Dr Paul Allen

It’s the Holy Spirit who gives us the ultimate assurance of Christianity’s truth. Therefore, the only role left for argument and evidence to play is a subsidiary role.  I think Martin Luther correctly distinguished between what he called the magisterial and ministerial uses of reason .  The magisterial use of reason occurs when reason stands over and above the gospel like a magistrate and judges it on the basis of argument and evidence.  The ministerial use of reason occurs when reason submits to and serves the gospel. Only the ministerial use of reason can be allowed. Philosophy is rightly the handmaid of theology.  Reason is a tool to help us better understand and defend our faith; as Anselm put it, ours is a faith that seeks understanding. A person who knows Christianity is true on the basis of the witness of the Spirit may also have a sound apologetic which reinforces or confirms for him the Spirit’s witness, but it does not serve as the basis of hi...

Saint Augustine of Hippo, The authority of Scripture he held in even higher esteem than that of the Church. Because the Scriptures are inspired by God , they are completely free from error and are therefore to be believed absolutely.2 Such a view of authority would seem to imply that reason has no role to play in the justification of belief, and sometimes Augustine gives that impression. He asserts that one must first believe before he can know.3 He was fond of quoting Isaiah 7: 9 in the Septuagint version : “Unless you believe you shall not understand.” The fundamental principle of the Augustinian tradition throughout the Middle Ages was fides quaerens intellectum: faith seeking understanding. But certain statements of Augustine make it clear that he was not an unqualified authoritarian. He maintained that authority and reason cooperate in bringing a person to faith. Authority demands belief and prepares man for reason, and reason in turn leads to understanding and knowledge....

Image of Stephen Fry (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) STEPHEN FRY AND CANCER Stephen Fry was asked what he would say if he were "confronted by God ."   Fry replied, "I'd say, bone cancer in children? What's that about?  How dare you create a world to which there is such misery that is not our fault. It's not right, it's utterly, utterly evil.  Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid God who creates a world that is so full of injustice and pain. That's what I would say." Interviewer: "And you think you are going to get into heaven, like that?"  Fry replied: "I wouldn't want to. I wouldn't want to get in on his terms. They are wrong. Now, if I died and it was Pluto, Hades , and if it was the 12 Greek gods , then I would have more truck with it, because the Greeks didn't pretend to not be human in their appetites, in their capriciousness, and in their unreasonableness.  They didn't prese...