Dear Amy,

Does radical faith require us to switch off our intellect?

A dear friend of mine has been having what I would call a faith crisis. In the context of my ongoing waiting on an impossible promise from the Lord, he cannot relate to someone who he would say is living in the hope of something that contradicts the observed and obvious reality. He asks, how could I have abandoned reason and switched off the rational part of my brain in quite such a naive way?

I argue that in fact the opposite is true, and that I have brought all my intellect and understanding to bear in my faith situation. How so? And what does the Bible have to say about this?

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

― Proverbs 9:10

One aspect of wisdom is applied intellect, that is intellect used to align a life with knowledge of the Holy One in a practical way, in order to live that life on the right path. And wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord. Recall Tim Keller’s definition: “The fear of the Lord is a reverent awe and wonder before the greatness of who God is and what he has done.”

If the Lord of all creation loves me to the extent that he gave up his only Son to an excruciating death in order to rescue me, and has promised abundant life and ongoing rescue in him, the only rational response is to completely cast myself upon his love, trusting him, absolutely. Anything less betrays a lack of understanding of the eternal reality. (Sadly it seems to me that few indeed are able to rationalize to this extent.)

What does this rational response look like then? Here’s what. Diving headfirst into the wellspring of life. Living confidently on the firm foundation of such a promise from the Lord. Ruthless consistency is the key which unlocks the understanding to be able to live like this.

And so radical faith in the one who is faithful and true is in fact the only way to live with intellectual integrity. Having tested it, we must lean into it as the foundation of our life. Nothing else makes any sense.

Live with radical faith, Amy, employing all of your intellect to live a life increasingly aligned with your growing knowledge of the Holy One! 🙏