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Love Your God with All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul
Binding: Paperback
Author: J. P. Moreland
Release Date: 1997-06-01
Manufacturer: NavPress
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Features:
Average Rating: 4.5
Total Customer Reviews: 50
List Price: $14.99
Our Price: $10.19
Sales Rank: 21282
Product Description
PREPARE YOUR MIND FOR ACTION The mind plays an important role in Christianity. Unfortunately, many of us leave our minds behind when it comes to our faith. In Love Your God with All Your Mind, J.P. Moreland presents a logical case for the role of the mind in spiritual transformation. He challenges us to develop a Christian mind and to use our intellect to further God's kingdom through evangelism, apologetics, worship, and vocation. "This exploration into the mind of evangelical Christianity is one of the most courageous books of our time. In language that is thoroughly erudite but compassionate, theological but practical, and scriptural but entirely relevant to today, the author presents the deeper significance of Paul's plea to the Christians at Phillipi: 'Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.'" -D. James Kennedy, Ph.D., senior minister, coral Ridge Presbyterian Church "This is more than just another Christian book. It is the wake-up call that the church needs today. God gave us minds for a reason. It is crucial that we become like Christ in the way we think. If we heed J.P.'s words, we can counter the culture in which we live, work, think, and minister." -Josh McDowell, Josh McDowell Ministries "J.P. Moreland exemplifies the Christian mind as it ought to be-tough and analytic, but also generous and caring. Christians who want to develop their minds in the service of Christ couldn't find a better teacher, or a better book for the task." -Phillip E. Johnson, author of Darwin on Trial
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Users Product Reviews: |
Product Review Summary: Thinking about thinking in a christian way This is a good book. A bit "hard core" for a non philosophy major like myself, but a good book all in all. The author brings up good points about the traditional christian view on philosophy and academics and uses many historical quotes from various sources (both christian and secular). He puts forth a very strong argument about how having an active mind and being a diligent student of various academic disciplines, in addition to christian studies, is not only beneficial to the believer, but is what God intended. The author also emphasizes how Christians have become viewed by the secular culture and how knowing why you believe what you believe can be vital in winning the souls of the lost.
This was a good read, if a little slow. Just be prepared to "chew" on this one for a while.
Product Review Summary: Thinkers...RISE UP! This is a fantastic book. Well worth twice what it costs. Moreland's message is one that every professing Christian should read. I read the book for a critical thinking class and could not put it down. I have since purchased the book for my grandfather as well as for a mormon friend of mine. I am also teaching it at my local college group. I wish to join with Moreland and challenge the Christian thinkers everywhere to RISE UP! A good way to start would be to read this book. Out of the dozens of people I have gotten to read this book I have yet to hear a negative word...other than Moreland will make you do the work of thinking.
Product Review Summary: top of the chart I'm putting this book somewhere at the top of my list of best books to read for both knowledge and inspiration. J.P. Moreland challenges the Christian to think Christianly.
Product Review Summary: Why You Should Love God With Your Mind J.P. Moreland's Love Your God with All Your Mind calls evangelical Christians to cultivate the intellect as an act of worship to God. Moreland decries the anti-intellectualism prevalent in the current evangelical climate and encourages Christians to begin actively developing a Christian worldview that can engage and challenge the current philosophies dominating the scientific and academic world.
Love Your God with All Your Mind focuses on three major areas of Christian practice. Moreland begins by exposing the anti-intellectualism of the Church today and the areas in which Christians have deserted intellectual engagement.
Moreland does not leave us with the simple challenge to begin developing a Christian mind; he also shows us what that mature mind looks like. Love Your God describes how a surge of intellectualism will bolster evangelism (providing a basis for serious apologetics [131]), and give Christians the proper ammunition to answer skepticism, scientism and relativism (141-142, 146-148, 150-152).
A third theme running through Moreland's book focuses on the cultivation of the mind as an act of spiritual devotion. Moreland reminds the reader of the Old Testament's teaching about wisdom and knowledge - qualities that come from those devoted to using their minds as the primary vehicle for making contact with God (66-67).
Love Your God with All Your Mind exposes the ways that evangelicalism today falls short of the biblical mandate to cultivate the mind as an act of worship. Moreland offers several solutions, one of which is centered in his emphasis on seeing all of life as integrated. The split between the "sacred" and the "secular" (27-29) is perhaps the most damaging implication of Christianity's anti-intellectual inclination. Moreland correctly perceives that this separation between sacred and secular has served to silence Christian voices in areas of "secular" knowledge. Faith is relegated to the upper sphere of feelings and sentiment with no more authority than someone's personal opinion, whereas facts are seen as "secular," scientific, and not subject to religious critique.
The division between sacred and secular is exacerbated by evangelicalism's emphasis on full-time ministry as the "sacred" calling from God and the subsequent failure to understand secular vocations as also fulfilling divine calling (174-176). In recent years, evangelicals have tried to address this issue. Several books geared to making Christians aware of their religious duties at work have appeared on bookshelves and have sold moderately well. Unfortunately, the biblical understanding of "vocation" has not made its way into the pulpit, so when pastors do address issues of work and occupation, they spend most of their time emphasizing how Christians can do "sacred" activities within their secular fields (evangelism, promoting honesty, starting Bible studies, etc.) rather than teaching them to accomplish their vocations for the glory of God.
Love Your God contains three suggestions that I hope to apply in future ministry. First, I have begun to see all my reading and study as an act of worship (166-169), not just my seminary or devotional reading. Because of this, I have begun the practice of praying after every chapter of every book I read, thanking God for whatever insights I have learned from the book. This includes non-Christian books as well. Secondly, I hope to emphasize in my preaching and teaching that all vocations are a calling from God and are not "secular" or cut off from sacred mandate (177-181). Finally, I believe that worship services should not center only on feelings and sentimental impulse, but on the proper preaching of God's Word and the doctrines contained therein (158-159). Worship is not successful because it provokes feelings of ecstasy in the worshiper, but because it leaves us with a correct picture of our transcendent, personal God.
Love Your God also leaves me with several questions. How do we convince our churches of the need for intellectual engagement? More specifically, how do we stir up in our people a love for study and reflection? How does the Church's existence help or hinder the apologetic nature of our evangelistic efforts? How can we compete with the onslaught of entertainment choices in our efforts to cultivate the Christian mind? Should we use entertainment as a springboard to further discussion?
J.P. Moreland's Love Your God with All Your Mind is a thought-provoking book that deserves to be read by all evangelical Christians. Moreland rightly perceives the damage done to the Church by today's anti-intellectual climate and he offers sound, biblical suggestions for overcoming this barrier to greater Christian influence.
Product Review Summary: Love Your God with All Your Mind 8 May 2008 - Well laid out book that makes a good case r the importance of thinking in Christianity. While it does a good job there are several aspects to life and how to live that are just as important but are downplayed in this book.
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