The Life of the Mind: A Christian Perspective

There has always been a difference among Christians who believe the intelletual life to be an aid to the faith and those who hold it to be a hindrance. The latter point to pagan intellectuals in the past and secular ones today and compare them unfavorably to those with a childlike faith who walk with the Lord. On the other hand, those Christians who favor the life of the mind will point out that intellectual curiousity need not contradict a childlike faith. They can list any number of great minds in Church history and note how God has used men like St. John Chrysostom, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and others to our current day in witnessing to the truth of the Christian faith through the disciplined use of the mind. The intellect, like any tool, is to be judged by how it is used for God's service. In The Life of the Mind, Clifford Williams considers the compatibility of a strong Christian faith with a powerful intellectual curiosity and makes the case for a positive outcome. Those hoping for a passioned vindication might, however, be disappointed as Williams makes a calm and thoroughly reasoned examination and is not dismissive of the concerns of those who might approach academic considerations with trepidation. He understands that Christians who take up intellectual pursuits might fall into arrogance but this no more such pursuits a vice than those with the gift of natural beauty and are prideful make beauty itself an evil. Williams effectively makes the case that a properly guided intellectual curiosity is a means to see the work of God in His creation and is a good in itself. While not everyone might not be inclined toward intellectual endeavors as a high priority (just as not everyone may be naturally inclined towards art or music), the complete neglect of the life of the mind (as in other areas) impoverishes one's life and closes oneself off to appreciating a facet of God's working in our lives. As a reasoned apologia for the role of intellectual pursuits in the life of the Christian, The Life of the Mind, Williams calmly and clearly answers the objections of well-meaning but short-sighted brethren.

Thinking and faith: De Bono, Rhodes scholar, founder of the International Creative Forum, originator of the concept of "lateral thinking," was my logical choice for books about thinking. Since I was brought up in Alexandria where salvation is by Grace through knowledge, thinking was never stood in the way of faith. Some of the greatest Church thinkers; Origen, Athanasius, and Cyril utilized their faculty in defending Orthodoxy, after developing Saccha's Christianity compatable Neo-Platonism. Renewing the Mind: Jim Sire describes Intellectual Life As a Christian Calling, while John Cobb, Jr. challenging all Christians to think, in obedience of Christ. And while Cobb asks Christians to reclaim their gift of thinking, and redeem thinking about God from theologians, Williams defines the life of the mind as a Christian perspective. In a A Review of The Life of the Mind, Learning to Think Like a Christian is the reviewer T. Moore's qualifying subtitle, he underlines with John Stott that, 'Your Mind Matters', reminds us that, 'disciplined development of the mind must be an important part of every Christian's spiritual life.' Thinking, life of the Mind: Dr. Clifford Williams, a veteran professor of philosophy, at Trinity College offers an examination of the life of the mind, as a Christian perspective, in seven chapters that constitute his brief, but informing book. Christians who develop their mind's life observe, think, and engage in dialogue. They are interested in the exploration of mundane knowledge (science and philosophy) and spiritual knowledge that enhances their faith. Williams believes that people of faith has to be thinkers, and sets in a concise and systematic way the case for his theme. While it is normal to think, developing and utilizing our mental faculties, consistently and coherency, is a matter of discipline, very much like the desert fathers toil with the Noia (thought). While Williams argues that thinking is sought for its own merits, he argues that our minds will try their ways around issues until they can achieve solutions, and acquiring good thinking habits will motivate thinking processes and make them enjoyable. He cites the Scriptures to support his argument, of not wasting what the Lord intended in His intelligent design. He claims that knowledge on its own merits is a way of loving God (John 17:3). The more earnestly we know Him, the deeper will be our love for Him, since, in the biblical sense knowledge is love. Hosea gives the consequences of rejecting thinking, and lack of knowledge; "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. (Hos 4:6) Enhancing Thinking: It is evident that the author uses a mind technique, of enhancing focused reading and leaves memorable headings: Making Beliefs coherent, Discovering Meaning, Sensing the Divine, Loving God with our Minds, Finding Reasons for Believing, Discovering the need for Faith, Taming the F