Love God With All Your Mind (3)
One final selection from Edward's on this theme of the importance of the mind in the Christian life I think is worthwhile. Once again I draw from his sermon "Christian Knowledge", in the book "Jonathan Edwards On Knowing Christ". In this quote Edwards speaks concerning the Biblical role of teachers, the Biblical role of learners, and the relationship between the two. Listen and drink in his holy logic:
"It may be argued hence, that God hath appointed an order of men for this end, to assist persons in gaining knowledge in these things. He hath appointed them to be teachers, 1 Cor. 12:28, and God hath set some in the church; first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers: Eph. 4:11-12. 'He gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.' If God hath set them to be teachers, making that their business, then he hath made it their business to impart knowledge. But what kind of knowledge? Not the knowledge of philosophy, or of human laws, or of mechanical arts, but of divinity.
If God have made it the business of some to be teachers, it will follow, that he hath made it the business of others to be learners; for teachers and learners are correlates, one of which was never intended to be without the other. God hath never made it the duty of some to take pains to teach those who are not obliged to take pains to learn. He hath not commanded ministers to spend themselves, in order to impart knowledge to those who are not obliged to apply themselves to receive it.
The name by which Christians are commonly called in the New Testament is disciples, the signification of which word is scholars or learners. All Christians are put into the school of Christ, where their business is to learn, or receive knowledge from Christ, their common master and teacher, and from those inferior teachers appointed by him to instruct in his name."
O my---what application can be drawn from these thoughts!
Let me just say that the observation concerning teachers and their God given role within the church, indeed as gifts to the church for its strengthening (yes, even in their fallibility), at the very least should keep us from the all too popular notion among Christians in our era that all we need to grow and to learn and to guide us is the Bible and ourselves. This is not the historic, classic and Reformation truth of Sola Scriptura (i.e. the Bible alone is our sole ultimate and infallible authority for what we are to believe about God and how we are to live before Him, with various offices under Scripture having God ordained authority in our lives), but rather a contemporary distortion that can be more properly called Solo Scriptura or Nuda Scriptura (i.e. the Bible all by itself is our only authority, with the practical result that each Christian is an authority unto him or herself; pastors, teachers, creeds, confessions, church have no real authority). The Reformers would have rejected this second view outright, by the way, and so should we-----it is not Biblical and it is not the historic view of the Christian church.
Besides the vital role of teachers in the church, our role as students in Christ's school is something that it seems to me we really need to see as applying to each one of us, whatever our level of intellectual capacity may be. And we need to really take it seriously---it is a calling for each one who belongs to Christ, not just for certain "elite brainy Christians". Listen to Edward's once again: "The name by which Christians are commonly called in the New Testament is disciples, the signification of which word is scholars or learners. All Christians are put into the school of Christ, where their business is to learn, or receive knowledge from Christ, their common master and teacher, and from those inferior teachers appointed by him to instruct in his name".
We must realize that being students in the school of Christ never ends-----there is no graduation in this school. Yet, there is a "degree" conferred for faithfulness in the Savior's school at the end of this life---- it comes with these words: "Well done, good and faithful servant........Enter into the joy of your Master" (Matt. 25:21,23).
Yes, part of being a faithful student in this school involves each and every one of us loving God with all of our minds, to the best of our own individual God given capacity. The Savior expects nothing less.
"It may be argued hence, that God hath appointed an order of men for this end, to assist persons in gaining knowledge in these things. He hath appointed them to be teachers, 1 Cor. 12:28, and God hath set some in the church; first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers: Eph. 4:11-12. 'He gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.' If God hath set them to be teachers, making that their business, then he hath made it their business to impart knowledge. But what kind of knowledge? Not the knowledge of philosophy, or of human laws, or of mechanical arts, but of divinity.
If God have made it the business of some to be teachers, it will follow, that he hath made it the business of others to be learners; for teachers and learners are correlates, one of which was never intended to be without the other. God hath never made it the duty of some to take pains to teach those who are not obliged to take pains to learn. He hath not commanded ministers to spend themselves, in order to impart knowledge to those who are not obliged to apply themselves to receive it.
The name by which Christians are commonly called in the New Testament is disciples, the signification of which word is scholars or learners. All Christians are put into the school of Christ, where their business is to learn, or receive knowledge from Christ, their common master and teacher, and from those inferior teachers appointed by him to instruct in his name."
O my---what application can be drawn from these thoughts!
Let me just say that the observation concerning teachers and their God given role within the church, indeed as gifts to the church for its strengthening (yes, even in their fallibility), at the very least should keep us from the all too popular notion among Christians in our era that all we need to grow and to learn and to guide us is the Bible and ourselves. This is not the historic, classic and Reformation truth of Sola Scriptura (i.e. the Bible alone is our sole ultimate and infallible authority for what we are to believe about God and how we are to live before Him, with various offices under Scripture having God ordained authority in our lives), but rather a contemporary distortion that can be more properly called Solo Scriptura or Nuda Scriptura (i.e. the Bible all by itself is our only authority, with the practical result that each Christian is an authority unto him or herself; pastors, teachers, creeds, confessions, church have no real authority). The Reformers would have rejected this second view outright, by the way, and so should we-----it is not Biblical and it is not the historic view of the Christian church.
