The majority of this article is developed from Part Two – Chapter One of Harry Blamires’ The Christian Mind (1963), in which he explains supernatural orientation as one of “The Marks of the Christian Mind”. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning how a Christian should think.

“Of all the marks of the Christian mind, its supernatural orientation is the most important for anyone considering the collision of the Christian mind with the secular mind in the modern world (Blamires, 1963).”

The Christian mind sees human life and human history as being held in the hands of God and with the whole universe sustained by His power and His love. It sees the natural order dependent upon the supernatural order, time contained within eternity, this life as an inconclusive experience, and this world as a temporary place of refuge (Blamires, 1963).

Blamires argues – convincingly – that Christians have submitted their thinking to the secular humanists in every area of our lives (e.g., education, business, entertainment). In our well-intended attempts to reach the lost with the gospel of Jesus Christ, we have adopted their way of language and thought to a fault, that fault being the loss of supernatural orientation in most of what we call “life.”

The loss of Christian thought and language has been hard to detect, primarily because it has occurred over several hundred years since the beginning of the Enlightenment. So, it would be natural to object to such a bold and damning assessment. However, one must work hard to ignore the absorption and indoctrination of the church into the broader culture. What Jesus commissioned as counter-culture has become sub-culture in the West.

Consequently, our compromised thought and language now fails to move or motivate the secularists, for we are mostly amateurs in secular matters, incapable of offering anything more than repetition of existing natural ideas. There is a sad irony here: When we constrain ourselves to speak in secular terms, the world assumes we have nothing more to say; and in the end, the whole religious community is assumed to be quite ignorant.

The only hope for our lost world (and ourselves) is a reinvigoration of thought and language from a supernatural orientation.

How have we been secularized?

Blamires provides many reasons for our loss of supernatural orientation. Here are a few of the more poignant:

1. We have chosen to live in an infinitesimally narrow focus of “here and now” singularity, rather than the broader context of God’s kingdom, in which “here” includes multiple dimensions (Ephesians 2:6); and in the consciousness of eternity, where “now” moves rapidly from history to future, all the time. The natural man encourages “be in the moment”; the Christianly thinker pursues “living for eternity.”
2. We constrain our thoughts of the eternal to the “sweet-by-and-by” of a heaven up there and after our death. Consequently, the kingdom of God is coming, but not here right now.
3. In our attempts to work with secularists on their terms (a gracious but faulty motivation), we lay aside and soon lose the foundation of good works being God’s work, undertaken in His name, for His people, in His world, for His glory (Blamires, 1963).
4. We have allowed the importance of good versus evil to be replaced with the secular pragmatism of what’s best right now in any given situation.

Conversely, the eternal perspective evident in a supernatural orientation transforms the character of earthly success, prosperity, and pleasure. For the Christian mind, earthly well-being is not the primary objective. Eternal well-being is our final aim and end. Consequently, the final criterion can be neither success and prosperity, nor happiness within this time-bound natural realm. (Blamires, 1963)

Furthermore, the pursuit of temporal well-being gives a twist to human thinking, which the pursuit of eternal well-being will not always condone or permit. The Christian mind will train itself to say no to much the world has to offer. Sadly, much of the church has become afraid of our own convictions and compromised ourselves into secular depravity, even the worst kinds. (Blamires, 1963)

Thoughts to Practice

It is not enough to recognize the loss of our supernatural orientation, nor even to acknowledge our fault in the sub-culturalization of our thought and language. There are powers and principalities at play here, and the force we exert to move from conformity with the world to the renewal of our minds must be greater and must be exercised. We must diligently practice thinking and speaking with the supernatural at the forefront of our minds.

1. All is not over when you die.
2. Men will be called to account for each evil and good committed.
3. There is a spiritual war, tearing at the heart of the universe, pushing its ruthless way into the lives of men.
4. We are choosing every moment of our lives an obedience, or disobedience, to God.
5. We are always responsible, always at war, and always involved in what is spiritual and deathless.
6. We are committing ourselves with every breath to salvation or damnation.

At a minimum, these truths should be regularly passed through our minds – certainly at the beginning of each day, and perhaps several times throughout. Eventually, we will become comfortable with asking them in regard to the problems, choices, encounters, and situations we face in every part of our life.

Engagement With the World

The secular man will not understand what we have to say about God and His kingdom unless God manifests Himself to them. The truth will be foolishness to him (1Corinthians 1:18). Therefore, the effectiveness of apologetic and evangelistic endeavors depends not on what we say and do, but on the word of God being alive and powerful in what we say (Hebrews 4:12), and on God’s good work being our service to them (Ephesians 2:10). In other words, we must be instruments of the supernatural. (Blamires, 1963)

Consequently, four things are required for Christianly engagement with the world:

1. Some general knowledge of the subject.
2. The practice of Christianly thinking.
3. The power of the word in the delivery of our theses.
4. The evidence of our convictions and the acts of service and resistance.

Only then may we have hope in the world’s salvation and freedom.

Exercising the Christian Mind

We hope to provide examples in Christianly thinking throughout this study series. Please bear in mind, we are learning these disciplines as we go along together. Please provide any questions the Holy Spirit puts in your mind.

Exercise One: How do we think of Artificial Intelligence from a supernatural orientation?

1. Is it natural or supernatural?
2. What does it demand of you?
3. What does it cost you?
4. What values or vices are responsible for its creation and are at its heart?
5. Does it serve God or replace Him?
6. Is it good or evil in the eyes of God?
7. What type of evil is it?
8. Can it be redeemed and consecrated?

In closing, let me encourage you to embrace the renewal of your mind as a process accomplished by the Holy Spirit (Romans 12:2; 2Corinthians 3:18). If you have not already done so, get to know Him and the responsibilities He has been given for our teaching, guidance, transformation, sanctification, and comfort.

God bless you with the love of the truth concerning the supernatural realm.

“The collision between the Christian mind, and a solidly earthbound culture ought to be a violent one (Blamires, 1963).”

Humbly yours and forever His,

Rob

#iamjustthepen

Blamires, H. (1963). The Christian Mind. Regent College Publishing; Vancouver, BC