Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D., Fall, 2008, TM 500
Professor of Philosophy, Denver Seminary
THE
SPIRITUALITY OF THE INTELLECT:
OR OUTTHINKING
THE WORLD FOR CHRIST
The
spirit-empowered intellect is a wonder to behold.
I.
SPIRITUALITY TODAY
A.
Postmodern
spirituality: sacred subjectivity devoid of truth (John 10:10)
1.
Relativistic:
truth decay
2.
Subjective:
selfish
3.
Pragmatic: not
principled
4.
Hedonistic: no
cross of suffering for God and his Kingdom and his people
5.
Eclectic: not
unified
B.
Biblical
spirituality: being transformed through the Holy Spirit to love God and serve
your neighbor in God’s power (Zech. 4:6: John 13-15)
1.
Justification:
positional restoration through the Cross of Christ (Romans 5:1-8; 1 Corinthians
5:17)
2.
Sanctification:
existential Christ-likeness through the Cross of Christ (Luke 9:23-36; Phil.
2:11-12)
3.
Glorification:
consummation of Christ-likeness and restoration of the divine image in humans
(Romans 8)
II.
THE
CHALLENGE OF CRITICAL THINKING
A. Creation Mandate requires
critical thinking (Genesis 1:26-28; Psalm 8)
B. Christ’s Great Commission
requires critical thinking (Matthew 28:18-20)
C. Christ’s Great Commandment
requires critical thinking (Matthew 22:37-39)
D. Culture development and
Christian proclamation require critical thinking for the glory of God (1
Corinthians 10:31; Colossians 3:17)
II. CRITICAL THINKING AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
A. Critical thinking: the
practice of carefully evaluating ideas in a way that highly values rationality
as a tool for finding, defending, and applying truth in every area of life.
B. Critical thinking in Scripture (see Isa. 1:18; 1
Peter 3:15-16)
1. Jesus’ use of careful
argumentation in theological and ethical disputes
(Matthew
22:23-33); see D. Groothuis, On Jesus (Wadsworth , 2003)
2. God was
“well pleased” with Jesus in all things (Matthew 3:17)
III. THE PRACTICE OF CRITICAL THINKING FOR CHRISTIANS
A.
Intellectual virtues: Loving God with all your mind (Matthew 22:37-39)
1. Reason as a divine gift. Be thankful
for it (James 1:18)
2. Fruit of the Holy Spirit: Intellectual
patience required for godliness
(Galatians 5:22)
3. Put truth first in everything (Matthew
6:33; John 14:1-6)
B. Intellectual vices to avoid
1. Sloth: intellectual
impatience, unwillingness to work, think, grow,
struggle
(“the fool” as described in Proverbs)
2. Dangers of
television: wasting time, dumbing down, image over reality,
intellectual impatience, and so on. See Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death.
IV. GODLY HABITS OF THE MIND
A. Do not fear hard intellectual questions; ask
them; pursue good answers
(Matthew 7:7-12). Nietzsche
quote: have the courage to challenge your own
convictions.
B. Have solid and sufficient reasons for your
deepest beliefs (apologetics): 1 Peter
3:15-16;
Jude 3.
C.
Be transformed through the renewing your mind to know God’s
will (Romans 12:1-2)
D. Take time
for silence and solitude before God. Think well for God and
for
others. Time “in the woodshed” (jazz phrase for practicing)
E. The Cross of Christ and
intellectual sanctification
1. Deny all that keeps you from
submitting your intellect to the transformative power of the Holy Spirit
2. Repent of intellectual sloth
and distractions (Matthew 4:17)
SUGGESTED READING FOR TRANSFORMING THE MIND
1. Harry Frankfurt, On Bullshit. 2005. A serious treatment
of why so much discourse today is lacking in logic and truth.
2. Douglas Groothuis, Truth Decay: Defending Christianity Against
the Challenges of Postmodernism. InterVarsity Press, 2000.
3. Douglas Groothuis, On Jesus. Wadsworth , 2003. Looks at Jesus as a
philosopher and critical thinker with a well-developed and pertinent worldview.
4. Douglas Groothuis, The Soul in Cyberspace. Wipf and Stock,
1999. Addresses how cyberspace affects our view of truth, community, religion,
etc.
5. Douglas Groothuis, Rebecca
Merrill Groothuis web page: www.DougGroothuis.com. Much material on apologetics, ethics,
philosophy, evangelical egalitarianism, and culture.
6. Rebecca Merrill Groothuis, Women Caught in he Conflict: The Culture War
Between Traditionalism and Feminism (Wipf and Stock, 1997). Award-winning
book that examines the logic of the gender debate.
7. Os Guinness, Fit Bodies, Fat Minds. Baker Books,
1994. Addresses the problem of anti-intellectualism and what to do about it.
8. J.P. Moreland, Love Your God With All Your Mind,
NavPress, 1997. Cogent apologetic for an active and world-changing Christian
mind by a leading Christian philosopher.
9. Nancy Pearcey, Total Truth (Crossway, 2004).
Contemporary classic on thinking biblically according to a Christian worldview
across the whole of life.
10. Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death. Penguin,
1985. Best assessment of the nature and power of television to dumb-down public
discourse. Truly a “must-read” book.
11. Francis Schaeffer, True Spirituality. Tyndale. The secret
of Schaeffer’s great ministry: trust Christ moment by moment; do not rely on
the flesh. God’s work in God’s way is paramount.
12. Brother Yun, The Heavenly Man. Monarch Books, 2003. A man totally sold out for God
sees God work in every situation. His spirit-led zeal should be applied to the
life of study and critical thinking, although this was not his main calling
(unlike Schaeffer, for example).
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