The reason that is neutral towards God is not free, it is held captive by its own rebellion. Humanity cannot find God by using its own reasoning power to reflect on their own experiences and feelings and projecting those experiences into the spiritual realm. The only god they would find by such a method would not be the true and living God. It would be a god made in human image. By the power of their reason alone human beings cannot know God, they cannot know themselves, and they cannot choose what is good. The only reason that is free has been set free by the Word of God, Jesus Christ, and is fixed on that Word as its object. Not free from God, but free by God and for God. In the Word, in Jesus Christ, we learn who God is, we learn who we are. The Word of God addresses our reason and calls on us to respond in obedient faith. This very address sets our reason free, it justifies and sanctifies us, it sets us right and makes us holy, so that we can respond with all our mind as well as with all our heart. So the only reason that is free is obedient faith in Jesus Christ. A conflation of Church Dogmatics I/1, III/4 and IV/2
Posted on: Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:56:24 +0000
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