Discerning Spiritual Blindness

Why Logic Fails explains spiritual blindness. In Matthew 13, Jesus said that, upon hearing the Gospel, every human being will fall into one, of four, categories. The first category, the one where seed fell onto the path, refers to those who are spiritually blind.

A person who is spiritually blind, is unable to think logically, when it comes to spiritual things. This is because the blindness is of a supernatural nature, and the devil has kept their minds in the dark. Such people have closed their eyes, and have stopped up their ears; which prevents them from thinking rationally, and accepting spiritual truths. This is according to 2nd Corinthians 4:1-4, and Matthew 13:11-15.

As a Christian, you will likely encounter individuals who are spiritually blind. When this happens, you'll recognize that a conversation with them, pertaining to spiritual things, is nearly impossible. You may want to continue a fruitful conversation; which could be possible if the Holy Spirit opens their eyes. However, you also don't want to engage in a useless conversation, which may result in arguments. So, how do you know when to keep investing your time, and how do you know when to walk away?

I've been able to recognize a tactic that is very effective in determining whether or not a person is spiritually blind. It's a fairly simple tactic, and it allows you to discern whether a person is open to logic and reason.

An atheist will tell you that they don't believe the Bible is true. They'll tell you that they think it's all made up, and that the events, as recorded in the Bible, aren't historically accurate. When that happens, the tactic is to ask them this question. If they don't believe things happened the way the Bible says, then what do they think actually happened, specifically, in detail? This seems like a simple question to ask. However, the person's response will be very revealing.

If you choose to employ this tactic, the key is to stay focused on the question that you've asked. Most atheists won't answer the question, in detail. This is because, any detailed answer, will be revealed as ludicrous, when it's described, in detail. They'll often give vague answers. However, the trick is to force them to be specific. After all, the Bible is very specific, concerning what happened, back then. It perfectly explains the origins of what took place; as do many historical records. A person has an impossible task, when their goal is to erase history, and replace it with a detailed, fabricated lie.

Not long ago, I was involved in an online conversation. It took place after I had answered a question on Quora.com. The question read, "As a theist, what would make you become an atheist?"

I receive all sorts of questions, from Quora, through E-mail. When this one popped up, I found it to be candid and interesting, so I answered it. Six months later, I received a comment, on my answer to this question. It was from an atheist, who decided to express his view. His critical comment, led to my response; which resulted in a back-and-forth dialog. The final result was exactly what anyone would expect. We went back and forth, for several days, before the conversation ended in continued disagreement.

Because I had encountered this sort of thing, many times before, I knew exactly where things where headed, the minute I read his first comment. It was exactly as I've pointed out, in my article at whylogicfails.com. There would be no common ground. However, what made this exchange more unique, than others I had encountered, isn't the stance that he took. Rather, it was my choice to pose the simple question.

It was clear that this man didn't believe that Jesus peformed miracles. Nor did he agree with the historical account, that is shown in the Bible. So, because he rejected the historical account, I wanted him to explain what he thought happened, in detail. I wanted him to explain how it came to be that the entire world chose to reference all of time to the birth of Jesus, if Jesus hadn't performed miracles. I wanted a detailed, step-by-step account, of what, he thought, happened.

If you have an account on Quora.com, then you'll be able to view the entire exchange that took place, by visiting the following link:

Example of Spiritual Blindness

Unfortunately, you're only able to view the exchange if you have a Quora account. If you don't have an account, it costs nothing to sign up for one.

This exhchange showcases exactly how spiritual blindness works. This man's last few posts are filled with nothing but nonsensical statements. However, he sees nothing wrong with his deeply flawed thinking. Had we been discussing any other topic, the nonsense would be glaring to him, or anyone else. In this instance, it will certainly be glaring to anyone who is a believer, or anyone who isn't spiritually blind -- to those who are open, and honest, about truth, logic and basic reason.

If you do choose to examine this dailog, on Quora, you'll see that the exchange goes on and on. In fact, to this day, this person continues to post. This is despite me leaving the conversation, a day, or two, ago. I mention this because his continued posts will make the dialog more difficult to follow. This is because, sometimes, Quora tends to put the latest posts, before some of the earlier ones. For this reason, I'll provide dates, and the name of the person who is engaged in the conversation.

Rick Brown made his first comment on January 8th, 2023. My last response, in my conversation with him, was made on January 20th, 2023. I've decided to include his name, and these dates, so that anyone may have an easier time following the conversation. Due to the number of comments, that he has continued to make, it's easy for our dialog to get buried. You'll have to click on the "more", links, at the bottom of our responses, when reading the dailog. Quora has designed their site, this way, in order to keep it from getting cluttered.

Everyone has their own level of patience, when it comes to enduring nonsensical arguments. However, once you've gotten a person to display an extreme, obvious, level of ludicrous thinking, it isn't hard to see their spiritual blindness, and recognize the limitations of the effectiveness of your conversation.

Paul encountered people who were spiritually blind. In Acts 19:8-10, we're able to see how he dealt with the situation. Once it becomes clear that they're spiritually blind, and have lost all capability of logic and reason, all we can do is walk away.