Developing Reasoning To Defend The Faith

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I recently sat with a wonderful Godly woman, a missionary, who shared with me her personal heartache of her daughter, who's faith had been 'reasoned' to a point where she was seriously questioning her personal faith!

This is a young lady who grew up in a family that were faithfully living out their calling in the mission field. Who as a young girl posted scripture all over her walls and had a vibrant and living relationship with her Savior  What happened? How can such a crisis befall someone who appeared to be so strong in her faith.

The story played out in University. A place that has all sorts of liberal and 'free thinking' ways. A place where intelligence, IQ and philosophy and reasoning are all mini-gods. This dear mother admitted to wishing that they had taught their daughter how to defend her faith - aka 'Apologetics'.

This conversation has been abiding in my heart and mind for a few weeks now. I'm not sure what the future holds education-wise for my girls, but I know that I want them to be equipped to defend their faith, to defend their very souls, for there is a tide of opinion out there that is armed and waiting to attack the Christian faith, and they can sound pretty convincing!

18. The way of reason: We teach children, too, not to ‘lean (too confidently) to their own understanding’; because the function of reason is to give logical demonstration (a) of mathematical truth, (b) of an initial idea, accepted by the will. In the former case, reason is, practically, an infallible guide, but in the latter, it is not always a safe one; for, whether that idea be right or wrong, reason will confirm it by irrefragable proofs. - Charlotte Mason

Have you ever watched a courtroom drama being played out on television? When you hear advocate 'A' in his closing statement you are convinced that the accused is guilty. Then advocate 'B' steps up and you are equally convinced that he is innocent. The argument for and against both sound valid and you are left in a state of confusion. Yes, I can see how a person who has not been taught to defend their faith could quite easily begin to doubt. 

It is only when he chooses to think about some course or plan, as Eve standing before the apples, that reason comes into play; so, if he chooses to think about a purpose that is good, many excellent reasons will  hurry up to support him; but, alas, if he choose to entertain a wrong notion, he, as it were, rings the bell for reason, which enforces his wrong intention with a score of arguments proving that wrong is right.- CM Vol 6 pg 143

While reading The Way of Reason in Vol 6 Chapter 9, I was struck by how any thought can be reasoned to a point of logical acceptance. That is quite a scary notion. Immediately my mind is cast to such events in history that turned into heinous and vile acts against humanity (thinking Hitler here), and yet such things were accepted by an educated and sophisticated nation! Well-to-do people saw logic in his arguments, in his reasoning.

It is madness to let children face a debatable world with only, say, mathematical preparation. - CM Vol 6 page 147

Clearly our children need to be prepared for a 'debatable world'. How can we go about doing this?

If our business were to train their power of reasoning, such a training would no doubt be of service; but the power is there already, and only wants material to work upon. - CM Vol 6 pg 147

Charlotte Mason tells us the children, ' must follow arguments and detect fallacies for themselves' ~vol 6 pg 147. She also mentions that the discussions - not lectures or oral lessons -  we have with our children during 'current events' time in our morning, is a great place to exercise this skill. Our children need to reason things out, we ask leading questions to get their minds thinking - perhaps in a different direction. Could we possibly play devils advocate in order for our children to detect fallacies? 

There are many debatable issues that are facing us today. Just this week we have had two major issues, relevant to the Christian faith, pop up in the headlines. The debate about whether to allow same sex marriage is raging on in the House of Commons and The Church of Scotland has announced that gay ministers who are in a civil partnership may be called or rejected by individual congregations.

 I am sure that in future there will be many more areas where God's Word, His decrees and Statutes are going to be given over in the name of 'political correctness  and this is where I want my girls to know the Word, know God's teachings and be able to defend the Faith. 

So How do we go about this?

*Bible Study - 'Fear and reverence of the Lord is the start of all wisdom' - Proverbs 1:7 - So when these issues come up in the news, in our 'Current Events', we will turn to the Word first and foremost to see what God has to say about such things.

* Logic and Critical Thinking games. Simply bring into your school day, or perhaps have a family games evening once a week/month games that reinforce logical and critical thinking. Some suggestions: Chess, Scrabble, Boggle, Monopoly, Backgammon, Scotland Yard (deduction game), Articulate (fast talking description game)... I could go on forever :o) 

There are also some great books out there. Here are some I have on my wish list.



* Don't forget those Current Events - be sure to discuss them with your children
*Character Training. There are so many wonderful Christian resources out there. Doorposts is a great place to start. We have also enjoyed 'Wisdom and the Millers' by Mildred Martin - available from Amazon or Rod and Staff.

As my girls get older, I will be on the lookout for some great Apologetics resources. {If anyone has used anything for their teens I would love to know, please do leave a comments.}

I am so glad that I read this chapter of Miss masons work - there is still so much to learn and so much to think on. I think that this is going to be one of those chapters that requires more than one reading! I  look forward to reading what others have to say on The Way of The Reason in this weeks Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival.

If you would like to contribute or find out more about the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival, please visit here.