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Ann's Reviews > Love Your God with All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul
Love Your God with All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul
by J.P. Moreland, Dallas Willard
I just finished this very convicting book. JP doesn't mince words in laying great responsibility on the church (body) to "mobilize and train an army of men and women to occupy territory and advance the kingdom until the King returns"! Instead he says, we have become primarily a hospital to soothe empty selves. In his own unflinching style, JP states "we persist in viewing the sermon as the popular message that ought to be grasped easily by all who attend and evaluated solely on the basis of its pleasurableness, entertainment value and practical orientation. Unfortunately, 20 years of exposure to these types of messages result in a congregation filled with people who have learned very little about their religion, and who are inappropriately dependent on someone else to tell them what to believe each week"......
I can't summarize any better than JP does in the final chapter: "if we evangelicals are tired of being underrepresented (I would also add misrepresented), in the media, the university, and the government, then we need to support evangelical scholarship, .... because such institutions nurture the intellectual leaders of the future". He also admonishes that the church has become anti-intellectual, discouraging a questing mind, and that it is our individual mandate biblically to be SALT and light to this world, that the command in Luke 10:27 to love God with all your mind as well as your heart, soul and strength cannot be compartmentalized. It is not directed at only some few, special "intellectuals". It is a command to us all. You cannot know your God unless you study to show yourself approved, to know what you believe and why you believe it. Developing a Christian mind is part of the very essence of discipleship unto the Lord Jesus. II Tim 2:15
So much more meat in this book! Excellent book to start with in developing your Christian mind. Some chapters harder than others to navigate, but that is the challenge to developing a Christian mind - forcing you to use your mind in critical thinking, or to "Think" as John Piper's book "Think" discusses, resulting in a faith that becomes steady, powerful and confident.
by J.P. Moreland, Dallas Willard
I just finished this very convicting book. JP doesn't mince words in laying great responsibility on the church (body) to "mobilize and train an army of men and women to occupy territory and advance the kingdom until the King returns"! Instead he says, we have become primarily a hospital to soothe empty selves. In his own unflinching style, JP states "we persist in viewing the sermon as the popular message that ought to be grasped easily by all who attend and evaluated solely on the basis of its pleasurableness, entertainment value and practical orientation. Unfortunately, 20 years of exposure to these types of messages result in a congregation filled with people who have learned very little about their religion, and who are inappropriately dependent on someone else to tell them what to believe each week"......
I can't summarize any better than JP does in the final chapter: "if we evangelicals are tired of being underrepresented (I would also add misrepresented), in the media, the university, and the government, then we need to support evangelical scholarship, .... because such institutions nurture the intellectual leaders of the future". He also admonishes that the church has become anti-intellectual, discouraging a questing mind, and that it is our individual mandate biblically to be SALT and light to this world, that the command in Luke 10:27 to love God with all your mind as well as your heart, soul and strength cannot be compartmentalized. It is not directed at only some few, special "intellectuals". It is a command to us all. You cannot know your God unless you study to show yourself approved, to know what you believe and why you believe it. Developing a Christian mind is part of the very essence of discipleship unto the Lord Jesus. II Tim 2:15
So much more meat in this book! Excellent book to start with in developing your Christian mind. Some chapters harder than others to navigate, but that is the challenge to developing a Christian mind - forcing you to use your mind in critical thinking, or to "Think" as John Piper's book "Think" discusses, resulting in a faith that becomes steady, powerful and confident.
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Reading Progress
| 07/21/2012 | page 172 |
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67.0% | "Not always an easy read, but an important concept. Worth the effort!" |
I can't summarize any better than JP does in the final chapter: "if we evangelicals are tired of being underrepresented (I would also add misrepresented), in the media, the university, and the government, then we need to support evangelical scholarship, .... Because such institutions nurture the intellectual leaders of the future". He also admonishes that churches have become anti-intellectual, discouraging a questing mind, and that it is our individual mandate biblically to be SALT and light to this world, that the command in Luke 10:27 to love God with all your mind as well as your heart, soul and strength cannot be compartmentalized. It is not directed at only some few, special "intellectuals". It is a command to us all. You cannot know your God unless you study to show yourself approved, to know what you believe and why you believe it. Developing a Christian mind is part of the very essence of discipleship unto the Lord Jesus. II Tim 2:15
So much more meat in this book! Excellent book to start with in developing your Christian mind. Some chapters harder than others to navigate, but that is the challenge to developing a Christian mind - to use your mind in critical thinking, (or simply to "Think" as John Piper's book "Think" discusses), with lots of scriptural support, resulting in a faith that becomes steady, powerful and confident.