THE MIND UNDER FIRE

__________________

A Paper

Presented to

Dr. David P Bertch

The College at Southwestern

__________________

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for HIS 4203-A

__________________

by

Wes Terry

April 1, 2009
 THE MIND UNDER FIRE

The American mind is under attack and its citizens are at war. Authors,

throughout the last century, have sought to make that fact known in order to bring about a

resurgence of critical thinking. Sadly, there has been no lasting change. More troubling is

the role of the Christian mind in the American dilemma. Pulitzer Prize winner Richard

Hofstadter attributed much of the problem of anti-intellectualism to the Christian

community.1 Writing in the same year, Harry Blamires addressed the Christian

community directly by saying that the Christian mind has joined in on the secular drift of

non-thinking with a “degree of weakness and nervelessness unmatched in Christian

history.”2 In 1994, Mark Noll described the condition of the Evangelical mind as a

scandal because there is “not much of an evangelical mind.”3 Revivalism, the loss of the

eternal perspective, and a reckless devotion to technology have helped to weaken the

Christian mind and the following, using those categories, will illustrate that although the

Christian mind is part of the problem, only the Christian mind is uniquely equipped to

bring about the solution. The first area to be explored will be the aftermath of revivalism.

The Rise of Non-Thinking

Before evaluating the negative effects brought about by the revivalist

movements in the nineteenth century, it needs to be said that such efforts did a
1
Richard Hofstadter, Anti-Intellectualism in American Life (New York: Vintage
Books, 1963), 85.
2
Harry Blamires, The Christian Mind: How should a Christian Think?
(Vancouver: Regent College Publishing, 1963), 3.
3
Mark A. Noll, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (Grand Rapids: William
B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1994), 3.
2
 3
tremendous amount of good for churches across America. The criticisms that follow are

not meant to devalue or dismiss the work that was done in any way. However, there is a

sense in which the general tone of the revivalist spirit was one of subjectivism. Many

enthusiasts considered intellectual pursuits of knowing God as “at best intrusions and at

worst barriers to the pure and direct actions of the heart.”4 That mentality grew among the

laity and eventually spread to the clergy. There was a rise in pragmatic philosophy by

evangelists and a commonly held belief that since conversion was the end goal of

preaching, the means of achieving that goal were insignificant.5

Over time, the revivalist focus on one’s subjective experience planted seeds of

individualism and immediatism. Church history and tradition were soon distrusted and

irrelevant. As Noll describes it, “They [the revivalists] insisted that what had gone on in

the churches through the centuries was irrelevant to what must be done with respect to

the faith now.” 6 This shift had a profound effect on Christian thinking because it

harvested a culture that had no use for the intellectual masterpieces of the great Christian

minds of old. Such literature was far too dated to add any value to the current

environment. The mind was no longer needed to follow Jesus.

Lastly, it should be pointed out that the intellectual flabbiness that resulted

from the revivalist movement also paved the way for what Mark Noll calls a

fundamentalist filter.7 The general distrust in one’s reason and intellect led Evangelicals

to isolate themselves from the academic community and, in their reaction to modernism,
4
Richard Hofstadter, Anti-Intellectualism in American Life (New York: Vintage
Books, 1963), 85.
5
Ibid.
6
Mark A. Noll, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (Grand Rapids: William
B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1994), 63.
7
Mark A. Noll, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (Grand Rapids: William
B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1994), 211.
 4
created a subculture that stereotyped fundamentalists as scientifically infantile. The

Church was soon marginalized by culture, but, in many respects, the fundamentalists did

not care. This resulted with a decline in theological integrity and the loss of cultural

engagement. “The fundamentalist filter may have strained out enough atheism to preserve

a kernel of supernatural Christianity, but for intellectual purposes, fundamentalism also

strained out most of the ingredients required for a life of the mind.”8 In sum, the revivalist

movement started with an emphasis on experience, led to a general distrust in the

intellect, culminated with an ill-equipped reaction to modernism, and resulted with the

Church being marginalized by popular culture. All of this paved the way for a general

deterioration of the Christian mind: especially in how it thought about eternity.

Thinking Wrongly About Eternity

With the rise of pragmatic philosophy in churches, there was an increased

attention on the immediate. Harry Blamires describes the loss of the eternal perspective

as Christian schizophrenia and claims it has permeated both the laity and the clergy.9 The

eternal used to inform how one thought about the temporal but these binaries have been

reversed and the temporal has “eaten up” the eternal.10 Particulars have eaten up the

universals, and pragmatism is the major culprit.

French Philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville predicted this kind of behavior when

he was writing on the influence of democracy in American life. “Not only are they

[Americans] occupied, but their occupations interest them passionately. They are
8
Ibid.
9
Harry Blamires, The Christian Mind: How should a Christian Think?
(Vancouver: Regent College Publishing, 1963), 71.
10
This description is borrowed from the insightful work of Francis Schaeffer
who explained these concepts using the words "upper story" and "lower story." Francis A.
Schaeffer, The Francis A. Schaeffer Trilogy: The Three Essential Books in One Volume
(Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1990), 215.
 5
perpetually in action, and each one of their actions absorbs their soul.”11 The eternal soul

is so preoccupied with its temporary surroundings that it can no longer contemplate that

which it was made for: eternity. It no longer allows the eternal perspective to inform the

temporal. The consequence has been a slow bleed of distinctively Christian thinking and

a nation of Christians who know neither how nor why they should use their minds.

The Christian should never be doubtful of objective truth. As Chesterton wrote,

“A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth… the

part he doubts is exactly the part he ought not to doubt – the Divine Reason.”12

Chesterton is right. Yet, today many Christians are doubtful about both. However, the

ignorance of the age did not force the Christian mind into its downward spiral of

distrusting the truth. The Christian, by refusing to think in terms of the eternal

perspective, has voluntarily handed himself over to it. He has willingly submitted to

intellectual disengagement. He has chosen to think wrongly about reality.

The Technological Homicide

Technology has been the atomic bomb of this war on the mind. A 2005 survey

pointed out that “most Americans – including children – spend at least nine hours a day

watching TV, surfing the web, or talking on their cell phones. Of those hours, one-third of

the time is spent using two or more of those media at once.”13 Because of tools such as

the internet, interconnectedness reigns supreme in the area of relationships, professions,

and leisurely activities. However, technology comes with a bias that leads one to think
11
de Tocqueville, Alexis, Democracy in America, trans. Stephen D. Grant
(Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2000), 294.
12
Chesterton, Gilbert K, Orthodoxy, ed. Craig M. Kibler (Lenoir: Reformation
Press, 2002), 56.
13
Mark Earley, "Breakpoint Commentaries: Get Unplugged," Break Point
Prison Fellowship, March 6, 2009,
http://www.breakpoint.org/listingarticle.asp?ID=11422/ (accessed March 9, 2009).
 6
about the world only through the “kind of rationality that is technology-like.”14 It is the

poster child of pragmatism. Technology is all about means. As David Wells asserts, “Life

is flattened out, its height and depth surrendered as it is all reduced simply to process.”15

Nancy Gibbs quotes James Trunzo as saying, “We are inundated with

information. The mind can’t handle it all. The pace is so fast now, I sometimes feel like a

gunfighter dodging bullets.”16 The Christian mind is overwhelmed and, in reaction, it has

retreated to diversion instead of leisure and to preoccupation with activity instead of

proper affections for God. Diversion naturally follows from subjectivism and

temporalism because when one only thinks about reality in terms of his experience and

his experience is solely tied to the temporal, diversion is the only thing left to placate his

sense of spirituality.

There is no reason for a person to think Christianly when he can satisfy his

longing for meaning by indulging his passions with diversion. However, diversion will

never satisfy one’s longing for meaning. “We face an incorrigible mortality that

delusively drives us to overcome the inevitable by means of the impossible: finding

satisfaction and release through empty amusements that masquerade as worthwhile.”17 A

reckless devotion to technology is just an age old appeal to diversion. It cannot satisfy the

Christian mind and, as Jonathan Edwards warned, it leaves the Christian mind void of the

meaningful and open to Satan. “For the devil often takes advantage of persons’ ignorance

14
David F. Wells, Above All Earthly Powers: Christ in a Postmodern World
(Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2005), 36.
15
Ibid.
16
Nancy Gibbs, "How America Has Run Out of Time," Time magazine, April
24, 1989.
17
Douglas Groothuis, The Soul in Cyberspace (Grand Rapids: Baker Books,
1997), 80.
 7
to ply them with temptations which otherwise would have no hold of them.”18 Reckless

devotion to anything other than Christ is dangerous for the Christian mind. Diversion is

idolatry in its best wardrobe.

