Is God rational?

Question

Rational
-adj.
1. Having or exercising the ability to reason.
2. Of sound mind; sane.
3. Consistent with or based on reason; logical.

Are God's actions and commands based on reason and logic, or are they based on emotions and instincts?

If God's commands are based on reason and logic, why are reason and logic so rarely used to convince humanity to follow them? Why do religions instead demand that we follow God's commands simply because God and/or ancient texts say so?

Wouldn't explaining the reason and logic of God's commands to "nonbelievers" be a better way to convince them to follow them?

Or do God's actions and commands lack reason and logic and therefore they must be followed simply because he says so?

It may have taken Einstein to develp the theory of relativity, but many of us lesser mortals can at least understand parts of it.

If God's commands are rational, then surely at least a limited understanding of them is possilbe for us lowly humans. Wouldn't even that limited understanding of them be useful and help encourage humanity to follow them?

Sarah, I posed this question because it seems to me that nearly all answers from Christians, Muslims, and other monotheists in this forum demand that God's commands be followed simply because he says so.

The potential logic and reason behind them is rarely, if ever, mentioned here.

Because of that, these commands are generally dismissed by all other faiths out of hand simply because they do not believe in the same God.

This lack of discussion of the rationale behind the commands builds a wall that is rarely breached between the different faiths on this site.

I wish that would change, but I doubt it ever will.

Answer 1

Yes God is rational, and so are His commandments. I am sorry that no one has explained logically the reasons for the commandments, I know that as a "believer" it can sometimes be easy just to fall into the habit of doing it just because God says so. I will try to explain logically some of the reasons behind the ten commandments, or some of them because explaining them all would take to long.

Commandments like thou shalt not kill and thou shalt not steal are generally easy to explain, those are bad things to do. I will now focus on one more commandment, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Think of it this way, think of the one person in this world that you respect and honor the most, would you walk up to them and stop cussing them out and taking their name and using it like it is a cuss word, I don't think so! So, does it make sense that you would do that to God, the creator of the universe, I mean we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Him, He deserves more respect and honor than we can ever give Him.

If you would like to have me give you the rational reasons for following the rest of the commandments, e-mail me at [e-mail]

Answer 2

The only way to answer is from people have been taught and read from the bible. The truth is, no one ever knows exactly what god is like but for god personally.
I like to think that god is rational in some degree, but also likes to throw in some humour once in a while to kill boredom.

Answer 3

God would be rational. We are made in his image and we are rational. God has emotions and instincts as we also have emotion and instincts. He calls us to use our reason and logic to control our emotions.

God set the limits for Adam and Eve and he also guides us because he loves us and we descendants of "fallen parents" and therefore of a sinful or corrupt nature.

Answer 4

God is the creator of the world systems. If you do not accept God you will never understand his Rules or Ways. You can show me science but you cannot answer why was there had to be an origin of the species? What was the inception of such?

good luck with your search.

Answer 5

well I'd say it is rational...when you think about it...there is proof. our very DNA for example. and as for why...thou shalt not kill, steal, they seem they would be basic. Think how much chaos would exist in the world if they weren't there. They were meant for harmony and more likely were made into laws so that people had no choice but to at least try to live in harmony.

Answer 6

The nature of god's thought processes (if he exists) would be impossible for our puny brains to comprehend. Do you think a paramecium would be able to judge whether or not you are rational?

Answer 7

However God chooses to make His decisions, Christians accept that His ways are above our ways and His thoughts are above our thoughs. (Isa 55:8-9)

Answer 8

No, God is rationality.