A Mind For God Reflection

1346 Words3 Pages

“Most Christians would rather die than think; in fact they do” (White, 17). This quote from Bertrand Russel is thought provoking and a most appropriate way to start a book on using your mind for God. A Mind for God by James Emery White is a fantastic piece of literature that delves deep into what it means to truly follow God with your mind. In just under one hundred pages White explains why, how, and what we need to follow God with all of our mind. “And he answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27, ESV). The overall theme of A Mind for God is serving God with our minds, but White uses his chapters to divide …show more content…

Before reading this book, I was struggling with the amount of reading that college was presenting. White does not waste time and gets to the fact that reading is an act of worship early on. He makes a connection with junk food and reading on page 43. If we feed our body junk all the time, we will become obese and ill. Similarly if all we read is junk, our minds will become ill and not reflect a mind for God (White, 43). When he says this he means that we should be engaging our brains with material that will make us think and grow intellectually. White states that in the middle ages, “learning in and of itself, was sacred, for it was pursuing the very knowledge of God, and life in light of that knowledge” (White, 53). Today learning has become something far from what it was intended to be back in the middle ages. Today we have removed the aspect of God from public schools and we focus on getting the grade instead of the knowledge. White suggests that, “the starting point of our education (or our commitment to learning) is biblical literacy” (White, 57). This fits into the Christian worldview, but not into very many other worldviews. Unfortunately many are biblically illiterate in today’s culture and White mentions several different types of Bible readers in chapter four. He mentions the “service readers,” “devotional …show more content…

He eludes to this concept briefly when recalling his discussion with the two women at Oxford, but that is all he really does with the topic. I believe this is essential to note in a book about having a mind for God because, non-Christians will use the Bible against Christians if they know more about it than we do. Other than that topic I agree with everything that White discusses in his book. After reading this book, I would recommend it to any college freshman. I think that White’s chapter on using the library as an armory will change the way that students think about their assignments and their attitude to higher education. In conclusion, A Mind for God by James Emery White is a fantastic piece of literature that delves deep into what it means to truly follow God with your mind. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2,

Show More
Related

  • To Kill A Mockingbird: A Dialectical Journal Entry

    316 Words  | 1 Pages

    Entry 1: I feel as though the Lord only caters to white people. I’m really shaking and I just keep shaking but I am staying strong. There was an empty cell between me and all of the other prisoners. Ms. Emma came to see me but I was quiet and just starring at the ceiling. I didn’t care about anything, nothing mattered to me. I am going to die soon anyway so what’s the point. (“What it go’n feel like”(pg. 225).

    Read More

  • Edward Taylor Meditation 1.6 Analysis

    936 Words  | 2 Pages

    One question that tends to strike new Christians is, "what does God want me to do with my life?" Edward Taylor talks about the answer to this question in his poem, titled "Meditation 1.6". Edward Taylor lived from 1642-1729. He was a Puritan poet who made an unusual request. Before he died, he requested that none of his poems be published. It was not until the 1930's that his poems were discovered. In "Meditation 1.6", Taylor compares being a servant of God, to being a golden coin. However, the main, underlying theme of "Meditation 1.6" is God showing the author his faults and using the author to do His bidding.

    Read More

  • Southern View of Religion in Lillian Smith’s Killers of the Dream

    812 Words  | 2 Pages

    This passage also creates a parallel between the white people and their role as the “God” of Southern society. Smith states, “We were told we should love Him for He gives us everything good that we have, and then we were told that...

