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Habits of the Mind: Intellectual Life as a Christian Calling

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Our society has often labeled Christians as non-thinking weaklings who need a crutch to make it through life. Unfortunately many proclaimed Christians often mirror such an image, perhaps because they are Christian in name only and have never experienced spiritual rebirth or maybe they have been led to believe 'blind faith' is the only faith. Thankfully, James W. Sire reminds all of us that Christians too have a mind, and True Christians also have the Truth with which to engage a world hostile to Christianity.

Sire divides the book into ten chapters, each dealing with an aspect of the intellect. The first chapter "Confessions Of An Intellectual Wannabe" will strike a chord with many wannabe intellectuals, such as this reviewer. The next two chapters explore the thought of John Henry Newman, a true intellectual that we all wannabe! The next five chapters explain what 'thinking' actually feels like and how to develop the intellect--spiritual disciplines for the mind. One of the most profound exercises is that of lectio divina. Warning don't try this without supervision, unless of course you already know the Truth--Jesus Christ.

Christ as an intellectual, yes He was and still is the smartest man to ever walk the earth--think about it, is discussed in chapter nine. The final chapter discusses the responsibility of all us Christian intellects and wannabe intellects. Sire handles a deep subject with care and a delicate wit. For those who realize that Jesus Christ is the Truth and are ready to engage an intellectual world hostile to True Christianity this is the book for you. If you don't think your smart enough, join the fight anyway, all intellectual wannabes are welcome!

Semper fi & agape, Ed D.

Few contemporary evangelical writers have so profitably and profoundly explored the meaning and implications of the Christian worldview and mind as James Sire. Now his wise, well-informed, and witty book puts us even further in his debt. The chapter, "Jesus, the Reasoner," is worth the price of the book. It demonstrates that Jesus prized and exemplified the life of the mind.

Be sure to read Dr. Sire's other books on related themes: "The Universe Next Door, 3rd ed.," "Why Should Anyone Believe Anything at All?," and "Discipleship of the Mind."

Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D., Denver Seminary.

Of all "Christian World View" books published in the last twenty years, this reigns supreme. Though certainly never intended to be practical or prescriptive, Sire provides the greatest service to 'Intellectual Wannabes' by discussing exactly what it means to be a Christian intellectual. His own history provides an able model for aspiring thinkers. However, the real inspiration lies in holding up Jesus as the ultimate thinker. Jesus' incontrovertible logic is emphasized. Jesus' mind and wit bolsters our own courage to stand up for His truth in a world flailing for standards of verity. Via his discussion of wholistic disciplines, Sire encourages engaging and stretching the mind inside a wider integration of being (mind, body, soul, and spirit). He spurs us on to acquire holiness and to live the truth beyond mere mental ascent. Sire encourages us to develop the intellectual habits necessary to go forth and live truth.

To my mind, such as it is, Sire's Habits of the Mind begins rather feebly -- the author relates personal experiences of coming of age in a salt-of-the-earth and decidedly "anti-intellectual" home environment. He describes his college-aged self as an "intellectual wannabe". I nearly dismissed the book after the first few paragraphs, but, entirely based on my high opinion of the author's The Universe Next Door, I pressed on. In chapter three, the author finally turns to the themes he presents best and begins to achieve the kind of resonance that characterizes that earlier volume. Opening the tenth (final) chapter, examining the concept of intellectual responsibility, Sire reflects on his "wannabe" confession and offers another: "Being an intellectual is after all . . . nothing to particularly admire or condemn."
This of ideology: "Truth cannot be constructed. To live in ideology is, as [Vaclav] Havel so eloquently reminds us, inevitably to live in a lie. Truth can only be revealed. We cannot be creators, only receptors."
And this of humility: "Without [humility] every virtue begins to become a vice. A passion for truth becomes a certitude that we . . . now possess it. . . Lack of humility -- arrogance -- is, in fact, one of the most frequent charges against intellectuals. Sometimes this charge can not be avoided . . . The real problem, however, is not the charge that you are arrogant but the distinct possibility that you actually are. Self-examination is always in order."
Quoting Richard John Neuhaus: "Few things have contributed so powerfully to the unbelief of the modern and postmodern world as the pretension of Christians to know more than we do. . . If Christians exhibited more intellectual patience, modesty, curiosity, and sense of adventure, there would be fewer atheists in the world, both of the rationalist and postmodern varieties."
Endure the first two chapters -- it gets better. As an examination of intellectual curiosity and intellectual courage, as these may be for some "a Christian calling", this is a very good, if not quite great, volume. In fact there are many `quotables' here that may remind the reader of Pascal's Pensees. A minor flaw: the volume (2000) contains a few more `typos' than most books. Perhaps a dozen or so where one might typically expect 2 or 3. Particularly noticeable given that the author is a long-time editor. But the thought here is less flawed than the proofing; for many books it is the opposite. The consideration of "reading directed thinking" versus "thinking directed reading" is quite valuable.
This of the theistic view of knowledge: "Our knowledge of God, our theology, is itself a boon to our knowledge of the universe. . . In other words, because God is the all-knowing knower of all things, we -- being made in His image -- can be the sometimes knowing knowers of somethings. . . All this is a gift of God, a 'supernatural charity'. . . it is not the 'autonomy of the human intellect,' our own or that of anyone else."
Recommended reading although not for all readers.

