In his book written in 1637, entitled Discourse on the Method, René Descartes published a phrase in Latin that became one of the central tenets or teachings of Western philosophy. That phrase in Latin is cogito ergo sum. In English it is: I think, therefore I am. The main theme of the book addresses skepticism, a philosophical school of thought that questioned whether knowing something was “for sure” is possible. Everything is relative.
Descartes refused to accept the authority of previous philosophers. He viewed his thoughts on any topic, especially philosophy, apart from those of his predecessors. He began with his own ideas. His thoughts were just as valid, and maybe even more so, than any others; past, present or future. He rejected the idea of the natural world existing for a defined purpose, whether spiritual or physical.
The world regards Descartes as laying the philosophical foundation of what is termed rationalism, which “regards [human] reason as the chief source and test of knowledge” and as “any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification.”
Basically, any thought or approach that seems reasonable or logical to a man is a source of truth and justifies one’s actions. Each man becomes a god in his own eyes, deciding what’s right and what’s wrong. Phrases such as “I am a free-thinker” or “I have an open mind”, or “I need to follow my heart” are foundational expressions of human rationalism.
However, this reasoning has grown to define the world we experience around us today, which is: “Everyone has an opinion and they are all equal and valid.” Today when people are presented with truth and reject it, their simple reply is, “That’s just your opinion”.
But ironically and truthfully, Descartes did not invent or define rationalism. Its roots precede man. Like Descartes, Satan thought and reasoned in his mind that his thoughts and conclusions were equal to or better than God’s. A created being reasoned that he knew what was better than his Creator. So, what Descartes put down on paper began with Satan’s own thoughts:
“For you have [thought] in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High’” (Isaiah 14.13-14). Satan’s reasoning, his rationale, is what began the separation of the creation from the Creator (Genesis 3:1-5). Eve was living according to God’s words and thoughts until verse 4, “You will not surely die.”
At that very moment, Satan indoctrinated rationalism. He introduced skepticism. And Eve swallowed it hook, line and sinker. She thought that she was just as capable of thinking as God: “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings “(Genesis 3:6-7).
Thus, rationalism began with Satan. It was enforced by Adam and Eve. It was written in a book by Descartes. It has been accepted by Western philosophers and became the cornerstone of human society and the face of most everything we see in mass media and society today. Man has replaced the thinking of their Creator with their own.
For the followers of Christ, it is important to understand the difference between unintentional and presumptuous sin. The difference between not realizing we are putting our thoughts higher than God’s on a topic, and the arrogant awareness that we are deliberately rejecting God’s thoughts for our own. Numbers 15 addresses the concept of these two categories of sin:
“ ‘If you [nationally]sin unintentionally, and do not observe all these commandments which the Lord has spoken to Moses— all that the Lord has commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day the Lord gave commandment and onward throughout your generations— then it will be, if it is unintentionally committed, without the knowledge of the congregation, that the whole congregation shall offer one young bull as a burnt offering, as a sweet aroma to the Lord, with its grain offering and its drink offering, according to the ordinance, and one kid of the goats as a sin offering. . . . ‘And if a person sins unintentionally, then he shall bring a female goat in its first year as a sin offering. . . . ‘But the person who does anything presumptuously, whether he is native-born or a stranger, that one brings reproach on the Lord, and he shall be cut off from among his people’ “(Numbers 15:22-24,27,30).
Notice that Numbers 15:30 says nothing about a sacrifice being available if the sin is presumptuous, no sacrifice will cover the sin and thus no forgiveness.
The Hebrew for unintentional is shagah meaning to go astray, to err. According to the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament the primary meaning is sin perpetrated in ignorance and not willfully. It infers that someone is striving to live a life guided not by their own thoughts, but by God’s thoughts. Striving to live God’s way of life.
The Hebrew for presumptuous is two words. One word is yad meaning hand. Ruwm means high. Together they mean “with a high hand” or “high-handed”. Merriam-Webster defines “high-handed” as arrogant, haughty, pompous, pretentious, stiff-necked. We could throw in the word “willful.” The NIV translates these two words as “defiantly”. With a fist in the air. Numbers 15:31 informs us that “Because he has despised the word of the LORD, and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt shall be upon him.”
The individual who is sinning high-handedly rationalizes that he knows better than God. And thus despises God’s words. This is the same approach Satan had in Isaiah 14. We are constantly bombarded with this train of thought.
If we are willingly engaged in following God’s Way, we can find in Proverbs 2:1-5 words of wisdom to help us to resist Satan’s modus operandi. “My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God.”
When we dig through God’s word for His thoughts instead of relying on our own, we are taking the spiritual battle to the front line. We recognize that God is our Commander and Chief. We willingly follow Him.
Bill Hutchison