    Read More

  • Summary Of Worldview By Ostrander

    175 Words  | 1 Pages

    Chapter one introduces the book as an effort to explain the purpose behind going to a liberal arts university and taking general education classes. Ostrander, the author, states that understanding the concept behind a worldview is key to thriving in a Christian college, explaining that a worldview is not just a set of ideas, but a way of life, and everyone has one. He expounds on this idea with his next point, that all education comes with a worldview. Each professor you have, whether religious or secular, will bring his or her background and history with him into his teaching. In a Christian College, though, there is a single concept that unifies and connects everyone's worldviews, but this worldview is constantly changing and open ended,

    Read More

  • Review of Integrative Approach to Psychology and Christianity by David Entwistle

    978 Words  | 2 Pages

    This paper will be reviewing the book “Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity: an introduction to worldview issues, philosophical foundations and models of integration, by David N. Entwistle. As the title states, this book discusses how to integrate psychology and theology. It also dives into why it is so important to be able to integrate the two. Entwistle explains that just because the two are different does not mean they should be separated, and that we have to use both our worldviews. “Weaving together perspectives from psychology and Christian theology can help us understand and appreciate humanity more fully than we could either perspective alone.”

    Read More

  • Stephen Prothero's Religious Literacy

    1426 Words  | 3 Pages

    I certainly appreciated the perspective that was taken. The book was well written and the reading level did not feel difficult. I think middle school students would be capable of effortlessly reading with comprehension. This is definitely a must read for anyone who has interests in religion. Even if religion is not an interest, this is still a good book to read. The book demonstrates the importance of religious literacy and gives basic knowledge that all Americans need to know. I think the author was successful in writing this. Prothero kept the point right on target and successfully established the problem and a possible solution. I feel that if Prothero had a bias in one area, it was religion. I got the feeling that he focused more heavily on Christianity. I would say this was handled well though and seemed not to exceedingly get in the way. Prothero supported his thesis with much evidence. He shared many facts and statistics. My favorite thing about this book is how it opens your eyes to a much broader knowledge of religion. America is still actually a religious nation even though our knowledge and understanding seems limited. No matter your interests, this is a worthy

    Read More

  • Integrative Approaches to Pyschology and Thelology by David Entwistle

    1096 Words  | 3 Pages

    David Entwistle’s Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity David Entwistle's (2010) Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity is geared more towards Christians with conservative evangelical views and provides the reader with an outline to different worldview disputes and truth-seeking groundwork that surround the connection that underlies psychology and theology. In addition to analyzing the possible connection between psychology and theology, Entwisle discusses the consideration of integrating Christian faith with the practice of psychology. “Christian understandings of person-hood, the purpose of human life, our need for God, and the ethical teachings of Christian faith are integral to psychology, not merely parallel to it” (p. 199). Entwistle’s viewpoint on this matter is clearly stated. He believes that it is necessary for theology and psychology to be integrated in order to fully understand human nature.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis On William Apess

    236 Words  | 1 Pages

    In this passage, William Apess uses the literary device of a rhetorical question to convict his audience of their utter disregard for “pure principles” (2). Bold language, specifically the use of the personal pronoun “you”, identifies Apess’ audience as New England’s white population. As a result of their unethical and ignorant actions, Apess artfully probes their hearts using a sequence of escalating rhetorical questions. The question “Now if they who teach are not essentially affected with pure love, the love of God, how can they teach as they ought?” reveals Apess’ core emotional and logical appeal (3). By criticizing something so dear to his audience, such as their ability to interpret and teach scripture, he aims to make known their “unrighteous,

    Read More

  • The Life of David Brainerd

    1077 Words  | 3 Pages

    I read the book The Life of David Brainerd. The material was well written but was kind of depressing to read because of how melancholy he acted. It was presented in a scholarly manner. It has given me a greater understanding of how they were so afraid of whether they “felt” that they were a Christian. I would not really recommend it to another person because it was hard to read without feeling depressed and melancholy. The book was good in some places, but in others it was hard to read and in general it is not something I would pick up to read again.

