The Life of the Mind (RenewedMinds): A Christian Perspective

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Write a customer review. Showing of 3 reviews. Top Reviews Most recent Top Reviews. There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. But I needed it for class. 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. Thomas Aquinas, and others to our current day in witnessing to the truth of the Christian faith through the disciplined use of the mind.

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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.

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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. 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. 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.

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. 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 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.

It is evident that the author uses a mind technique, of enhancing focused reading and leaves memorable headings: See all 3 reviews. Customers who viewed this item also viewed. This Adventure Called Life: Discovering Your Divine Design.

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This seems to be critical to the flourishing of thinking Christians in contexts that often challenge faith. Subsequent chapters explore the tensions between the life of the Christian mind and the culture we find ourselves in, the value of thinking in community, and a concluding chapter that describes the life of the mind in terms of living in the tension between hermit and explorer fascinating images! While couched in Christian terms, many of the arguments Williams make for the life of the mind make sense for anyone who considers ideas and careful thinking important.

At the same time the book is directed to a Christian college audience under the imprint RenewedMinds, an imprint of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. It seems that one of the things that might be helpful if this work is revised and expanded would be to address more explicitly what the life of the Christian mind has in common with the life of the mind more generally, and what distinguishes this mind. In its present form, Williams has given us a helpful articulation of the intrinsic value of developing the life of the mind and some preliminary considerations of how one goes about this process.

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I could see this being very helpful to an undergraduate student considering a life of scholarship and equally to someone at mid-life asking questions about how one might move from simply an activist life of doing to going deeper in thinking about faith and the context of one's life. Williams makes a good case for Christians using their minds for learning and understanding what is "good" - all of God's creation. Seems to be written for college age urging them to enter of life of learning and understanding God and His creation.

The Life of the Mind: A Christian Perspective

Effects of good thinking - in support of faith - Finding reasons for believing evidence - Discovering the need for faith - Uncovering false faith Effects of good thinking - for training in goodness - Taming the relentless ego - Shaping priorities - Acqu Williams makes a good case for Christians using their minds for learning and understanding what is "good" - all of God's creation.

Effects of good thinking - in support of faith - Finding reasons for believing evidence - Discovering the need for faith - Uncovering false faith Effects of good thinking - for training in goodness - Taming the relentless ego - Shaping priorities - Acquiring habits and virtues - Discovering the depths of grace Feb 21, Josiah rated it really liked it Shelves: This was a pretty decent book defending the pursuit of the intellectual and arguing for why the cultivation of the mind is important for Christians to do.

It wasn't particularly spectacular or original, but did have some really good insights in arguing for why education and knowledge are intrinsically valuable, and even besides that, still gave a very good defense for his thesis. A well-done job by a thoughtful author. Feb 01, Davey Ermold rated it it was ok Shelves: I could hardly make it through this book. I had a difficult time ascertaining the point, it did not capture my attention, nor did it give me any new way of approaching anything.

Austin Ross rated it liked it Sep 17, Evans rated it liked it Jul 28, Chet Duke rated it liked it Dec 04, Daniel rated it liked it Oct 28, Seth rated it really liked it Mar 20, Galen rated it it was amazing Nov 19, Concetta Kellough rated it it was amazing Sep 08, Kevin rated it really liked it Feb 27, Stacey Douglas rated it liked it Aug 16, Kate rated it really liked it Jan 04, Meagan rated it really liked it Mar 10, Javier rated it liked it May 31, Eric Nelson rated it really liked it Jul 21, Jill Sikkema rated it it was ok May 16, Sam Cox rated it really liked it Feb 05, Josh Boyd rated it it was amazing Dec 17, Johnny Marley rated it it was ok Jan 11, Elaina DeBoard rated it really liked it Dec 04, Sam Cox rated it it was amazing Feb 05, Elisa rated it liked it Dec 23, Michael Bowman rated it liked it Mar 06, Aug 19, Rylan McQuade rated it did not like it.

Pretty dry and underdeveloped.

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