Do intellectual integrity and Christianity mix? In Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God, John Pipers says they do. Piper writes one of his most interesting recent works as he endeavors to show how a diligent scholarship is very much appropriate for one’s love of God.
Many believers do not see that solid thinking is important in the life of faith. Some argue that too much intellectualism will somehow harden a believer against the things of God’s Spirit. Piper, however, faithfully argues that God never called his people to be non-thinkers. While God clearly abhors the concept of human arrogance and men thinking they have found their own way to heaven, God loves when his people humbly use their mental faculties to know him better and love him more dearly.
If you are not much of a serious or deep thinker, reading this book could be a helpful exercise. Perhaps looking at Piper’s reasoning would encourage you to read more, to study harder, and to see how doing so will enable you to better follow God. This book may also help you to have a greater respect and appreciation for those who have been gifted by God as deep thinkers.
If you are more intellectual by nature, reading this work might help you both to better appreciate the gifts that God has given you while helping you to think more humbly about your own abilities. We cannot rely on intellect to make ourselves into anything. Yet, God demands that we work through our minds to love Christ appropriately.
I personally was encouraged by Piper’s work. Think helped me to remember that I cannot become mentally lazy in my faith. I would recommend this book to many different kinds of Christians, and especially to those who need to hear an argument that defeats anti-intellectual tendencies.
For this review, I listened to a free copy of the book as part of the Christian Audio reviewers program. The text was well-read and the quality was up to Christian Audio’s high standards.
Pastor Travis Peterson 