    Read More

  • Homosexual and Religion

    1058 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gomes, Peter J. The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart. New York: Morrow, 1996.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Schopenhauer

    1394 Words  | 3 Pages

    Textbooks are essential and informative, however it is not the main core value of education. If we truly depend on textbook, our world would be as naïve as natives in colonization era. Schopenhauer provides the difference between reading and thinking. “Reading forcibly imposes on the mind thoughts that are as foreign to its mood and direction” (Schopenhauer, pg. 89) Reading is an escape of reality. It penetrates the mind and alters thinking. “The mind is totally subjected to an external compulsion” (Schopenhauer, pg.89) although reading is prominent, it can impair personal thinking. “That the surest way of never having any thoughts of your own is to pickup a book every time you have a free moment.” (Schopenhauer, pg. 90) When it comes to reading college content, it has no originality. We are attaining our foreign thinking from a text that has been modified thus teach one purpose only and that is to provide facts. We cannot attain wisdom from textbooks. Universities provide textbooks that are a copy of another copy; that is to say, the information is the production of somebodies else’s idea following by, another mans ideas and so on. “All that has ever been taught is a critique of a words and fifty critiques of them as preserved side-by-side and intermingled” (Nietzsche, pg. 187) What can we obtain from a mixtures of words? Well criteria met. It is possible to have our own thoughts and ideas; if we only foreshadow on textbook we will become a textbook itself. “People who pass their lives in reading and acquire their wisdom from books are like those who learn about a country from travel description” (Schopenhauer, pg. 91) we have to obtain our wisdom from our own thoughts and not from what is editing in from of

    Read More

  • Mere Christianity

    1423 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...nd helpful in my spiritual life but, at times it was hard to follow. The way the book was written seemed too much like a conversation I suppose since it was taken from lectures from a radio station. The many analogies that were carried through the book were very helpful like this one, which portrays a vivid analogy of how Christians see good: "…the Christian thinks any good he does comes from the Christ-life inside him. He does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us; just as the roof of a greenhouse does not attract the sun because it is bright, but becomes bright because the sun shines on it" (p.63).

    Read More

  • Jesus And The Disinherited Chapter 5

    767 Words  | 2 Pages

    Yet, after reading chapter five again, I understand what Howard Thurman shares in, there had to be a moment the Roman also the Jew (Negro and white) had to emerge as two human spirits that found a mutual, though individual validation. Subsequently, Thurman reminded me that in Christ Jesus is the power and strength to acknowledge any injustice, oppression without violence, fear, deception and hate (Thurman 95 -97). Furthermore, who knows more about the oppressed people than Jesus, therefore Thurman holds Jesus as the teacher of all teachers. To elaborate, I feel Howard Thurman, as a man was after God’s own heart. Even though, throughout his life he experienced racial, political and religious conflict, he stood on the Word of God, His teaching: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might,” and “thy neighbor as thyself,” (Mark 12: 29-31

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Multiraciality

    1004 Words  | 3 Pages

    How does the church view diversity vs. the world? I was left to try to figure that out by the end of the book. The author stated that “we are not claiming that becoming multiracial should be the primary goal of the church, but it must be a goal, or perhaps better yet, a means to reach its larger goal.” What is the larger goal? Salvation? A more collectively humanity within Christianity? The end of the book focuses on oneness. The research presented in this book is excellent and I believe every minister should have this as required reading in the M.Div. studies. As I reflect, I really wished that before I started ministry, I would have had this resource available. It would have helped me earlier to form a broader context in ministry. However, I applaud this book. This book has been a wonderful refresher of why we as Christians should always continue to push for diversity in fellowship. Is the church worse or better because our congregations are not multiracial? Is this really possible given the racial climate in America? I am forced to think and ponder these questions at the end of this book. I believe the larger goal is to be United by Faith however, I don’t believe that we have to be United by Faith in a multiracial church but can be united in a multiethnic society. The challenge is what are we going to do with this data after it has been digested and read. We as all society should strive to make it a part of ministry to

    Read More

  • All Quiet on the Western Front - A Book Review

    1912 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...e preceding reasons, all college students should read the book. The book will captivate the educated mind, and most importantly, will cause that mind to think and to question why things happen as they do.

    Read More

More about A Mind For God Reflection

Open Document