Article February 24, 1986 Issue

From which standpoint are we reasoning?

MARIANNE WARD

"Yes," my friend said, "I like to reason, to figure things out that way. I like things to be logical."

Reasoning is a thoughtful way to reach many conclusions. In the Bible, Isaiah reports God's call to Israel, "Come now, and let us reason together,"^{Isa. 1:18.} and in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health, Mrs. Eddy speaks of this capacity in this way: "Reason is the most active human faculty."^{Science and Health, p. 327.}

Looking further into this active faculty, however, one finds that there are quite different standpoints from which to base one's reasoning. Some result in positive conclusions and others in negative ones. One thing to be aware of is that from whatever standpoint one reasons, the conclusions can seem perfectly logical and valid. So the validity of one's standpoint must be very carefully considered.

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