Carnal Reason

Here’s a joke

I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. So I ran over and said “Stop! Don’t do it!”

“Why shouldn’t I?” he said.

“Well, there’s so much to live for!”

“Like what?”

“Well… are you religious?” He said yes. I said, “Me too!”

Are you Christian or Buddhist?” “Christian.” “Me too!”

Are you Catholic or Protestant ? “Protestant.” “Me too!”

Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?” “Baptist” “Wow! Me too!”

Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?” “Baptist Church of God!” “Me too!”

Are you original Baptist Church of God, or are you reformed Baptist Church of God?” “Reformed Baptist Church of God!” “Me too!”

Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915?” He said, “Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915!”

I said, “Die, heretic scum”, and pushed him off. (Emo Philips)

I started this blog (in part) to throw my two bits into the blogospheric discussion of religion. The name of the blog, ‘Carnal Reason’, is an expression I first encountered in Calvinist writings. Carnal reason is to be understood in contrast to divine reason. The expression is one of disparagement, even contempt. The term is a rhetorical device used to dismiss the arguments of skeptics. A Google search should turn up examples of its use.

Recently there has been some discussion over the inerrancy of the bible. One very thoughtful example can be found here. I think inerrancy cannot bear the weight some would have it carry. For the sake of argument, I’ll stipulate that the bible is inerrant, in whatever sense the reader pleases. The problem is that bible readers are not inerrant.

People do not agree about what the Bible means. Centuries of study by dedicated, sincere students has led to schism after schism. Differences in interpretation have been deemed important enough to die for, and to kill for. Consider Calvin’s definitive refutation of the false doctrines of Michael Served y Reves, aka Servetus.

The multiplicity of Christian denominations is a problem for the critic. If I focus on doctrine X, many Christians can truthfully reply that they do not believe X, but rather Y or Z. But this multiplicity is also an embarrassment to Christianity. How many different Christian denominations are there? Over or under 1000? Surely there are 25. Imagine your mechanic tells you that he’s not sure what’s wrong with your car, but that he has narrowed it to 25 possibilities. Are you relieved, or do you begin to suspect he doesn’t have a clue?

Posted on April 16th, 2005 by pwyll
Filed under: religion