Philosophy

flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. (Matt.16:17) People usually do have reasons for their beliefs, though not all may be able to instantly enumerate all their reasons when asked for. The believer in Chi power might even demonstrate his grounds of belief. So will the homeopath, the allopath, the evolutionist, the Yogi, the Advaitin, and the astrologer. But, it is also possible that one cannot demonstrate proofs and yet decide to go on with what one is convinced about, in whatever sense whatever. The Jews knew that there were no witnesses to incriminate the Christ; however, when He announced who He was, they decided that His statement was proof enough of blasphemy. But, on what grounds? The work of a preacher is certainly to persuade by means of reasoning. For some it may mean persuasion through exposition of scriptures; to others, through spiritual encounter and signs and wonders; to others, through contextually relevant reasoning (as in the cas

The butterfly-or-man problem isn't far-fetched. For instance, there is the case of a man who sleeps and has a dream and the events and arguments in the dream are as rational and congruous to him as he has the sense of rationality and congruity during his waking hours. However, on waking up, he is shocked to realize that the dream arguments were inconsistent and incongruous, but wonders that they possessed strong credibility and sense during the dream-state or the semi-waking state. Much similar might be the case of a lunatic. Yet, psychologists observe that humans possess some form of lunacy at given moments. For instance, take the case of an angered man who is convinced that his anger is justified until he comes to his senses. Therefore, the Scriptures advise us not to trust in our own understanding, but trust in the Lord with all our heart.