Journal: Bible and Spade (Second Run)
Volume: BSPADE 19:3 (Summer 2006)
Article: Beneath the Surface: An Editorial Comment
Author: Henry Boynton Smith

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Beneath the Surface: An Editorial Comment

Henry B. Smith, Jr.

Love God with All Your Mind!

My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2:2–4).

One of the most troubling characteristics of today’s Western Christian church is the susceptibility of its members to emotional manipulation by charismatic leaders and to secular arguments and ideas. This general tendency is a direct result of neglecting the pursuit of the intellectual riches found in knowing Christ and in the study of his Holy Word. A worldview and life governed by emotions leaves Christians vulnerable to false doctrines and secular thinking antithetical to Scripture.

As I have outlined in a previous editorial (2005), the Christian educationalestablishmenthasgenerallyneglectedthestudyofapologetics, thereby woefully missing a necessary component of preparing pastors and teachers for their work in an increasingly secular culture. Apologetic study, such as the archaeological research that ABR conducts, is vital in sharpening the mind and allowing the Christian to “Test everything, hold onto the good. Avoid every kind of evil” (1 Thes 5:21–22).

Historical assertions that impugn God’s Holy writ are indeed evil, for they essentially call God a liar. The Christian must use his or her intellect by the power of the Holy Spirit and the knowledge of Scripture, not feelings and emotions, to discern truth from falsehood. The public education system, television programs and the university establishment all claim in one way or another that the Bible is not reliable. The battlefield of the mind is where today’s war is being waged and, unfortunately, much of the Church is losing this fight because of intellectual neglect.

God calls us to worship Him with our entire being. Scripture is replete with examples that demonstrate the use of reason and intellect to spread the Gospel or to bring about some other purpose of God. Take the Apostle Paul for example:

Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead (Acts 17:2–3).

Or, consider the attitude of the Bereans:

Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what ...

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