(quote from RealReality.org/Real_Faith_and_Reason_Vol_2_-_Scientia.pdf)

We’re on a life-long journey into truth and righteousness. We must not stop now.

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(quote from RealReality.org/Real_Faith_and_Reason_Vol_2_-_Scientia.pdf)

God also directs us in the seemingly insignificant decisions in our daily lives. In these decisions, He leads and teaches us by His abiding Spirit. He never leaves us or forsakes us, and He’s an ever-present help in need. The Holy Spirit is here with us to teach us and lead us into all the truth. Of course, we must look for and acknowledge His leading to benefit from it. Therefore, we would be foolish to decide anything without asking God first. We would be foolish to ask God and then forget to wait for the answer. How much more foolish to get the answer and refuse to obey. And yet we act foolishly too often.

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(quote from RealReality.org/Real_Faith_and_Reason_Vol_2_-_Scientia.pdf)

God also reveals reality through observations of His creation. He tells us this in the first chapter of Romans. He reveals not only material reality but also spiritual reality through the things He created. Not even failure to acknowledge God can stop this revelation. So God won’t excuse anyone who refuses to acknowledge Him. While God still reveals reality if we fail to acknowledge Him, failure to acknowledge God keeps the rebellious mind from being rational. If you fail to acknowledge God, you can’t tell the difference between truth and error. You can’t tell good from evil or reality from make-believe. And at a certain point, God allows those who persist in rebelling to walk into total darkness.

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(quote from RealReality.org/Real_Faith_and_Reason_Vol_2_-_Scientia.pdf)

Human thought pulls ideas out of imagination, which is haphazard. Divine revelation isn’t haphazard. For instance, God reveals reality to us through Scripture like the history of the universe. He defines right and wrong. He tells us about the future. He reveals the order for the Church, marriage, and families. He also explains the ways to get close to Him. He shows us the ways He speaks and leads.

God teaches us reality through the Bible, but only under certain conditions. We must stand in His presence and depend on Him to interpret the Bible.  We must avoid leaning on human ability to understand the Bible. The so-called “human ability to understand” doesn’t work. This so-called “ability” is always based on made-up stuff. Made-up stuff is haphazard.

How different when we follow the Holy Spirit! As we walk in submission to the Holy Spirit, we walk in submission to those ministries and offices God has appointed over us in the Church where the Holy Spirit indicates. In other words, the Holy Spirit even leads us to find the right counselors and teachers, the ones God sets to lead us.

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(quote from RealReality.org/Real_Faith_and_Reason_Vol_2_-_Scientia.pdf)

Is it possible to always be rational, to never lapse into irrational thinking, to never commit any fallacy? It is possible even though it seems impossible. It seems impossible since each of us has two minds. These two minds are in a battle to the death. As Christians, we each have a natural, carnal mind, and we also have the mind of Christ. But we can’t reconcile these two minds. So we’re limited this way. And yet the Holy Spirit will lead us to the vision He provides. And He Who started a good work in us will continue to complete it. ^{(Philippians 1:6)} He’ll complete it in everyone who’s willing. So He continues the work. He continues until we come to the unity of the faith and knowledge of the Son of God. All must come to unity as one complete man. We must continue to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. ^{(Ephesians 4:11-13)}

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(quote from RealReality.org/Real_Faith_and_Reason_Vol_2_-_Scientia.pdf)

In our individual walks, we Christ-followers do wander from the way and do commit fallacies sometimes. If we would only say and think what the Holy Spirit gives us, we would never commit any fallacies. We wouldn’t commit fallacies since we would have a Foundation for thought.

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(quote from RealReality.org/Real_Faith_and_Reason_Vol_2_-_Scientia.pdf)

Well, if learning about logic and fallacies isn’t going to help, how do we keep persuaders from deceiving us? The answer is simple. We keep our eyes on Jesus. We don’t get distracted. We listen to Christ’s voice. We ask Him to make our hearts soft toward Him. We spend time with Him in prayer. We ask Him to create a hunger for His righteousness within us. We don’t get proud but remain humble and teachable, realizing God has much more to show us. We avoid ungodly counselors wherever they may be whether in print, in classes, on TV, or on the radio. We avoid them when they come through movies, music, or self-help resources. Whenever God puts a check in our hearts, we pay attention. You may even find ungodly counselors in some churches, but only the Holy Spirit can give you the sensitivity to avoid them.

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(quote from RealReality.org/Real_Faith_and_Reason_Vol_2_-_Scientia.pdf)

The ungodly refuse to thank God or glorify Him. And yet, the unthankfulness of the ungodly doesn’t stop God from taking care of them. Indeed, God preserves them so they have the opportunity to reach out to Him. (Acts 17:27) He loves them so. God reached out to us who now know Him. He reached out to us while we were still in total rebellion against Him. When we step off the way and step into rebellion, the Good Shepherd does whatever it takes to bring us back to the way. Therefore, we should rejoice when He does the same for those others who are in full rebellion against Him.

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(quote from RealReality.org/Real_Faith_and_Reason_Vol_2_-_Scientia.pdf)

There’s a reason ungodly thinkers can only understand the terms superficially but have no understanding of how to apply those memorized definitions rationally. Though they know all these concepts about logic and fallacies, they don’t know the basics of truth. Since they refuse to acknowledge God, they can’t know the difference between what they’re making up and what God reveals. They can’t discern between good and evil, truth and error, or reality and make-believe. They’re willingly ignorant. They’ve suppressed the truth in their unrighteousness [deceitful trickery]. And God has turned them over to their own reprobate minds. They only have opinions. They have nothing other than their opinions. However, that doesn’t stop them from being dogmatic or from calling their opinions “facts.” Even when they admit they know nothing as the skeptics do, this admission doesn’t stop them from scoffing at God and ridiculing those who follow God. On the contrary, the ungodly are increasingly irrational, violent, and vehement in fighting against sanity and goodness.

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(quote from RealReality.org/Real_Faith_and_Reason_Vol_2_-_Scientia.pdf)

Memorizing hundreds of fallacies has no power to keep anyone from deception. For several reasons, people who study logic are often more blinded by illusion than those who don’t study logic. For one, those who memorize fallacies often don’t understand the terms. They passed the test in school. They don’t understand how to apply those memorized definitions rationally. They accuse others of committing fallacies when those people haven’t committed fallacies. And they can’t see their own fallacies. They twist the rules of logic to fit their desired conclusions. They blatantly use fallacies to prove their points. They begin every bit of reasoning with bare claims. That’s how they deceive others. Mostly, they deceive themselves.

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