I have had the privilege of reading James Sire's book, The Habits of the Mind: Intellectual Life as a Christian Calling, for a second time. It has served as a subtle reminder of the command that the Lord gives us to love Him "with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength." Better yet, Sire has enabled me to see the transformative power that loving God with our mind has upon our sanctification, without making the overreaching error of stating that human change can occur apart from the sovereign grace of our Lord. Considering the many evangelical attempts at trying to affirm the importance of the mind in Christian discipleship, keeping God at the center of both our endeavors and their product in our lives is no small matter.
Nevertheless, I wanted to pass along a very helpful interpretive grid that Sire proposes to help the Christian to analyze and discern the worldviews of secular authors we may pick up; whether fiction, non-fiction, academic, or laymen's reading. I hope these seven questions help us all to make sense of the authors' worlds, which they are trying to share or convince us to embrace. Equipped with these simple questions, we will be better able to discern what it is that the author is 'trying to sell.' Happy reading:
1. What is ultimate reality? What is really real in the universe? (God, man, the universe, etc.?)
2. What is the nature of the world around us? (created or autonomous, chaotic or orderly, matter or spirit, etc.?)
3. What is a human being? (machine, ape, god, etc.?)
4. What Happens to human beings at death?
5. Why is it possible to know anything at all? (conscious, rationale, experience)
6. How do we know what is right or wrong? (moral law, natural law, feelings, culture, or survival?)
7. What is the meaning of human history? It's purpose? (creating community? self-actualization? paradise with God?)
Nevertheless, I wanted to pass along a very helpful interpretive grid that Sire proposes to help the Christian to analyze and discern the worldviews of secular authors we may pick up; whether fiction, non-fiction, academic, or laymen's reading. I hope these seven questions help us all to make sense of the authors' worlds, which they are trying to share or convince us to embrace. Equipped with these simple questions, we will be better able to discern what it is that the author is 'trying to sell.' Happy reading:
1. What is ultimate reality? What is really real in the universe? (God, man, the universe, etc.?)
2. What is the nature of the world around us? (created or autonomous, chaotic or orderly, matter or spirit, etc.?)
3. What is a human being? (machine, ape, god, etc.?)
4. What Happens to human beings at death?
5. Why is it possible to know anything at all? (conscious, rationale, experience)
6. How do we know what is right or wrong? (moral law, natural law, feelings, culture, or survival?)
7. What is the meaning of human history? It's purpose? (creating community? self-actualization? paradise with God?)