 Christianity encourages learning. Christians founded 92% of the first 138 US colleges. Oxford’s motto is “The Lord is my light” (Psalm 27:1). The verse “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32) is probably on more US university walls than any other statement.
Christianity encourages reasoning. Paul, a man of faith, reasoned, day after day, in Athens’ marketplace with the Epicurean (focused on what one could see) and Stoic (focused on reason/logic) (Acts 17:18). Our life’s foundation should pass through logic and reason. This will help us love God with our whole being, which includes our logical mind. Christians don’t blindly follow authority. For nearly three centuries after Christ, Christianity grew under the hostile Roman Empire. Some believe there is no way to know the truth and treat morality as a matter of opinions, traditions, or preferences. On the contrary, God gives us enough to know Him and lead a godly life (Luke 1:4, 2 Peter 1:3, Romans 1:21). To gain knowledge, some totally depend on science. We rely on science and its method of measurable data to understand the natural world. But science cannot tell us why the universe came into being, the meaning of our existence, whether hope is more valid than despair, or whether people have equal worth. We need to have certain amount of knowledge and evidence of God in our personal experience. This will help us understand the visible and the invisible. Then follow what we have found, wherever it leads. Having said that, acknowledge we can’t fully understand God (1 Corinthians 13:9, 12); and know that God will meet us in our doubts about Him. For example, Christ cured a child though his father asked Christ to help him overcome his unbelief (Mark 9:24). Christ told doubting Thomas to put his finger into His nail wounds, and his hand into His spear wound (John 20:24-29). Furthermore, beware that knowledge can make us arrogant (1 Corinthians 8:1-3). Sometimes, love can be more effective than winning arguments. If we have knowledge but not love, we are nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). In conclusion, Christianity encourages reasoning, knowledge in science, and deepening our personal experience. But we should accept our intellectual limitations and know that without love, we are nothing. Summarized from a John Ortberg’s sermon at: https://menlo.church/series/thats-a-great-question#/modal/message/4870/mlo
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