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The Gospel and the Mind: Recovering and Shaping the Intellectual Life

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In an age of anti-intellectualism, scientism, and mind-numbing electronic media, how are Christians to live, learn, and glorify God? In The Gospel and the mind: recovering and shaping the intellectual life (Crossway, 2010), Bradley G. Green explores the connections between the Christian gospel and the pursuit of knowledge. In his work, Green leans heavily on such Christian intellectual heavyweights as Calvin, Aquinas, Athanasius, and especially Augustine to respond to other philosophers like Derrida, Nietzsche, and Saussure. Spurred on by the perception that "wherever the gospel goes, it seems to generate intellectual deliberation and inquiry," Green has written a fully-orbed and persuasive apologia of the Christian intellectual life as the primary and best context from which to study the world.

Since Christ died to redeem all of who we are, this includes our minds. Thus, "any sort of meaningful intellectual life will be rooted in Christ and the gospel" (p. 178). To flesh this out, Green examines five interrelated theological themes and their relevance to the intellectual life: the realities and necessities of creation and history; the concept of a telos or goal to all of history; the cross of Christ; the nature of language; and knowledge, morality, and action. He presents a twofold thesis: "the Christian vision of God, man, and the world provides the necessary precondition of the recovery of any meaningful intellectual life; and the Christian vision of God, man, and the world offers a particular, unique understanding of what the intellectual life might look like" (p. 13-14).

It is obvious from the start that Green is well-read and painstakingly researched this book. He writes clearly and professionally, bordering on the scholarly. Green offers persuasive arguments for the Christian intellectual life, and I was very encouraged and challenged by this book. The sections on the five above themes dovetail with each other nicely, and Green effectively weaves together these themes to serve his thesis. While doing this, he interacts with beloved philosophers of the anti-Christian world, discusses the importance of history and creation, shows how modern and postmodern thinkers have taken away any type of hope for life by rejecting the telos of history, points out the destructive influence of sin on the mind, and more. He quotes extensively from myriad thinkers and philosophers to make his point, and the book is filled with excellent quotations. At times it reads like a string of quotations with Green's voice just filling in the gaps and giving structure to the arguments.

Perhaps the most persuasive, challenging, and insightful section is the closing chapter on the moral nature of knowledge. Knowledge is not neutral, as many contemporary thinkers would have us swallow. Green expounds here on Calvin's conviction that to know God is to honor God, and "the honoring is included within the knowledge itself" (p. 150). Thus, as Calvin writes, "our mind cannot apprehend God without rendering some honor to him." From Calvin, Green launches into a biblically saturated discussion of the moral nature of knowledge, supported by the Psalms, Proverbs, prophets, and Paul. The conclusion, drawn also from Calvin, C.S. Lewis, and Cornelius Van Til, is that all knowledge is more than just knowing facts, but is actually personal and moral. Thus, "to live in this world is to face a moral responsibility and duty" (p. 161). This responsibility is to know things truly, as they are known and understood by God. Though we are finite beings and cannot know omnisciently as God knows, we can know in light of who God is and what he has spoken to us in his word. This is how, as Kepler wrote, we are able to think God's thoughts after him. And if this is the case, then

"as we have seen, God has revealed himself to all persons in the created order, then all persons know God and are engaged in the moral, willful, ethical submission to or rejection of the God of Holy Scripture at virtually all moments of their existence...Thus, nothing can be truly understood unless it is understood in relation to the God who created and currently sustains the world." (p. 161-162, emphasis his)

The gospel comes into this discussion of the moral nature of knowledge in that when our hearts have been changed by the Holy Spirit and our minds are renewed by Christ, our moral wills and our natural loves will also be different. Following the Apostle Paul's and Augustine's discussions of this, Green argues that we cannot really know what we do not love: "Augustine seems to be saying that the reason we can know only what we love is that only in love are we able to understand what something is really like in terms of what it is ultimately capable of becoming...God is to be loved, while all other things are to be viewed in relation to that ultimate love" (p. 166-167).

Thus, we serve a "personal, relational, triune, and rational" God, who is

"not primarily sensed or felt - although that is part of our experience - but known. This, the fundamental goodness of knowledge is at the heart of a Christian understanding of the intellectual life. This God has made a world, and this world reflects the one who made it. We humans as image bearers reflect God in a unique way, but the world as a whole ultimately reflects the God who made it. And hence, the Christian faith encourages attention to the world, its structures, and its mysteries." (p. 178-179)

While one of its strengths, Green's precise scholarship and philosophical interactions might also be one of the book's downfalls. If one of the purposes of this book is so that Christians will be spurred on by the gospel to recover intellectual pursuits, I'm not sure this book is the starting point. It does not score very high on the accessibility meter. The chapters on the nature of language are especially technical and dense (as admitted by Green). I am afraid that Green's valuable work will mostly be read by the "choir" - Christian intellectuals and Christian lovers of knowledge - and not by those who might need this book. Green's scholarly, philosophical, and sometimes technical discussions is not the best introduction to those Christians seeking to recover intellectual pursuits. I wish it were, though. It is sadly ironic, but if "non-intellectuals" are the audience, this would not be the first book to give them. But I do hope this important book receives a wider audience than it ultimately will.

