So you could say, in my heart of hearts, I want to be a Christian philosopher when I grow up. I want to know what I believe and why I believe it, but I also want to know why I think the way I do, where that thinking comes from, and how this helps me understand and relate to God and His world. This is what makes me tick. This is why I love being the church librarian. There is no substitute for Word of God, but He has blessed the church with many resources to help us understand Him and His Word, which is the key to life, the universe, and everything.
The discussion continues about women’s ministry, blogging, writing, platforms, etc. Deb gave a little blogging history that was new to me, and there have been additional posts from Lisa, Aimee, and Debi. However, after letting my thoughts simmer a bit more since Monday, I had an epiphany of sorts.
I am a firm supporter of a Word-based ministry for women. I strongly believe we need to start with who God is and what His Word says about Himself, the Gospel, and who we are in Christ. Based on this foundation, appropriate application will follow. However, I don’t believe my gift is to specifically teach the Word to women. I know sisters who are passionate about this, but as for me? I don’t think I have this calling. So where does this leave me?
As I was trying to find an answer, I began to ask myself, what is my passion? What has been my goal for my daughter, the most important younger woman in my life?
These questions were in the back of my mind as we were eating lunch together on Tuesday. My daughter shared snippets from a documentary on Pablo Picasso that she had seen in her art history class. She then began to wonder if he suffered from emotional issues and how that influenced him as an artist. This led to a discussion about the lack of understanding and appropriate treatment for mental illness in the past, the influence of religion on art versus free self-expression, personality traits of people drawn to the arts, and more. Just a typical lunchtime conversation.
I then began to observe not just what my daughter was thinking about, but how was she thinking? She gathered up the facts she had learned about Picasso, but it was more than “what do I need to remember to do well on the next test?”. She was looking for connections between this artist, his lifestyle, his art, and her beliefs as a Christian. She took this strand of information and began to find the place where it should be woven into the tapestry of her understanding of the world. In short, she was thinking like a philosopher.
I had a feeling of immense satisfaction, and a line from one of the Star Wars movies flitted through my head. “You have been well trained, my young apprentice.”1 And this was my epiphany. Like mother, like daughter because this is how my mind works since reaching middle-age.
I had a crisis of life and faith eight years ago, and it was devastating. I felt like I was betrayed by my previous belief system, and I needed to know why. It was more than coming to terms with a wrong or right belief. I needed to know the history of the belief, who influenced it, and how it spread. I became a worldview detective of sorts because I never wanted to accept something blindly based on someone’s say-so ever again.
So you could say, in my heart of hearts, I want to be a Christian philosopher when I grow up.2 I want to know what I believe and why I believe it, but I also want to know why I think the way I do, where that thinking comes from, and how this helps me understand and relate to God and His world. This is what makes me tick. This is why I love being the church librarian. There is no substitute for Word of God, but He has blessed the church with many resources to help us understand Him and His Word, which is the key to life, the universe, and everything.3 This is why the dovetailing of doctrine and the flow of the Old Testament into the New is beautiful to behold. This is why I love lunchtime discussions about art, science, theology, and just about anything under the sun.
In Prelude to Philosophy, Mark Foreman gives seven virtues of a Christian philosopher:4
- Love of the Truth – which drives an undying intellectual curiosity to know and understand the deep things of God and of his creation.
- Diligence – the idea of persistent and continuous industry to accomplish a task.
- Intellectual honesty – the means and methods we employ in our search as well as the results.
- Fairness and respect – treating others fairly and with respect, even those who hold different beliefs.
- Intellectual fortitude – maintaining the faith in the face of opposition.
- Epistemic humility – recognizing that we are limited in our knowledge and the ability to know.
- Teachableness – out of love for the truth, we are willing to put ourselves under the guidance of others.
It’s taken more than 50 years for it to finally click, but better late than never and not too late for the Lord to cultivate these virtues in my life. I want to think clearly and deeply and encourage others to do the same. This is the driving force behind my writing whether it’s theology, history, or more controversial issues like cultural traditionalism, gender, and abuse. And may it all be for His glory.
Philosophy is about more than examining and evaluating arguments and gaining knowledge about abstract concepts… and I would like to suggest that the ultimate goal for Christians in general, and for Christian philosophers in particular, is to glorify God. The Westminster Larger Catechism says it best: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.”5
1. In The Phantom Menace, one of the bad guys, Darth Sidious, says this line, but it fits our situation. I am also not a Sith lord.
2. Hannah Anderson wins the prize for guessing this on Facebook.
3. This is a phrase from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. However, he is wrong. The answer to these issues is not 42.
4. Prelude to Philosophy: An Introduction for Christians, Mark Foreman, IVP Academic, 2014, pp. 192-197.
5. Ibid. pp. 191-192.
Persis Lorenti is an ordinary Christian. You can find her at Tried With Fire and Out of the Ordinary. This article appeared at her blog and is used with permission.
[Editor’s note: One or more original URLs (links) referenced in this article are no longer valid; those links have been removed.]