Faith as Golden Tongs: Receiving Divine Truth Beyond Reason

Chrysostom, as quoted by Thomas Manton, offers a piercing comparison: "A smith that takes up his red-hot iron with his hands, and not with his tongs, what can he expect but to burn his fingers?" So we destroy our souls when we judge the mysteries of faith by the laws of common reason. Men must comprehend when their main business is to apprehend. That which Elohim reveals lies beyond the reach of human understanding; in refusing to believe until we can understand, we commit grievous wrong against ourselves and truth alike.

Our wisdom lies as much in how we receive as in what we receive. Spiritual truth must be grasped by faith, not reason—as impossible as grasping a star by hand is grasping Divine truth by intellect. Faith resembles the golden tongs that carry live coals safely; carnal reason is the burned hand, incapable of bearing the glowing mass.

Yet faith opposes not reason. A child reasonably believes his father's statements without comprehending all their bearings. A pupil rightly accepts his master's principles at discipleship's beginning; he learns nothing if he disputes before learning.

In the sublime truths of Godhead, incarnation, atonement, and regeneration, we must believe or remain forever ignorant. These molten masses of eternal truth demand faith's handling—or must be left alone entirely. (C. H. Spurgeon)