A young person heading off to university would do well to spend a few weeks reading The Gospel and the Mind. Actually, someone who has not stepped foot on a campus in decades or one who has no intentions of doing such would do well to read it.

The stigma attached to the modern Christian Church is a stereotype and a caricature. But the thing about stereotypes and caricatures is that we get them for a reason. Are they all legitimate? Certainly not! But we must take into consideration why they exist.

This caricature checks their brain at the church door. If this only misrepresented mere humans, fine. But since this misrepresents the God we serve, we would not be doing ourselves any favors by avoiding this discussion.

The Gospel and the Mind challenges and encourages the believer to be intellectually competent--not for bragging rights, but to instill in us a godly confidence that the Gospel is essential to our morally faulty society and that belief in this Gospel is reasonable.

The unfortunate reality is that many who call themselves Christians shun intellectual pursuits. But as Green says, "We should ultimately see all endeavors of our minds as a subset of discipleship." (p. 99).

At the end of the day, the point this book drives home is that intellectualism apart from God is meaningless. If the greater good to be achieved is knowledge for knowledge sake, we may as well pack up and head home now. But as Christians we know that all of our pursuits (academic or otherwise) are for the glory of God. And thank God for his mercy to us by making Himself known through the Cross.

There is no inconstancy, but rather a beautiful unity between the Gospel and the mind. This book is an excellent place to start in search of that continuity.

Professor Bradley Green (Union University) endeavors to demonstrate that there is no ultimate meaning to man's cognitive ability and intellectual pursuits devoid of the foundation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the worldview it underwrites. The Christian worldview (CWV) provides the ground for significance and purpose as it reveals the rational necessities for reason, truth, purpose, and aesthetics. Objective truth, moral absolutes, and epistemic rights (knowledge) presuppose Christian theism and these provide the tools utilized in man's understanding of the nature of the cosmos and its actuality.

Within this fine volume the reader will discover:

- The foundational necessities behind our universe

- The essentials that theism provides to understand and account for language

- Man's need of the Gospel: Christ's death and resurrection

- The a priori necessities utilized in fixed ethics and knowledge that God grounds.

Green, using Van Tilian terminology, asserts that the CWV "provides the necessary precondition of the recovery of any meaningful intellectual life..." (p. 13). One needs faith in the work and person of Christ with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit for our ethical and intellectual lives to have real significance and purpose.

Proverbs 2:4-6 instructs men to seek understanding like precious metal. The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Timothy 2:7 "... the Lord will give you understanding in everything." Thus by God's grace, from the foundation of His word, true knowledge is a joint endeavor. Believers are not to be intellectually lazy, academic sluggards; we have the true truth so we must study, ponder, think, and apply truth by the power of the Holy Spirit.

"You will know the truth and truth shall set you free" (Jesus Christ: John 8:32).

The author challenges anti-intellectualism as he reveals that absolutes are established on God's immutable nature and His law. If someone tries to assert that there are no absolutes, he must use an absolute statement. This, as we have now learned, is self-impaling. If it is true, it is false. The only absolutes that are not self-refuting are those from God. So anytime a relativist asserts that something is true universally and immutably, they are wrong because their own worldview cannot provide unchanging, universal, and absolute truth. that is devastating. And the truth found in Christ devastates and demolishes all vain imaginations.

"Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:4,5).

This book is about the spiritual importance of the gospel in the life of a good thinker. It will encourage attentive, faithful, unpretentious thinking that leads to the true knowledge of God through the Gospel, which leads to glorifying God as one learns to better love others.

Mike Robinson Author of:

"Truth, Knowledge and the Reason for God: The Defense of the Rational Assurance of Christianity"

Throughout history, schools and other institutions of learning have followed the spread of the gospel. Why is that? What is the connection between the intellect and the Christian faith? What has happened in recent history to cause Christianity to now be commonly associated with anti-intellectualism?

