Christianly Thinking – Its Concern for the Person
Rob Streetman
Workplace Minister | Disciple Maker | Writer | President of inLight Consulting, Inc.
In this article, we return to Harry Blamires’ six marks of the Christian mind, taking up the matter of our thinking about human beings in a christianly way. For your convenience, here are links to the opening articles for each of the previously explored marks:
·??????? Supernatural Orientation
·??????? Awareness of Evil
·??????? Conception of Truth
·??????? Acceptance of Authority
Each article has been written to stand alone as an encouragement in the truth of God and His kingdom. However, the marks of christianly thinking are interrelated, even interdependent; that to say you will be more richly blessed to read at least the first article for each mark before continuing here.
Contextual Review
“There is no longer a Christian mind (Blamires, 1963).” Harry Blamires contends that Christians no longer think christianly, even about Christian things. We have, in his estimation, become completely conformed to the world in the way we think – even about the more important matters of life. His book, The Christian Mind, is quite convincing. I encourage you to read it.
Of course, there are exceptions to almost every contention, but exceptions should not be used to excuse our pathetic state. The research for this writing project has convinced me that Christians (myself included) are more conformed to the world than we will allow ourselves to consider.
The Age of Reason – begun with the Enlightenment, when Western society turned from God to human reason and science as the source of meaning and purpose – is hundreds of years in the making. In this decade, we are experiencing its destructive power like never before. Thankfully, the project is nearing the end of its long and tortuous life.
What will replace the Age of Reason? Humanity is now struggling to answer that question. What will become the source of meaning and purpose for Western society? Christians have a ready answer, but have we thought it through? Can we be an intelligible voice into the culture? How should we think about humanity and the Meaning Crisis we now face in a christianly way?
Through these articles on christianly thinking, we are proposing that our failure to think christianly is the result of our conformity with the world, and the obvious solution is transformation by the renewing of our minds.
And?do not be conformed to this world, but?be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may?prove what?is?that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2
Ultimately, we aim to recognize and describe the world as our second most dangerous enemy, prove the danger of conformity with it, and offer God’s way of escape – that we might once again live fruitful lives “in the world, but not of it.” Our escape is critically dependent on changing the way we think of the person, and of ourselves as Christians.
Images or Machines
As he did with previous marks of the Christian mind, Harry Blamires begins his thesis by describing the vast difference of secular concern for the person with those encouraged in Scripture. Indeed, the difference here is at least as vast and damaging as those considered thus far.
“The doctrine of the divine creation of man, together with the doctrine of the Incarnation, establishes a conception of the human status more exalted than any other. Men are made in the image of God (Blamires, 1963).”
Blamires is of course referring to two foundational truths of the Christian faith.
Then God said,?“Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;?let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Genesis 1:26
But?when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son,?born of a woman,?born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law,?that we might receive the adoption as sons. Galatians 4:4-5
In contrast, secular humanism rejects the notion of the Creator and His Creation, leading to the consideration of human beings as machines:
And, in spite of the victory of the new quantum theory, and the conversion of so many physicists to?indeterminism, de La Mettrie's doctrine that man is a machine has perhaps more defenders than before among physicists, biologists and philosophers; especially in the form of the thesis that man is a computer. (Popper, 1978).”
The philosophers of reason would have us believe that we are, through evolution and social engineering, simply creations of ourselves. Having adopted such a perspective, we find it easy and convenient to further consider ourselves as servants of the technological “Machine.”
“Technological mastery of the material world by mechanical means is the key to progress as modern secularism conceives it. Servitude to the machine is a mark of contemporary worldliness, and as such a challenge to the Christian mind (Blamires, 1963).”
For more on “The Machine,” take a listen to Paul Kingsnorth speaking to the UnHerd Club:
Warning: There may be some comments that put you off. Don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater. If for no other reason, observe the speaker wrestling with big subjects in a christianly manner of thinking.
Now, back to the subject at hand:
“God became man, taking upon himself, our nature, and thereby exalting that nature for all time and for eternity (Blamires, 1963).”
The Bible reveals that God not only created human beings in the image of the Trinity, but sent His Son to be one. Think about that for a moment: The Creator of human beings became one… because He loved them!
