Love Your God with All Your Mind

The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul

J.P. Moreland

 

THIS IS THE EVANGELICAL BOOK OF THE YEAR!

Dr. Moreland has given us the best critique of the intellectual emptiness of evangelicalism since the work of Carl Henry in the 1940s. Moreland exudes an intellectual confidence in the truth of Christianity that is both humble and hard-headed. The book is brain-food for the soul. I can think of no better book to give a young Christian in college or grad school. --Francis J. Beckwith, associate professor of philosophy, culture, and law, Trinity Graduate School (Deerfield IL), California campus.

Book Outline

Table of Contents

The Christian and the Well Formed Mind

Part One: Why the Mind Matters in Christianity

Part Two: How to develop an Mature Christian Mind

Part Three: What a Mature Christian Mind looks like

Part Four: Guaranteeing a Future for the Christian Mind

Appendix 1: Intellectual Resources

Appendix 2: Sources for Integration

Notes

Summary Thoughts

J.P. argues that we have lost or neglected the ability to disciple the mind. The emergence of anti-intellectualism within the church during the 1800’s effectively marginalized Christian ideas from the public arena. Hume’s skepticism and Kant’s attack on rationalism, coupled with German higher criticism and Darwinism, drove the church into an anti-intellectual stance instead of into a vigorous intellectual counterpunch. The loss of a rigorous Christian mind resulted in these five characteristics of modern evangelicalism:

  1. A misunderstanding of faith’s relationship to reason.
  2. The separation of the secular and the sacred.
  3. Weakened world missions
  4. Anti-intellectualism has spawned an irrelevant gospel
  5. A loss of boldness in confronting the idea structures in our culture with effective Christian witness.

J.P.’s conclusion: "If we are going to be wise, spiritual people prepared to meet the crises of our age, we must be a studying, learning community that values the life of the mind."

Helpful Sections of This Book

Chapter 2’s discussion of what the Bible says about the importance of the mind was fascinating. J.P. demolishes Christianity’s contemporary effort to belittle the use of the mind in our faith, by demonstrating biblically how our critical faculties should be applied both to nature and to Scripture. Coupled with chapter 3’s argument that the mind is central to the transformation of our lives spiritually, J.P.’s biblical material forces one to see the role of faith and reason differently.

In chapter 4, J.P. suggests that we need to develop a Christian intellectual life by:

  1. Admitting the problem of an empty self.
  2. Choosing to be different by exposing yourself to the war of ideas
  3. Changing your routine of watching TV
  4. Developing patience and endurance thru spiritual disciplines
  5. Developing a good vocabulary and
  6. Setting some intellectual goals

In chapters 5 and 6, J.P. outlines some basic rules of logic and apologetics. The information was helpful, but I appreciated more his distinction in chapter 7 between devotional reading and intellectual reading. I’ve begun to apply his three tips for intellectual reading:

  1. The mind works from the whole to the parts to the whole—i.e. read book jacket thoroughly, study table of contents, always read good book reviews prior to reading the book, use a pen and force yourself to determine the structure and thesis of the book, and then of individual chapters. Look for structure, structure, structure.
  2. Make notes to yourself in the margins. Distinguish between own thoughts and thoughts of the author.
  3. Construct your own index inside the front cover of the book—noting items of interest, further research, good quotes.

In his last chapter, J.P. gives several suggestions for recapturing the intellectual life of the church. I particularly like (of late) his suggestion to get rid of all senior pastors and to move ahead with plurality of leaders---many of which employ their spiritual gifts to equip the body. J.P. maintains that no one who preaches week after week can do adequate study for a message or deeply process and internalize the sermon topic spiritually. Get a copy of his appendixes—excellent resources.

Overall, an excellent book! I wish I had read it years ago.

Jay Lorenzen

E-mail - Jaylll@aol.com

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