Bradley Green, a professor at Union University and co-founder of Augustine School -- a classical Christian school in Jackson, TN -- investigates these questions in his latest book. His thesis is that there can be no ultimate meaning to the intellect apart from the gospel of Christ, and demonstrates this by exploring five interrelated theological themes and their relevance to the intellectual life:

1. The realities of creation and history

2. The notion of a telos or goal to all of history

3. The cross of Christ

4. The nature of language

5. Knowledge, morality, and action

The first two chapters show that meaning and purpose can only be ascertained and understood if there is a foundation for truth, beauty, and goodness that is exterior to our own human experience. Knowledge relies on the existence of an ordered and rational universe. The Christian belief in the Creator God of the Bible provides the impetus for basing knowledge upon an objective source of truth.

Furthermore, finding "direction" for our lives requires that there be a "direction" of history. Time must be going somewhere. The Biblical narrative provides this as well, in showing that history has a beginning and end, sovereignly ordained by God and revealed in his Word. The Christian's intellectual pursuits -- as with anything else -- are rooted in our eschatological hope of the return of Christ to set all things right.

It should not surprise us, then, to see that postmodernism rejects both Creation and the idea of a Biblical metanarrative which sets itself over everything else and provides meaning to everything in life. The philosophies of this world set themselves up against the knowledge of God. This leads to vastly different ideas about the purpose and practice of education, the importance of history, and the goals for individuals and societies.

Chapter three seeks to determine the proper balance between faith and reason. So often faith is portrayed -- by Christians and non-Christians alike -- as being opposed to knowledge, but this is exactly the opposite of what the Bible tells us. Scripture exhorts us over and over to seek knowledge; to "be transformed by the renewing of the mind". When our understanding of what God has done in history and what He has promised to do in the future increases, so does our faith in His ability and intention to fulfill His promises.

As we come to a fuller understanding of the gospel, we realize our own brokenness, and can begin to account for the evil in the world (for which postmodernism has no answer). This leads to a realization that our intellect is fallen; "even our knowing is caught up in sin". This in turn drives us to pursue God even more, knowing that only in Him can we regain what was lost in the Fall, and discover the purpose for which we were created.

The next two chapters focus on the nature of language, working toward a Christian understanding of words. By the author's own admission, these were "the densest chapters in the book". Still, the points made (and especially the differences between Christian and modern/postmodern philosophies of language) are important steps in the logical progression of the book.

Green ends by emphasizing the moral component of knowledge. As he says, "knowledge is inherently a moral reality -- it will be used for good or ill". The life of the mind is not morally neutral. We are "morally accountable" for the knowledge we have received, and "morally culpable" for what God has spoken. As Christians, it is absolutely imperative that we pursue knowledge, because God has spoken so that we may know.

The Gospel and the Mind is a terrific resource. Much of the book consists of quotes mined from a vast array of sources, from early Church fathers to influential thinkers, theologians, and philosophers from throughout the last two thousand years. Though the book concerns a very "academic" topic, it is easily accessible for readers.

If there is a downside to the book, it is that Green does not give us his own thoughts in his own words as often as I might have liked. Still, this may not be such a bad thing. The way he weaves together quotes to quickly guide readers through the intellectual debates that have surrounded Christianity for centuries adequately communicates his own perspective, and carries with it the weight of history.

What does the gospel have to do our intellectual life? While some would argue that it has nothing to do with it at all, it's interesting to note that, "wherever the gospel goes, it seems to generate intellectual deliberation and inquiry" (p. 12).

Why? What is it about the gospel that it encourages deep thinking?

And why is it that, "when the gospel ceases to permeate and influence a given culture, we often see a confused understanding of the possibility of knowledge and the meaning of our thoughts"? (p. 19)

"Is there a connection between the loss of the gospel's hold on the modern world and the modern world's increasing skepticism about the viability, purpose, meaning, and possibility of an intellectual life?" (p. 21)

In The Gospel and the Mind: Discovering and Shaping the Intellectual Life, author Bradley G. Green proposes a two-part answer to this challenging question. He argues that:

1. The Christian vision of God, man, and the world provides the necessary precondition for the recovery of any meaningful intellectual life.

2. The Christian vision of God, man, and the world offers a particular, unique understanding of what the intellectual life looks like.

Green supports his argument by examining five themes:

1. That the doctrine of Creation provides the necessary basis for any intellectual pursuit at all. "Without a robust understanding of creation and history, we cannot--ultimately--account for the nature of the intellectual life," writes Green. (p. 50)

2. That a compelling vision drives the intellectual life. For the Christian, the vision (or "telos" as Green puts it) is that we will one day see Christ face-to-face and know Him fully even as we are fully known (cf. 1 Cor. 13:12). "With the loss of this sense of a telos . . . there has been a corresponding confusion in thought [that] leads ultimately to nihilism." (p. 176)

3. That the cross is central to the life of the mind. Sin affects all aspects of life, even the intellect. But through the atonement we can understand both God and the created order. "To become more heavenly creatures . . . is to be about the task of embracing the lordship of Christ over the life of the mind at every turn." (p. 100)

4. That words and language have objective meaning. Words have meaning because they're rooted in something outside themselves--that is in our communicative Trinitarian God. Language didn't begin with the Fall, therefore "we should recognize language as a gift of God, given for his purposes, to be used on his terms." (p. 146)

5. That all knowledge is inextricably moral. Quoting Colin Gunton, Green writes, "Modernism began and continues wherever civilisation began and continues to deny Christ." (p. 151) If this is true (and as Calvin wrote that to know God is to honor Him), inherent in knowledge is a moral component.