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We are not machines, nor can we be reduced to cogs in “The Machine.” We love, grieve, bleed, and create. We relate to one another in ways no machine, however artificially intelligent, will ever accomplish or comprehend. The more we discover about the human heart, mind, soul, and body, the more obvious this becomes.
Thinking Christianly About Technology
“The status of the personal is such, in Christian eyes, that it ought not, for instance, to be subordinated to the mechanical (Blamires, 1963).”
Until recently, very few Christians took the advancement and effects of technology seriously. We made two tragic assumptions:
1.????? Technology is morally neutral.
2.????? Those using it would mostly use it for good.
Both of these assumptions have proven to be amazingly false and undeniably destructive.?
Our failure to think christianly about technology enabled a blind acceptance of its perceived goodness.?Only willful blindness now supports the deception. Two obvious examples:
1.????? Ubiquitous access to online pornography; and,
2.????? Friends and families enjoying a meal “together” with their minds buried in the TV or their iPhones.?
We have come so far that even the most secular have begun to question the negative effects of technology. Blamires asks, “where is the Christian comment upon this crucial development in contemporary life (1963)?”?
“The notion of self-respect needs to be rethought by the Christian mind. We need to consider very carefully how far we are being dehumanized by contrivances… We have to ask ourselves what degree of dependence upon the technological artifacts that are drugging, the bodies and minds of our contemporaries is appropriate in those who are trying to live the Christian life (Blamires, 1963).”
And of course, secular humanists have not given up in their passion for the machine image. Indeed, in a tragically ironic twist, they now believe machines can become our gods (Tangermann, 2023). Think about that for a moment: The creators of Artificial Intelligence intend to embody their creation into a “being” they expect will rule over them (and us). What must humans become to be lower than the machines they create?
Of course, God has a different idea:
…it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. Hebrews 2:10
What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You?visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. Psalm 8:4-5
Some time, now long ago, Western culture derived its meaning and purpose from such truths. Ironically, by rejecting God’s perspective of His highest creation, we have become less and less significant in our own corporate mind. Is it any wonder we suffer so from so many crises: Identity, depression, loneliness, nihilism, meaninglessness, etc.?
Positively, this presents a great opportunity and challenge for Christians who will think, love, and act differently. The kingdom of God offers THE solution for all the crises facing humanity in this desperate season: Identity, joy, community, hope, meaning, purpose, etc. – all in the Creator, His Son, and the Holy Spirit.
This seems to be a good place to stop for reflection and response. Here are a few suggestions:
1.????? Hunger for the truth of who we are as image-bearers and children of God. This is not an exercise in self-aggrandizement, but a simple discovery and acceptance of God’s truth about mankind, both the redeemed and the lost. The truth will make us free from deceptions which have conformed us to the world’s thinking. Here’s a helpful resource from Campus Crusade for Christ: Your Identity in Christ: How God Sees You .
2.????? One would be incredibly na?ve to think they have not been affected by technology; and by a wrong opinion of the people around us. We have been conformed to the world. The only solution is the renewing of minds, beginning with repentance (to think differently). Submit to the Holy Spirit’s work of transformation (Romans 12:2; 2Corinthians 3:18).
3.????? Thinking and living christianly in a world deeply influenced and dependent on technology requires the encouragement, wisdom, and support of Christian community. That will likely be the topic of Part 2, but do not wait to begin asking God for deeper fellowship with other believers. Only together will we escape the confines of this world and its secular mindset. ?
God bless you with grace for repentance; discernment and revelation in the devastating influence of the secular mind; and, courage to build deep Christian community.
Have a strong day in the Lord,
?
Rob
#iamjusthepen
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Blamires, H. (1963). The Christian Mind. Regent College Publishing; Vancouver, BC.
Popper, K. (1978). Of Clouds and Clocks, included in Objective Knowledge, revised, p. 224.
Tangermann, V. (November 15, 2023). Sam Altman Seems to Imply That OpenAI Is Building God. Futurism: https://news.yahoo.com/sam-altman-seems-imply-openai-170510209.html