Is God Logical or Illogical?

 In some circles, it’s fashionable to claim that God isn't logical, that His people shouldn't use logic or reason, and that logic itself is a product of our pagan culture. You might hear the following quote from Prov. 3:5: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” You might also be told not to trust in human reasoning.

Though I agree that we shouldn’t put faith in human reasoning and that we should instead trust in our God, is human reasoning really logical? Does this world we live in seem like a logical place to you? Does man himself seem like a logical creature? Afterall, comedians have been paid millions of dollars for mocking the absurdities of humanity.

Let’s explore how God thinks, and how we ought to think, because this is a fascinating topic!

First of all, what is logic? Here’s the definition from dictionary.com:

“Logic: noun  1 the science that investigates the principles governing correct or reliable inference.  2 a particular method of reasoning or argumentation: We were unable to follow his logic.  3 the system or principles of reasoning applicable to any branch of knowledge or study.  4 reason or sound judgment, as in utterances or actions: There wasn't much logic in her move.  5 convincing forcefulness; inexorable truth or persuasiveness: the irresistible logic of the facts.”

Our English word “logic” derives from the Middle English “logik,” the Latin logica, and the Greek logikos, which means “of speech or reason.” It’s related to the Greek logos, or “word.”

Logic, then, is a system of reasoning, of adding one thing to another to reach a conclusion. Not only is logic similar to mathematics, but logic and mathematics are inextricably woven together, as anyone who has studied geometry knows.

If you start with a truthful premise, add more facts to it, and reason logically, you will arrive at the correct conclusion. Logic is just as unwavering, just as inescapable as adding 2+2.

Now, then, does God use logic? Well, He created everything that exists through words, and designed everything with mathematics. We know this because the Bible says so.

In Genesis 1, “God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light” (Gen. 1:3). Throughout the first chapter of Genesis, God spoke our entire universe into existence. He brought order out of chaos, and beauty out of nothing.

He established mathematical laws to govern not only the heavenly bodies, but all of creation. In questioning Job, God asked him about these laws, saying, “Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth?” (Job 38:33).

Jer. 31:35 tells us that God established the ordinances of the moon and the stars, and Jer. 33:20 speaks of God’s covenant with day and night. What are these ordinances and covenants? The mathematical and physical laws that govern the universe and keep every planet, every star, and every atom in its proper place!

Let’s look at a few more examples. God loves music and desires praise through music. As we read in 1 Chron. 16:9, “Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; talk of all His wondrous works!” Does music involve math? You bet it does! God even speaks of righteousness in terms of mathematics and architecture: “Also I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plummet” (Isa. 28:17). God is the Creator, the Builder, and the Craftsman of everything. These things, too, require math.

When God instructed Moses how to build the tabernacle, He didn’t give haphazard instructions. He took great care in explaining all the dimensions and the materials involved. He admonished Moses, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain” (Ex. 25:40; 26:30; Heb. 8:5).

Everywhere we look, God has established order. Chaos and confusion are anathema to God’s character. 1 Cor. 14:33 tells us, “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace.” As God’s people, we ought to have the same character. 1 Cor. 14:40 tells us, “Let all things be done decently and in order.”

God’s character is one of order and stability. He is consistent. Everything He says and does works together in perfect harmony. He abides by righteous principles as unchanging as the laws of mathematics. These principles are the same laws that He has given us. He is, through Jesus Christ, our firm foundation (1 Cor. 3:11), “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8). God does not change (Mal. 3:6).

Now, then, does this sound to you like God is illogical or unreasonable? How foolish it would be to say such a thing!

In fact, in Isa. 1:18, God tells us, “Come now, and let us reason together.” Reason and logic are intertwined.

People who claim God is illogical do so simply because they don’t understand what He's doing. They don’t see the big picture that He sees. None of us do. God knows everything. He knows the hairs on our head (Mat. 10:30; Luke 12:7). There’s nothing that escapes His attention.

“'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' says the LORD. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts'” (Isa. 55:8-9).

We may not see the big picture that God sees, we may not always understand what He is doing, but we can have faith that His plan is always best. Rom. 8:28 tells us, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

Imagine we puny, illogical human beings claiming our Creator is illogical, just because we often don’t understand what He’s doing. The audacity!

It’s the Biblical definition of foolishness.

As human beings, we have an unfortunate tendency to speak about things we don’t understand, to say more than we actually know. This is folly: “He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him” (Prov. 18:13). 2 Pet. 2:12 adds, “But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption.”

Even Job, one of the most righteous men who ever lived (Ezek. 14:14, 20), fell into this trap. In the midst of his suffering, he complained that God wasn’t being logical or reasonable, and longed to reason with God: “But I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God” (Job 13:3).

After being questioned and instructed by God Himself, Job realized his error. He replied, “You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know” (Job 42:3).

In the Book of Ezekiel, we find this Divine statement, “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.' Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair?” (Ezek. 18:25). Fairness or justice, too, is a concept derived by reason and logic. To those who think God isn’t logical, He might say, “Is it not My way which is logical, and your ways which are not logical?”

