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Your Mind Matters

Dear Friends,

The Christian world is mourning the death of John Stott. He was arguably the elder

statesman of Anglican Christianity and beyond in the English speaking world during thesecond half of the 20th century. One of the first books of his that I read was entitled Your

mind matters. I can do no better than Philip Jensen the Dean of St Andrews Cathedral inSydney in capturing the thrust of the book. Here follows his article.

John Stott's bookYour Mind Matters was first published in 1972. It was an important essay

encouraging Christians to see the importance of thinking. It has recently been republished. Itaddresses an important topic that needs discussing in each generation.

Christianity is a rational spirituality. Because Christianity is about the supernatural it is right to

place it within the category of spirituality. Yet at the same time the Christian message is deeplyrational. It resolutely resists the attempts of people to describe it as irrational.

That the opponents of Christianity see it as irrational is not altogether surprisingespecially theatheists who pride themselves in their own rationality. For them all religious belief issuperstition. Christianity is just a delusion. There is no spirituality or supernatural except in the

fearful minds of deluded people.

But what is surprising is the number of Christians who accept this attack on Christianity. They

seek to answer the criticism by claiming a superior and different kind of truth than reason. Theysay that God is known spiritually by experience, myth, aesthetics, or by love.

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For both groups the word faith has become the agreed point of departure. Faith is for them anirrational awareness of the presence of the supernatural. It is a spiritual faculty that some people

seem to have and others to lackthough it is open to all. But it requires ridding oneself ofrationality. It requires looking beyond what can be proven.

Such a view reinforces the opponents of Christianity in their opposition. It also makes theChristian open to any weird and wonderful heresy and false teaching that is the passing fad ofreligious people. For whatever experience people have, or promise that you are able to have,

becomes the latest evidence of God's blessing that you should try.

The real failure of these views lies in the rejection of the doctrine of creation. I do not mean bythat the question of seven day creationism versus evolutionthat is another subject to be

discussed in another day. But the failure lies in the rejection of the doctrine that God has createdthe world including humanity. That in this creation God has made humans in his image to rule

the world under His authority. That God has not created the world in chaos but as an orderly andhabitable place in which we can live.

It is in this doctrine of creation that rationality is found. It is because the Creator has made theworld in this fashion and by his word that the world is orderly and rational. It is because he has

created us in his image to rule this world, that we are able to discern the rationality of thecreation. Our rationality is directly related to this creation and our place in it.

However our knowledge of the supernatural is found within the creation. God did not speak to us

in a heavenly language which was completely unrelated to the language of this world. He spokehis supernatural message in the words of human language. And his message was not spoken in

the mysteries of the other world but in the historical events of this world. John says of Jesus inthe opening of his gospel: The word of God became flesh and dwelt amongst us.

So the question of Jesus' life and death and resurrection are all in the world of our rational

discourse. They are part of history. They either happened or they did not happen. They are asopen to investigation as any other events of the ancient world. And the logical consequences of

these events as predicted by the Old Testament prophets and explained by the New Testamentapostles, gives us a rational understanding of the world.

Therefore it should be of no surprise to Christians to read of the importance of the Christianmind. Gods words are addressed to our minds. God is at work transforming us by the renewal of

our minds. The Apostles Prayer for Christians in the beginning of his epistles was frequently forknowledge and understanding whereby they may grow. Our mind matters to God and should

matter to us. The title of John Stott's book is right Your Mind Mattersthe contents are wellworth reading.

All material 2011 phillipjensen.com