The Christian who fails to think Christianly has lost his identity. He knows not

who he is, where he is from, nor where he is going. He has no idea what the true meaning

of life is because he fails to think of life from the eternal perspective. In his disparity he

identifies with the ignorance of his age. He is comfortable there but extremely unhappy.

So, in order to ease his unhappiness, he saturates his mind with the God of techno-driven

information. A simple pause would give the Christian rest but he refuses.19 There has been

no return to truly meaningful leisure. There has only been diversion. There has only been

thinking about the meaningless. Therefore, the Christian culture is left with shallow

relationships, loss of purpose, and minuscule minds.

Hope on the Horizon?

Given the odds, there seems to be little hope for the Christian mind to come

back from the pit of despair. However, it is only the Christian mind that is equipped to

rescue the culture from that pit. Mark Noll gives Evangelicalism hope when he writes

that “striking gains have been made…significant steps have been taken toward promoting

a Christian mind, not only for theology but also for other aspects of existence.”20 Noll

further explains that hope does not even necessarily lie in the progress that has been made

18
Jonathan Edwards, On Knowing Christ (Carlisle: The Banner of Truth Trust,
1997), 27.
19
Joe Carter, "Info-techno Sabbath: Unplugging The God Of Information
Technology," Boundless, September 27, 2007,
http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0001584.cfm/ (accessed March 18, 2009).
20
Mark Noll, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
1994), 220.
 8
but in the very nature of Christian religion.21 The true hope for solving the problem non-

thinking in Christian circles is in the very person of Jesus Christ.

Jesus has given the Church the keys of the Kingdom and not even the gates of

hell will overcome her progress. The truth of Christianity does not cease to be true just

because its adherents fail to exercise belief in it. What is needed is a revival. Not one of

inducing subjective experience but of one explaining objective reality. What is needed is

a revival of Christian thinking and responsible Christian minds. The soul was built for

eternity but the secular mind has silenced it. The Christian mind must rise up and refute

the idols of this age with a message that appeals to the whole of man: heart and mind.

Such ends will only be achieved when Christians look less like dummies and

more like Jesus. There needs to be a realignment of one’s affections from worldliness to

holiness. The Christian community must move from a culture of ignorance and death to

one of truth and life. They need to represent Christ accurately and this cannot be done

without knowing him truly. Thus, there needs to be a new appreciation for the life of the

mind and the search for truth. It must be sought after even when it not nice or democratic

because Jesus is more important than anything else. Peter Kreeft explains this well:

Saints are not nice. They are embroiled in controversy, necessarily, always. This is
because saints are as devoted to truth as they are to love; they will not be false
prophets who give the people what they want instead of what they need… their
double devotion to truth and love is the only weapon that can win the war against
the culture of death. Only saints can save the world.22

All intellectual pursuits should be sought with the intention of understanding

God more truly and knowing him more fully. When this happens, Christians take hold of

the equipment that is already available to them. As Mark Noll explained, “Christianity

21
Ibid., Pg 239.
22
Peter Kreeft, How to Win the Culture War: A Christian battle Plan for a
Society in Crisis (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2002), 102.
 9
gives a conceptual foundation for creativity, comprehensiveness, and mystery, so that the

pursuit of all truth can be energized by the love of God.”23 Or, in the words of Christian

thinker C.S. Lewis, “It [Christianity] was never intended to replace or supersede the

ordinary human arts and sciences: it is rather a director which will set them all to the right

jobs, and a source of energy which will give them all new life.”24 Christians must reject

the ignorance of the age and the diversion it has to offer so that they can pursue the

knowledge of Truth so attractively that the culture is drawn to them.

Solutions

It will be submitted that this can be achieved in a few different ways. The first

is by returning oneself to reading the ancient philosophers and early church fathers. The

problems that Christians are faced with today are no different than those that have been

posed before. Christians would be wise to learn about their history and of the brilliant

men on whose shoulders they stand. Likewise, they would do well to train their minds to

think philosophically so they can competently challenge the faulting thinking of their age.