Besides the vital role of teachers in the church, our role as students in Christ's school is something that it seems to me we really need to see as applying to each one of us, whatever our level of intellectual capacity may be. And we need to really take it seriously---it is a calling for each one who belongs to Christ, not just for certain "elite brainy Christians". Listen to Edward's once again: "The name by which Christians are commonly called in the New Testament is disciples, the signification of which word is scholars or learners. All Christians are put into the school of Christ, where their business is to learn, or receive knowledge from Christ, their common master and teacher, and from those inferior teachers appointed by him to instruct in his name".
We must realize that being students in the school of Christ never ends-----there is no graduation in this school. Yet, there is a "degree" conferred for faithfulness in the Savior's school at the end of this life---- it comes with these words: "Well done, good and faithful servant........Enter into the joy of your Master" (Matt. 25:21,23).
Yes, part of being a faithful student in this school involves each and every one of us loving God with all of our minds, to the best of our own individual God given capacity. The Savior expects nothing less.
Labels: christian life, Guest Post, Loving God, the Mind, Theology
7 Comments:
Well said Bruce. May I expand a bit? Calvin took this perspective seriously, that is "to love God with all our mind" when he, in obediance to this, the greatest commandment of the Decalogue, and the prime incentive of the "Cultural Mandate", created the Geneva Academy.(See my article on July 4th and July 10th, two independance days). Calvin believed and taught that willfully remaining ignorant of Gods creation is very poor stewardship of what he has given us. To be sure, we must agonize to become well aquainted with special revelation (scripture) , but, we must also endeavor to become well aquainted, even masters, of some aspect of general revelation. I mean by this that we should be the best we possibly can in the calling to which we have been called. The affinity that we as men have to the creation ordinances to "subdue" the earth is such that God named the first man after the soil of the earth. Adam and adam-ah which in Hebrew means dirt. So Adam's very name means literally, "from dirt or earth". There is a conection here to Tims last two blogs. When God created the earth, did he not know that a simple mold that grows on baked grain mixed with yeast, would fight infections which for many years caused death? I speak of Penicillin. Or again, when after the fall, man needed food, with the exception of manna, or Elijah's widow's jar of oil that never emptied, don't we even get fed through human means?
Ignorance of finanial wisdom keeps us poor and needy, ignorance of proper diet and exercise keeps us sickly and lethargic, ignorance of human nature can make us victims of charletans. The price of general ignorance is indeed high. The price of Theolgical ignorance is even higher. To be sure there is a priority given to the knowledge of God. In doing so, let us not forget the mandate of the book of Genesis,"be ye fruitfull, multiply, and subdue the earth."To whom much is given, much shall be required.
Thanks Bruce,very stimulating thoughts.
JR
I could not agree more John. Thanks for the very well said expansion.
Yes, knoweledge is good, and knowledge of divinity is the greatest and most important knowledge one can have in this life, first the speculative, and then following, and more importantly, the spiritual 2knowledge imparted into the heart by the Holy Spirit.
One thought to add concerning this discussion. It is true that lack of knowledge can keep a man poor, sick,and in trouble. But it is also true that God watches over the simple who are not so wired or gifted or blessed with such great aptitude or education. For here is where the teacher can shine most brightly, not only for those who grasp quickly, but for us who are slower, and perhaps not the sharpest tool in the shed. I am speaking of God's amazing grace and kindness to watch over his loved ones. I am one of them. Yet I also consider Charles Spurgeon's wisdom when he spoke these words "God blesses both the educated and the uneducated, the prepared and unprepared. However, the one he blesses despite their lack of education, unpreparedness, etc...not because of it."
One man learns quickly, and another slowly, and sadly many men make no effort to learn at all the wonderful truth and truths of Scripture. Let us learn quickly, or slowly, but may we not be counted among those who make no effort to learn at all.
Thank you men for your blogging, thinking, and challenging, which makes us to climb higher.
Enjoy the Lord today, for that is why we have been given this day to live!
Amen, Tom.
Good stuff guys. What's interesting today is that, more than ever, the spiritual expansion of the mind for the purpose of worship and joy in God is available for all--even those unable to read well or to afford a theological education.
There is so much available via the internet or CDs and who knows what else you guys are aware of tech-wise, that Christians with any degree of care and discipline can gain more theological fuel for worship than many pastors around the world can and most Christians throughout history have.
It is simply a moment when no excuse cuts it. What a privilege is ours, and what an opportunity! And o yes, what a responsibility, for to whom much is given, from him--as we know-much will be required.
that was from Tim.
Thanks Bruce, Tim, Peter and Tom, you guys truely sharpen me. To those whom God has given greator faculty of learning, they have a greator responsibility to teach. In a way, we see this already. Ed Anderson brings his carpentry skills to the church. Joe Ramundi brings his medical knowledge to the church, Ken Vinek brings his. Mechanical skills to the church and so on. So we see God "taking care" of the "simple" through the gifted. We all partake of each others gifts. God gets the glory. Ones gifting is not for the blessing of himself but for the whole body. What we learn must be for the benefit of the whole. In this way, God cares for all of us. This blog has benefitted me as I "bounce my "raw" thoughts off of you all. I get a balance that I wouldn't get on my own. I thank you brothers for your willingness to sharpen and be sharpened. I really have grown from this exercise.
JR
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