who told
thee that thou wast naked?
Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that
thou shouldest not eat?"
Adam was then expected to give a reasonable response. What
did Adam say to God?
"The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me
of the tree, and I did eat."
(We usually call that "passing the buck" and Adam was the
first "buck passer.")
Was he reasoning from cause (eating of the fruit of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil" or did he try to excuse himself?
Are excuses the same as giving answers using the
ability to reason?
We have examined the idea of reasoning rather thoroughly. A
short examination of the subject "excuses" will soon settle that
question.
Excuse, n. A plea offered in
extenuation of a fault or irregular deportment;
apology. Every man has an excuse to offer for his neglect of
duty; the debtor makes excuses for delay of payment. 1.
The act of excusing or apologizing. (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary, italics
mine, ed.)
Does this sound like Adam?
Did God then say: "Oh, well, that’s all right?"
You know what he said! "Cursed is the ground for thy sake."
Sin has consequences. An outline would look like this: A.
cause: sin-eating of the forbidden fruit; B. effect (consequences): the
ground was cursed.
It is not difficult to understand that this
is a cause and effect universe!
It’s also easy to differentiate between reasoning and making
excuses.
The ability to reason has many uses, of course.
Man can use this ability when he investigates the universe, as
well as when he is thinking philosophically as demonstrated above.
When man reasons wisely he is able to think
wisely about liberty and servitude as did our Founding Fathers, do
investigative research-particularly as to how the universe came into
existence and a host of other things as many creation organizations are
doing today.
He is able to build things
(think about architecture and machines) and, when necessary, make war
with a successful
outcome.
What a wonderful faculty our God has given us.
The next time one of your offspring answers a
question like, "Why didn't you finish what I gave you to do with, "
"Because ........" you won't be surprised at their response.
And maybe, when you answer their "why" questions with
"Because..........." you'll realize anew that you're probably both
exercising the faculty God gave us without even thinking about it. Isn't
that amazing?
But what if we don't or can't use the faculty of
reason? This will be addressed in a subsequent article. I hope you will
look for it.