Men such as Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Aquinas, Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Chesterton, and

Lewis will give believers a good view of where they have come from and where they are

headed. Only then will they know how to act responsibly where they are.25

Secondly, Christians will be able to solve this problem by knowing and being

able to articulate a distinctively Christian worldview. They must be able to view their

theology, philosophy, and culture as a whole and be able to communicate it well. They

23
Mark Noll, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
1994), 220.
24
C.S Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1980),
83.
25
Thomas C. Oden, "On Not Whoring After the Spirit of the Age," in No God
But God, ed. Os Guinness and John Seel (Chicago: Moody Press, 1992), 202.
 10
must know not only their own worldview but also the worldview of a culture in despair.

As Schaeffer suggests, “There is no use talking today until the presuppositions are taken

into account, and especially the crucial presuppositions concerning the nature of truth and

the method of attaining truth.”26 This means one must be able to take a person, regardless

of their worldview persuasion, be able to show that person the inconsistencies of their

worldview persuasion, and then convincingly illustrate the truth of the Gospel. Truth

must be shown for what it is before it can be fully embraced. The Christian has this

unique responsibility.

Thirdly, the problem can be remedied by cultural engagement: specifically in

the liberal arts. Christians have been marginalized for far too long. Christian minds are

uniquely equipped to bring value to the academic community but they have been seen as

scientifically inept. In the same way, Christians are uniquely equipped to create beautiful

art but, instead, they have proved themselves to be quite dull. Why the dullness?

Evidentially, Christians think the Gospel is dull. They do not see their faith as

intellectually credible, artistically beautiful, or culturally relevant. In turn, the church has

offered all kinds of ineffective strategies to engage a culture that has marginalized them.

In the words of David Wells, “What the Church needs is not more of these strategies but

more faith, more confidence that God’s Word is sufficient for this time, more confidence

in the power of the Holy Spirit to apply it, and more integrity in proclaiming it.”27

The Christian must quit being believing that the truth of Christianity is

somehow irrelevant to culture. If Christianity is true than it is the most relevant thing in

26
Francis A. Schaeffer, The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer: A
Christian Worldview, ed. Francis A. Schaeffer, A Christian View of Philosophy and
Culture (Westchester: Crossway Books, 1982), 138.
27
David F. Wells, Above All Earthly Powers: Christ in a Postmodern World
(Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2005), 208.
 11
the universe! As Pascal wagered, that chance alone should make the validity of Christian

faith a thing of discussion. If the Church would bring the claims of Christianity to the

kitchen table of universities, museums, art galleries, billboard top twenties, and political

discussions, and they argued intelligently and persuasively the reasonableness of

Christianity, the raw data of the Christian faith would again be relevant. The Church

needs boldness and courage today more than ever because the culture has entered into

despair. If the Church will arise, Christians can provide light to a culture that is about to

realize how dark the world has become.

What One Man Is Doing

Let me now speak quite personally with the reader. I have described a problem

that I very much believe in. However, I have not bought into the idea that nothing can be

done about it. I believe we will win because Christians “wield the world’s most

unconquerable weapon.”28 We mobilize the most powerful force in the universe. Yet, “he”

is more than a force. He is God: he is personal, he is there, and he speaks. Jesus turned

the world upside down with twelve committed men. I am not Jesus but I, like Jesus, am

one man. I, like Jesus, seek to do the will of my heavenly father. And I, like Jesus, have

faith that with God all things are possible. The beautiful thing about one is that it is not

zero. It is multipliable by any other digit. And, that digit, having already been multiplied

by one, can be multiplied even further.

Therefore, with my oneness I seek to multiply myself by the following means.

The first is through personal discipleship. As Oswald Sanders wrote, the spiritual leader

must “remain in front, giving guidance and direction to others. He does not wait for

28
Peter Kreeft, How to Win the Culture War: A Christian battle Plan for a
Society in Crisis (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2002), 102.
 12
things to happen, but makes them happen.”29 Because I am a pastor I get to see people

come to Christ more often than many do. I get to visit with people who have spiritual

questions almost every week. Many of those people come to know Jesus. My resolution,

then, is to take every person that I lead to Christ and personally see to it that they are

taught how to love God with the entirety of their being: heart, soul, and mind.

Specifically, this entails creating discipleship programs that confront a person with

Scripture on a biblical basis not a cultural one.30

By that I mean providing content that the Bible deems as relevant and not what

the culture deems as relevant. Biblical morality should be emphasized over cultural

morality. Standing for truth often appears risky because it means that I might lose some

of my new “friends” if I offend them with God’s moral revelation. However, as Dennis

McCallum writes, “we, as Christians, are to minister with the power of God, not with

frightened promises to sinful humanity that they need not repent.”31 It has just been

argued that the truth of Christianity is what the culture needs more than anything so why

would I lay down my most powerful weapon? Again, if Christianity is true, then it is the

most important thing in the universe.

