Called to the Life of the Mind

Jesus said the two great commandments are to love God and neighbor (Matt. 22:37–40). He also said that when it comes to loving God in particular we do so with our whole self: “with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” In Called to the Life of the Mind: Some Advice for Evangelical Scholars, Richard Mouw, former president of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, seeks to address the mind component of the greatest commandment. Those who live and work in the world of evangelical academia are the intended audience of this brief book comprising 19 chapters and only 74 pages (including endnotes).

This is an easy read that can be completed in a couple of hours. The chapters do not set forth a logical and sustained argument, but that is not their purpose. Rather, they are short reflections or independent vignettes intended to provide wisdom and encouragement rooted in Mouw’s various experiences and observations. One endorser calls the book “sage virtues needed for the evangelical scholarly pursuit.” I agree for the most part with this assessment, though I wish there had been more interaction with the inspired text of Scripture. There are only about a half-dozen biblical references in the entire book, and none receives any significant attention. This is its most serious and noticeable weakness.

Evangelical Mind and Optimism

There’s little doubt the evangelical mind is in peril and the object of rightful concern on many levels. This problem was clearly brought to our attention some years ago when Mark Noll penned The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (Eerdmans, 1995). Noll’s concern was the absence, or at least the malformation, of the evangelical mind as a whole. Given the absence of careful theological thinking in many of our churches, and with what often passes as worship and preaching in evangelical communities of faith, one could hardly disagree with his assessment. Of course, he also had in his sights certain other evangelicals, including dispensationalists and young earth creationists. 

Mouw shares these concerns, though he mentions them only in passing. While I have my own concerns regarding elements within these particular camps, I find the quick dismissiveness of these brothers and sisters, whose numbers are large and passion for the gospel strong, rather uncharitable in too may instances. Still, though many in the evangelical word exuberantly love God with their heart (think primarily emotions), they fall way short in loving him well with their mind. Failing to be transformed by the renewing of their mind, they get squeezed, molded, and conformed to the fallen ways of this present evil age (Rom. 12:2). Bottom line: too many people who claim the name Christian do not think Christianly.

As a teacher in a seminary and college, I am glad to say I have witnessed something of a revival in recent years when it comes to loving God with the mind. I see a new and fresh love for the biblical text and for theology. The passion to cultivate an authentic Christian worldview is catching fire. Given the increasing secularization of Western culture and the growth of non-Christian religions, this trend may be occurring as a matter of necessity—even as I pray it’s out of conviction and commitment to the Christ who told us to love him with our mind. The birth and vitality of movements like TGC, 9Marks, T4G, CBMW, CO, and others are a hopeful sign. The continued growth of evangelical seminaries and schools also give me reason to be cautiously optimistic.

Mouw, however, wants specifically to address the scholarly guild. He recognizes that good theology will emerge most naturally out of a community of scholars rather than in isolation. We will do better thinking and talking and listening together than we will apart. Here I enthusiastically agree. One reason is because I’ve seen it firsthand. While I don’t have the honor of serving a perfect seminary, I do lead a very good one. In addition to being known as a “Great Commission” seminary, we’re also often referred to as a “happy seminary.” In other words, the men and women of my faculty not only love each other, they like each other. They delight in thinking together, studying together, writing together, going to church together, and heading to the unreached and underserved areas of the world and North America on mission together. They truly model iron sharpening iron. As a community of scholars that chiefly values their adopted status in the family of God through Christ, they see themselves as family and treat one another as such. I have to believe this is a worthy goal for any and every evangelical institution to aspire to achieve.

Humility and Hope

Mouw also believes we will better do theology better and raise up faithful ministers if we approach our calling (and he certainly believes it’s a calling) with what he calls “epistemic humility” and “epistemic hope.” Arthur Holmes taught us that all truth is God’s truth—wherever we find it. Therefore we don’t hesitate to invade and investigate every realm of reality, knowing that any truth we find will be God’s. This is a valuable component of epistemic hope.

And yet we must never lose sight of the fact that we are finite and fallen creatures. We never see things exactly as they are. We always see through a glass dimly. We must approach our calling with epistemic humility. Nevertheless, epistemic humility need not and should not lead us to epistemic skepticism or despair. By means of special revelation and the indwelling Spirit of God, we may not know perfectly, but we can know truly. Our knowledge of God may not be exhaustive, but it can still be genuine. It can be authentic and real and true. Of course, on some matters we will enjoy greater clarity and understanding. Christianity is remarkably united on a number of theological convictions. The Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Chalcedonian Creed are affirmed by all orthodox and evangelical Christians across almost 2,000 years of church history. This is nothing to sneeze at or esteem of little value.

At the same time, there are other matters about which we still debate and disagree. Fine. Let’s continue the conversation. But let’s do so with a spirit of humility and love for those with whom we disagree. After all, we may be right—and we may be wrong. Being genuinely open to that latter possibility can only make us better academics. It will make us more welcomed members of an evangelical scholarly community that bears a heavy responsibility to the churches we’ve been called to serve. It will help us live out our calling to the life of the mind—a calling that will honor our God, build up his church, and extend his kingdom to the ends of the earth that rightly belong only to him.