Green presents his case with a great deal of care and strives for accessibility (and for the most part succeeds admirably). This is not a highbrow read, although it does have a more academic feel. There is some unavoidable technical jargon (such is the nature of these things, I'm afraid), but Green avoids becoming lost in techno-babble.

Of all his arguments, perhaps most intriguing to me was his assessment of the devolution of language as a culture becomes increasingly post- and anti-Christian. He writes:

"In an era of skepticism about the possibility of meaning, we should therefore expect to see poor sentences. We should expect, in a post-Christian culture, to see poor grammar, poor composition. And this is of course exactly what we see." (p. 123)

A quick survey of our status updates, text messages and tweets bears witness to our increasing inability to communicate effectively.

Atrocious spelling.

Incoherent sentence structure.

It's like we're not even trying anymore.

And perhaps we're not. If, as deconstructionism argues, that there is no inherent meaning or significance to words, then do we even need to try? If, however, the Christian understanding of the mind and of language is true, it changes everything. We should care about language because God cares about it. He designed words to communicate. Therefore, it is our duty (and hopefully our delight) to try to use words well.

While a number of authors are tackling this subject (including John Piper in Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God), Green's work serves as a wonderful complement as he delves into the philosophy undergirding much of modern thought. His careful assessment shows how the gospel brings purpose and clarity to our intellectual pursuits in a way that modernism/postmodernism simply cannot. And for this reader, that makes The Gospel and the Mind a very compelling read.

-------

A complimentary copy of this book was provided for review purposes by the publisher

In his philosophical new book, The Gospel and the Mind, Bradley G. Green argues two theses: "The Christian vision of God, man, and the world provides the necessary precondition for the recovery of any meaningful intellectual life," and, "The Christian vision of God, man, and the world offers a particular, unique understanding of what the intellectual life might look like."

Green says that our thinking, without Christ and the cross, is clouded by sin. Without a telos, or goal (Christian eschatology, for instance), there is no meaning to knowledge or education. "True education requires an animating and inspiring vision, which is the very thing the gospel provides, and which is the very thing missing in most construals of education today." Without a belief in creation, or a Sovereign Creator, there is no proper understanding of history or life. Even language becomes meaningless without belief in a created order and ultimate Truth. When our minds are separated from the gospel, we are intellectuals and philosophers with our heads in the clouds, not knowing where we're going or where we've been:

"Knowledge is difficult, if not impossible, for the person whose will is misdirected, or for the person who is not led by Christ, who is the truth...Indeed it is the gospel that is at the heart of a genuine understanding and the true intellectual life, which has its own ultimate end in seeing God face-to-face."

Green calls his book an apologia. Therefore he writes to, and works to convince, both believers and non. Christians will find his arguments strong, and his quotes compelling. But will non-Christians? Green realizes that quotes from Christian thinkers, whether church fathers or not, or great minds or not, don't often persuade the unbelieving audience. So he quotes Nietzsche and Einstein along with Augustine and Aquinas: "The belief in an external world independent of the perceiving subject is the basis of all natural science," (Albert Einstein).

Green writes with great clarity. I enjoyed his book and am challenged and encouraged by it. But I have one complaint which, though minor, and a matter of opinion, I will dwell on for a moment. Green stacks quotes one upon another with a vengeance. Pages pass without us hearing much more from him than, "He goes on further to say," or, "Consider, as well, what Augustine said." And, as is often the case with prolific quoters, the author's own voice is usually more clear and convincing than those he quotes. Certainly he has enough credibility to tell us that the "memory is a precious resource," without quoting A.G. Sertillanges. After all, we did choose to read his book.

The Gospel and the Mind challenges readers to think deeply about important issues. Green's message--that true knowledge is possible because the universe was created by an orderly God, and that knowledge is meaningful because it leads to and culminates in a loving God, is both encouraging and liberating. Like sin, the modern belief that there is no true knowledge or meaning outside of one's self promises liberty but leads to despair. Green reminds us that true knowledge is possible, and so we are liberated, even morally obligated, to seek it.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from Crossway.