The following has been adapted from An Enemy Lies Within, a book written to expose the carnal mind as the number one enemy of every Christian and to help them overcome its presence and deception. This renewal of the mind is available to all who will pursue God’s way for thinking.
In our opening article on this subject, we presented the case for every Christian thinking more about the way they think:
- God commands us to love Him with all our mind;
- Jesus commands us to repent (i.e., change the way we think); and,
- We desperately need to rediscover God’s way for thinking to avoid drifting further into secular humanism.
Here we briefly explore the secular humanist’s understanding of the mind in contrast to God’s intention, as presented by Harry Blamire in his work, The Christian Mind (1963). Frankly, we hope the following will encourage you to question the way you think about most things secular and spiritual.
Science and the Mind
The human mind and its physical instrument, the brain, are the most complex and mysterious products of God’s creation. James T. Kirk, captain of Star Trek’s U.S.S. Enterprise, was wrong. The mind, not space, will prove to be “the final frontier.”
Consider this sampling of the sciences dedicated to understanding, fixing, and using the human mind and brain:
- Neurology
- Neuropsychology
- Neurolinguistics
- Cognitive Psychology
- Sociology
- Psychiatry
- Metaphysics
- Epistemology
Some of these sciences are hundreds of years old. Hundreds of thousands of people are researching and experimenting on this wondrous creation of God, and they have learned much about the mind and brain. Still, it would do them good to step back and acknowledge, “God made this… in His image.”
How else could something so close, so much a part of us, be so difficult to understand? Modern man believes he will eventually understand everything. The mind has been, and will continue to be, a notable exception. It reminds me:
And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. (1 Corinthians 8:2)
Without getting too far off track, it is important to recognize that the sciences have been taken over by secular humanists. Consequently, the perspectives of very intelligent people are inhibited in two critical ways. First, they have rejected the context of the Creator; they will not allow themselves to ask Him to explain what they cannot understand. By Biblical standards, their understanding will forever be twisted and deceived.
Secondly, their motivations are skewed. They are not, like the fathers of science, investigating the image of the Creator to better understand Him. Instead, much of their study is focused on controlling or “fixing” the way humans think (i.e., to make better humans). This is the opposite of God’s intention for scientific investigation and discovery. God simply wants us to know Him and His Son, and to be transformed into sons of glory, set free from our limited and rebellious humanism by the truths we discover.
We should be more concerned about society’s acceptance of scientific research and development in this area. Scientists and politicians have highly subjective theories and opinions on what needs to be controlled and fixed. No matter how hard they try, it will always be impossible for secular humanists to be “open-minded.” The unrenewed mind is closed to God and His image in creation. No one is as objective as they think, particularly in this season of subjective truth.
God knows we need Christian scientists influencing these disciplines with the light of objective truth, and He has surely positioned some of His brightest people there for His purposes. However, fortunately for the rest of us, Christians do not have to become scientists to understand all that God has revealed about His creation. The Scriptures have much to say about the mind. We will cover that ground shortly.
Before doing so, we must be careful to think Christianly about the way we think. Science is not always our friend.
How Should a Christian Think?
Has this question ever entered your mind? Most Christians have settled for being told what to think (i.e., doctrine); few have pursued the deeper question of “how.” How should a Christian think?
This important question subtitles The Christian Mind, a fascinating book written by Harry Blamires (1963). Beginning with the statement, “There is no longer a Christian mind,” this student of C. S. Lewis and contemporary of A. W. Tozer convincingly argues that the church and its members have surrendered to secular thinking (even in regard to Christian subjects). He goes on to describe “the marks of a Christian mind.” We offer them here for edification and encouragement.
As you consider these foundations of Christianly thought, test yourself and your platoons. How much of your thinking is contextualized and guided by a Christian mindset? Calculate a percentage; give yourself a grade.
According to Blamires, the Christian mind is marked by:
- Supernatural orientation. It sees human life and human history held in the hands of God. It makes decisions in the context of eternity. It considers physical life as the smaller subset of Creation. It recognizes the existence of Heaven and Hell.
- Awareness of evil. It is conscious of the universe as a battlefield between good and evil. It is aware and sensitive to the power and spread of evil upon the human race, beginning with mankind’s rebellion in the Garden. It recognizes that the world, and the powers of it, are in the grip of evil – an evil that manifests in three enemies: Satan and his hordes, the world and its systems, and the flesh with its carnal mindset.
- Conception of truth. It recognizes the truth as: Absolute and uncompromisable; supernaturally grounded, not developed in nature; objective, not subjective; revealed, not constructed; discovered by inquiry, not determined by majority vote; and authoritative, not a matter of personal choice.
- Acceptance of authority. It rejects rebellion in all its forms to willingly bow before the Sovereign God. It considers authority as estimable and something to pursue over one’s self, family, and friends. It understands the image and reality of loving authority, our Father in Heaven. It accepts surrender as the door to relationship with God and giving preference for relationship with the brethren.
- Concern for the person. It considers the human person as the only being created in the image of God. It appreciates the value God placed on the person, in His becoming one. It values people above machines, and is wary of the life those machines provide for, and force upon, society. It embraces love for one another, and the same for enemies, as Christian distinctives. It rejects the classification of people based on temporal criteria, while recognizing that the weak are to receive particular attention.
- Sacramental perspective. It recognizes the omnipresence of God in all of life, and the desire of God to make life joyful and rewarding. It looks for God and His influence in nature, and particularly in the creatures of His image. It appreciates the desires and longings and the hopes and dreams that have been deposited by God in every person.
Most Christians agree and even “believe” that these foundations are true… and that is where they are stuck. Agreement without obedience is the worst kind of rebellion. Faith without works is dead. When the mind is Christianly set, it thinks Christianly all of the time, even in secular settings. There is nothing in all of Creation that cannot be considered and responded to, from a Christianly perspective.
It is sobering to consider that Blamires recognized our secular leaning in the middle of the 20th Century. The ensuing sixty years of regression have left us in a dismal state. Secular thinking has become normative in the church. We have wandered so far from the path that we need a guide to get us back. We need a Helper.
Thankfully, He graciously waits for our humble and hopeful resignation and submission.
Next time, we will share how God designed His way for faith to enable His children to overcome their carnal mind and adopt His way for thinking. In the meantime, we encourage you to acquire and read both An Enemy Lies Within and Blamire’s The Christian Mind (1963).
God bless you with the faith and courage to think critically about the way you think.
Have a strong day in the Lord,
Rob
#iamjustthepen
Blamires, H., 1963, The Christian Mind, Regent College Publishing, Vancouver, British Columbia
Streetman, R. 2020, An Enemy Lies Within, Archdeacon Books, Birmingham, Alabama