The Bible speaks for itself what it thinks is relevant. The Bible teaches that the

Gospel is “of first importance” (1 Corinthians 15:3). The Bible affirms that the mind and

Christian maturity are uniquely inseparable. Christians are transformed by the “renewal

of our minds.” (Romans 12:1) Godliness is offered “through the knowledge of him who

called us.” (2 Peter 1:3) Christians should “set their minds on things that are above, not

29
Oswald J. Sanders, Spiritual Leadership (Chicago: Moody Press, 1994), 127.
30
Dennis McCallum, The Death of Truth (Minneapolis: Bethany House
Publishers, 1996), 237.
31
Ibid.
 13
things that are on earth.” (Colossians 3:2) Those passages alone show that Scripture has

clearly addressed the problem of anti-thinking as it has been presented in this essay. Thus,

as a disciple of Christ and as a leader in my church, I have committed myself to bringing

up a generation of believers who will take God seriously enough to think rightly about

him and about what he has revealed.

The second personal commitment I have made is cultural engagement.

However, this is not cultural engagement in the popularized sense of the word. Perhaps it

could be coined as worldview evangelism. This means that I would identify with

philosophies (such as naturalism, post-modernism, socialism, or any other worldview) in

the same way that other missionaries identify with nationalities and people groups. It

means learning their language. As Schaffer pointed out, “Each generation of the Church

in each setting has the responsibility of communicating the gospel in understandable

terms, considering the language and thought forms of that setting.”32 If the setting is the

university and I am targeting college aged intellectuals then that means I must learn and

articulate their worldview better than they do. Then, and only then, can I contextualize

the Gospel. Confrontation is a legitimate form of relevance. Relevance does not mean

packaging things in such a way that they are appealing or desirable. Rather, relevance

means showing something as necessary and needful. Unless one is conversant with a

culture, in the physical and metaphysical sense, the Gospel cannot be seen in this light.

Lastly, I am committed to telling anyone who will listen that the idols of our

age must be dealt with. For every listening audience there will be a warning and a

challenge. For every sermon there will be an illustration and application. I will address

the attitude of meaninglessness with a call to purpose. I will address Christian intellectual

32
Francis Schaeffer, The Francis A. Schaeffer Trilogy (Wheaton: Crossway,
1990), 270.
 14
flabbiness as damnable sin. I will teach that objective truth informs emotion and that

Christ is lord over both. Like Paul Revere I will sound the trumpet and warn, “Our minds

are shrinking! Our minds our shrinking!” By whatever means available, I will enflame

people over ideas that matter: over ideas that glorify the Creator of this world. If God

gives me the pulpit, I will use it. If God gives me a book deal, I will use that. If God gives

me two listening ears, I will use that. Regardless of the opportunity or medium, I will use

what is available to engage people with the truth of Christianity. However, I am just one

seeking to impact some. What is needed is for some to impact all.

Conclusion

Therefore, in light of these things, let the Christian stand up and think. May he

once again learn to love the Lord with all of his mind. A distinctively Christian mind is

essential for believers to function as distinctively Christian in society. The mind informs

the actions. Orthodoxy always precedes orthopraxy. However, it is even more important

than that. A resurrection of Christian thinking is needed if the Church wants to fulfill the

Great Commission that was given to her. The Christian mind is the only mind truly

equipped for bringing the culture out of its demise. The loss of the mind is not a uniquely

Christian problem but reversing it is a uniquely Christian responsibility.

Only the Christian mind can correctly view the temporal from the eternal

perspective. Only the Christian mind can show the detriments of diversion. Only the

Christian mind can warn of the devastating aftershock of a culture submersed in

subjectivism. The Christian is uniquely equipped to stand for truth because only he is

under the lordship of the personified truth, Jesus Christ. So, this is a call to lordship. This

is a call for every believer to submit his mind to lordship of Christ: to look less like a

dummy and more like Jesus. Who will answer this call? The war against the mind
 15
continues. The casualties are piling up and troops are entering a cold hard winter. Who

will stand up and fight? Stand, Christian! Your world needs you.
 16

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 17
———. The Francis A. Schaeffer Trilogy: The Three Essential Books in One Volume.
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