Is the Christian faith logical?

Normally when we think about Jesus and how he lived on this earth we emphasize the spiritual. And that is as it should be. But, I think, it is important not to forget that he lived in the real world as a real man. He maintained his relationship with the Father, but he also had friends, discussed issues, enjoyed a good dinner, etc. Did he ever use normal means, like logic, to establish some disputed point in a discussion or did he always indicate that others wouldn’t be able to understand him because he belonged to another world? Let’s look at one encounter early in the life of Jesus.
      The setting is Capernaum. He is inside the house and people have come from far away bringing their sick to be healed.  One day four men came with a crippled friend and the house was so crowed they couldn’t get in. So they went up on top, took off some tiles and lowered their sick friend down right in front of Jesus. Jesus looked down at the paralytic and said, ”Be of good cheer, my son! Your sins are forgiven.” In the crowd were some legal experts who at this became “righteously indignant.”
       “That’s blasphemy,” they said. True to their legalism, they said, “Certainly he knows that God alone, and no one else, can forgive sin” (p. 46).
       Now, how should Jesus respond? He might have said, “Even though religious activity is your profession, you priests aren’t able to understand the spiritual.” Or perhaps, “I’m sorry that it bothers you so I’ll take care not to do that again.” But you know what happened: he asked why they were filled with such evil thoughts. It was direct confrontation.  He asked, “Which would be simpler: to say, “Your sins are forgiven,“ or, “Pick up your stretcher and leave?” Obviously they thought, “We have him on this one. It’s easy to say something, but not to do it.”  Then, so they would never doubt again, he ordered the paralyzed man to get up and walk. That would settle the question. Paralytics don’t walk.
        So he proved his point. The man did as told, stood up and began to walk, and . . .I’d like to say that the priests were satisfied, realizing that Jesus was, after all, the Son God and turned in reverent worship of him right there on the spot.   The crowd was overjoyed as they began to realize all that was involved in this. They began to glorify God, but there is no indication that the clerics joined in. In fact, subsequent events showed that they continued on their path until they had Jesus hung on the cross.
       What I’d like to establish is that there is a point at which the believer can, by some common sense and logic, effectively argue the truth of a spiritual world. Today we call this apologetics. It argues the reasonableness of the Christian faith. Logic can never prove, that is, remove all doubt, of the veracity of God the Father. And it is increasingly difficult for the nonbeliever to hold an opposite position in a logical fashion. There is a place, I believe, for the informed Christian to take on the world on its own grounds. The best book I know on worldviews is James Sire’s The Universe Next Door. It describes and evaluates seven major worldviews and comes to the conclusion that the Christian world view is the most logical thought system known to man. It is more reasonable to believe what scripture teaches about reality than by any other world-view we know of. It won’t save the sinner, but it will help the believer to feel better about the reasonableness of his spiritual commitment.
       The argument begins with the recognition that all worldviews begin with an assumption: there is or there is not a supernatural sphere. The materialist begins his search believing “that there is nothing outside the material. At the starting point he is on equal ground with the person who believes in a god of any sort. From that point on everything depends upon whether on not the world as we know it makes sense. First, is the position consistent? There is no room for holding together basic data that is internally contradictory. And secondly, does it answer to your experience of the world. Basically, truth must be consistent with itself and with your experience.
       But that’s enough for now.
       Get a good book on apologetics and enjoy the logical support it provides for your faith. Nothing is ironclad but it is always nice to know that in the Christian faith, what is makes better sense than any alternative.