This book discusses the life of an intellectual as a legitimate Christian calling. The immediate question, of course, is "what is an intellectual?": Sire answers this question very well and in many ways. He also contrast the difference between merely being intelligent with being an intellectual. Interestingly, Sire argues in one chapter that Jesus was the most INTELLIGENT person who ever lived. Throughout the book Sire takes a position that argues all Christians have been called to be intellectuals to the best of thier God-given abilities. There are two less appealling aspects of the work: First, Sire spends too much time discussing the life and works of John Henry Newman - it almost seems like a biography in some areas. Second, Sire's arguement that all Christians are called to think to the best of thier abilities is great but he fails to really drive home the notion that God has graced some people to think much better than average and that these individuals are often called by God into the intellectual life as professors, theologians, authors, etc. That is to say, that there are some people who have been called to be intellectuals in the same way some people have been called to be pastors, singers, etc.

If I could give this book 10 out of 5 stars I'd do it! I'm going to keep this short, because I could easily overdo it on this book. Suffice it to say that if I could force everyone in Christendom to read just one book in there whole lives it would be this book. If I had Bill Gates' money I would by millions of copies of this book and send one to every pastor, Priest, and parishioner in the English-speaking world. Then I'd have it translated into every known tongue and have them sent overseas. I simply don't recommend books with any greater enthusiasm. I only had one person every not like this book and he was a cocky grad student who went into it thinking he was reading analytic philosophy - duh! The book is called Habit's of the *Mind* but it aims at the *heart*. People usually don't form good *mental* habits until they get a *passion* for the Truth. Sire also draws on current research in virtue epistemology (don't worry about the terms) to show that or *character* can help or hinder us in the search for Truth as much as our IQ's. The book is chock-a-block full of great quotations. It is written for the unsophisticated but can be appreciated by anyone. I'm a philosophy instructor at a large research university and I love this book for its inspirational character. I just can't say enough good things about this book. Read it and start thinking rightly today!

This is an excellent, and well written book on the exercising of the mind as a Christian, and the need for it. This is a welcome look at Intellectual Christianity, both the benefits and the dangers, especially for a college student like myself.

James W. Sire believes that all followers of Christ are called to use their minds in disciplined, responsible ways, to the best of their abilities, for the glory of God. There's a novel thought, huh? This is part of the fulfillment of Jesus' command to love God with heart, soul, mind and strength.

In Habits of the Mind, Sire gives a challenge to this intellectual calling--even for those who will never become academics or professional intellectuals--as well as some interesting reasoning for it. This is an important book because of the long history of anti-intellectualism that has been and continues to be a part of Evangelical Christianity. Sire also provides some specific ways that we can exercise and develop our intellectual capacities.

This is an excellent book. I've read several of Sire's other works and I found this one to be his most personal, most challenging, and most interesting.

His instructions on reading, particularly, lectio divina, were helpful to me and chapters six and seven on "The Intellectual Virtues" and "The Intellectual Disciplines", were of great value.

Sire described how an intellectual works with ideas in a wonderful way. He speaks of taking ideas and "clarifying them, developing them, criticizing them, turning them over and over, seeing their implications, stacking them atop one another, arranging them, sitting silent while new ideas pop up and old ones seem to rearrange themselves, playing with them, punning with their terminology, laughing at them, watching them clash, picking up the pieces, starting over . . ." and he continues on. That's a cool way to think about thinking, don't you think?

I'll take your silence to be a "yes".

Do you want to learn to think better? This book will help.

Sire makes the case for active intellectual engagement and why there should be an overall conscientious attitude to what and why we believe. It speaks against blind and unquestioning attitudes to faith based on lazy/faulty assumptions of what faithfulness is - not a lack of doubt or questions, but trust demonstrated in action despite our human misgivings.

This book suffers from some serious lack of editing. The author repeats himself frequently and wanders off haphazardly while trying to get at the point. He mentions the difficulty in putting this book together and it is unfortunately apparent. The long excursus and references on Newman could definitely be tightened up. When the author sticks to the subject it is quite good ie. the intellectual life as a Christian calling. However, he labors the point spending numerous pages defining an intellectual, talking about Newman, with some not so nice autobiographical comments about his own father. I get it, I just don't think it helps the book much as far as the topic is concerned. I am interested in reading his work Discipleship of the Mind to see if that is a little better. There are some good insights in the book but somehow it feels like they could have been more succinctly expressed and a third of the book shouldn't have made it into print. I've read The Universe Next Door, and it did not share this problem so I am thinking maybe this is just unique to this monograph. Its an ok read but I think there are better works out there ie. Love Your God with all Your Mind by J. P. Moreland.