Logic alone cannot hack it

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

WHILE logic will always have an important role to play in our life, we should also realize that logic alone cannot cope with all the realities that we have to deal with in our life. Our logic can only work within the natural plane and our human level. It can hardly manage to take on realities that are spiritual and supernatural, let alone, divine wisdom which in the end should always guide us.

How can human logic, for example, understand such Christian teachings as to love our enemies, to die in order to live, to be the last in order to be the first, the master has to be first a servant, a virgin giving birth, etc.? That’s when our logic would just be kaput.

To be guided by human logic alone unavoidably would lead us to be judgmental and self-righteous. This was what happened to some of the leading Jews during Christ’s time. Lacking in humility, their faith was undermined and they ended up not only misjudging Christ but also crucifying him.

We have to be humble enough to acknowledge that our logic-certainties can never cope with the mysteries of life. No matter how objective and scientific these certainties are derived, no matter how deep and exhaustive our philosophies, theologies and ideologies are made, our certainties just cannot take all the mysteries in our life.

Even in the world of nature where in theory we have the capacity to know things conclusively, we often find ourselves in situations of tentativeness and even of outright error. That is why we are always in the process of discoveries and we would not know when we can end it, that is to say, when we can say that we have known everything to be known in the world of nature.

This does not mean that our certainties can never know the truth, even the absolute, and not just relative, truths. Yes, we can, but the best that we can do is to project ourselves to infinite possibilities, because even the absolute truths are not things that are frozen. They are always dynamic.

Our logical certainties can only tackle some aspects and levels of the reality that is proper to us. We need to realize more deeply that we have to contend not only with natural and even spiritual realities but also with supernatural realities that simply are above our nature to know, unless some revelation is made which should be corresponded to with our act of belief.

Indeed, we have to be truly humble to acknowledge this fact of life and behave accordingly. While we can know some aspects of the truth, we can never say that we know everything. Not even our mathematical precision and scientific accuracy can warrant us to claim that we know everything.

That is why we need to be most careful with our judgments. We have to judge fairly, that is, with love of God and neighbor as the main motive for judging. From the Book of Leviticus, we read: “You shall not act dishonestly in rendering judgment. Show neither partiality to the weak nor deference to the mighty, but judge your fellow men justly.” (19,15)

If we have love for God and neighbor as the main motive for judging, we would know what to say, how to say it, and when to say it. And somehow, we can manage to judge all things, just as St. Paul once said: “He that is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.” (1 Cor 2,15)

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com