Is God logical? Absolutely!

What about God’s servants? Should we, as God’s people, use logic and reasoning?

Many times throughout the Bible, God’s servants made a decision for this or that reason. Here’s an example: “And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: All the people who came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way, after they had come out of Egypt” (Josh. 5:4).

Where there’s a reason for one’s conduct, logic is involved. But here’s another interesting fact to glean from this verse: the Hebrew word translated “reason” in many versions is davar (Strong’s # H1697), which means “word.” Remember that the Greek logos, the origin of our word “logic,” also means “word”! Joshua used logic.

Here’s another example. This time, it’s King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, who used logic and reason: “I applied my heart to know, to search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things, to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness” (Eccl. 7:25).

In this case, “reason” is kheshbon (Strong’s # H2808), and means, according to Gesenius, “reason, understanding.” It comes from the Hebrew root word khashab (Strong’s # 2803), which means, “to think, to meditate; computing, reckoning.”

A couple verses later, Solomon added this: “‘Here is what I have found,’ says the Preacher, ‘adding one thing to the other to find out the reason [kheshbon]’” (Eccl. 7:27). Adding things together, thinking, computing — that sounds like logic, doesn’t it? Yes, it does — because that’s exactly what it is!

In fact, the entire Book of Ecclesiastes, one of my favorite books in the Bible, is a book of logic and reason. Solomon used logic and reason to show us the meaning of life, which he revealed at the end of the book: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Eccl. 12:13-14).

The meaning of life is to obey and serve God, so that He may judge us worthy to enter into His Kingdom. Solomon explained this by showing us that life here on earth is only temporary, and that nothing in this life has any real meaning without God. This process of reasoning is the very definition of logic!

The Apostle Paul, too, used logic and reasoning. Throughout the Book of Acts, we’re told that Paul reasoned with the people he preached to. For example, we’re told in Acts 19:8-9 that Paul reasoned and persuaded “concerning the things of the kingdom of God.” The word “reasoned” or “reasoning” is the Greek dialogemai (Strong’s # G1256), which means, “to think different things with oneself, mingle thought with thought, to ponder, revolve in mind, to converse, argue, discuss.”

There are many more examples we could look at, but that should be sufficient for now. From examining the Scriptures, it becomes clear that logic and reasoning are good things. God is a very logical Being. His servants used logic throughout the Bible.

In fact, how can we understand the Bible? By the Holy Spirit, of course, but how does the Holy Spirit help us understand? By “adding one thing to another” throughout the Bible to see the whole picture: that is, by logic! Isa. 28:10 plainly tells us, “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.”

Where, then, does man go wrong? Why do the great thinkers and intellectuals of this age so often come to conclusions that defy Scripture? If man is such a logical creature, how does he get so far off from the truth? How has man come to be so opposite of God?

First of all, man is anything but logical. Man is a very emotional creature, “foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another” (Tit. 3:3). Jer. 17:9 tells us, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?”

When Prov. 3:5 tells us, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding,” it’s not because we humans are logical. It’s not because we’re so smart and full of understanding. It’s because we’re illogical and ruled by emotion.

Does this mean emotion is bad? Does this mean that cold logic is all there is to life? By no means! God created us with emotion; He Himself has emotion. God feels love, compassion, anger, sadness, and joy, to name a few. He created us to feel the same feelings.

However, we are to rule our emotions, not to be carried away by them. We are to exercise self-control. Solomon told us, “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city” (Prov. 16:31).

Here’s a common example of man’s lack of logic. For our example, let’s consider a typical question asked by so-called atheists: “How can God allow suffering to happen?” Since there’s suffering in the world, they conclude that God must not exist.

They don’t consider that God might have a better view of the situation than they, or that His plan might be far grander than theirs. They don’t even try to understand His purpose.

Instead, they say, in essence, “God doesn’t do things the way that I would do them, so therefore He must not exist.” Does that sound logical or reasonable? Of course not!

Secondly, if we start with an incorrect premise and reason logically, we will arrive at the wrong conclusion. Here, too, many people go astray. They start with the wrong premise.

In order to arrive at the truth, we must start with the truth — God’s Word. We must base our reasoning on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ. Anything else is a foundation of shifting sands like the one Jesus talked about in Mat. 7:26-27: “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

Scientists who start with the false premise of evolution, for example, will naturally arrive at wrong conclusions. They didn’t build on a firm foundation; they built on the sand.

Is God logical? Yes! Should we use logic? Yes!

How do we know what to believe? By determining what’s consistent with God’s Word — that is, by using logic! How do we know we can trust God? Because He’s logical and consistent. He is a firm foundation.

When we use logic or mathematics, we are using the tools that God Himself uses. But we know that He uses them better than we do. We have faith in God rather than our own thoughts because we know that God sees all and knows all, that His thoughts are far higher than ours, and that His way is better than ours.