Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give
the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.
1 Peter 3:15 (NIV)
The Development of the Christian Mind
From J.P. Moreland, Love your God with all your Mind: The Role
of Reason in the Life of the Soul. (Colorado Springs: Navpress, 1997).
Chap. 1.
1. The emergence of anti-intellectualism.
a. "Ignorance is the mother not of devotion but of heresy." 1
b. "anti-intellectualism was a feature of American revivalism"2
2. The retreat of the evangelicals
a. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
b. Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
The Impact on the Church…
1. A misunderstanding of faith’s relationship to reason.
a. What is Faith?
b. "In my intellectual life, Lord, be glorified."
2. Separation of the secular and the sacred.
a. Christians tend to leave their brains outside the door of the church.
b. Christian young are unprepared to face atheistic teachers who have
an ax to grind.
3. Spawned an irrelevant gospel.
a. Christians primarily share the gospel as a means of addressing felt
needs.
b. As a result, Christianity is viewed by many as an emotional crutch
for it’s believers.
4. Loss of boldness in confronting idea structures with effective Christian
witness.
a. When we are bold, anti-intellectualism has created a context in
which we Christians come off as shallow, defensive, and reactionary, instead
of thoughtful, confident and articulate.
Our Culture is Secular…
1. For the secularist, knowledge is solely obtained by means of the
senses and science.
a.
This view, known as scientism is patently false.
2. "If your religious beliefs work for you, that’s great, but don’t
impose them on others."
a. Is a scientist imposing anything on anyone when he claims that water
is H2O or that 2+2=4?
There is no reason why we have to retreat from secularists…
1. Scientism, is not even a claim of science, but rather a philosophical
view about science.
2. The Bible states that we can demolish all arguments
and make them obedient to Christ.3
1. Cotton Mather, cited in; Allen Carden, Puritan Christianity
in America (Grand Rapids: Baker 1990). p.186
2. George Marsden, Fundamentalism and American Culture (New
York: Oxford, 1980).p.212
3. 2 Corinthians 10:5