Rationalism and the Mind of Man

Rationalism fails because it ignores the Fall. Scripture teaches that man’s original sin was the desire to be his own god, and as a result every part of his being including his mind is corrupted by sin. The Bible is explicit: “the carnal mind is enmity against God” (Rom. 8:7). Fallen reason is not neutral, nor capable of judging God rightly, because it refuses to submit to God’s law. Rationalism assumes that human reason can stand above God and evaluate His revelation, but this simply repeats the rebellion of Genesis 3:5. All thinking is shaped by moral presuppositions: either man begins with God in submission, or he begins with himself in defiance. There is no “pure” or autonomous reason. Today, rationalism has largely faded from secular philosophy but survives within the church, where Enlightenment assumptions still linger. By placing reason before revelation, it undermines biblical faith and denies the noetic effects of sin, turning theology into a subtle form of unbelief.