II. Thoughtful Christians Connect Faith Thinking with the Unity of All Knowledge

Thoughtful Christians who seek to follow Jesus Christ in a wholehearted manner begin with what some have called “faith thinking.” As Trevor Hart notes, “This pursuit is an inevitable corollary of the existence of faith itself,” for faith cannot help asking questions and seeking answers.¹¹ Faith thinking, which Hart describes as theologically-informed thinking, is not reserved for a small number of academic theologians, but is an inevitable consequence of the life of thoughtful Christians in the real world. The large majority of Christians will not become scholars or public intellectuals, nor will they necessarily become academic theologians or pastor-theologians. It would, however, be our dream for all thoughtful Christians to be able to think Christianly, to think in theological categories, and to do so in a way that strengthens opportunities with friends, neighbors, co-workers, and family members for the kind of conversations that Chuck Colson described as “backyard apologetics.” ¹²

Both Trevor Hart and Alvin Plantinga affirm that thoughtful Christians need to articulate a conception of the rational process that recognizes the need for intellectual responsibility in Christian belief.¹³ They recognize, however, that a pure empirical or evidentialist approach will accept only certain tangible evidence, prejudicing against any inquiry into non-empirical matters. In doing so, an empiricist approach in effect approaches the question of belief not from a neutral vantage point, but from a secularist perspective, which results in the lack of a level playing field for those who embrace the Christian faith. In line with P.T. Forsyth,¹⁴ Hart and Plantinga maintain that Christian beliefs have rational justification and are thus compatible with faith thinking, making sense of the need for these beliefs to be more than a privatized matter that is not subject to any rational or ethical constraints.¹⁵

Beginning with these faith commitments that shape our thinking, thoughtful Christians recognize that even though it may not be readily apparent at first glance, there is a unity of all knowledge that can be observed, because all true knowledge flows from the One Creator to his one creation. Thus, all truth has its source in God, composing a single universe of knowledge.¹⁶ Faith thinking involves the development and construction of a convictional way of seeing the world by which we can see, learn, and interpret life from the vantage point of God’s revelation to us. Thoughtful Christians are encouraged to be intellectually curious and to grow in their understanding and appreciation of God, of his creation and grace, and of humanity’s place of privilege and responsibility in God’s world.

Faith thinking involves the renewal of the mind by God’s Spirit (Romans 12:1–2), for such thinking is shaped by God’s revelation to us as we contemplate God and his creation. In doing so, we recall Augustine’s model of faith seeking understanding, acknowledging that wherever we find truth, it is the Lord’s, even as thoughtful believers struggle with issues and carry on debate in pursuit of truth. We will hear afresh the admonition of the Apostle Paul to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:10).¹⁷

Thoughtful Christians recognize their dependence on God in seeking to follow this course, for such a lofty calling, as noted, can only take place as our minds are renewed by God’s Spirit (Romans 12:2). A serious commitment to faith thinking, to the renewing of minds, esteems exploration and genuine intellectual struggle while wrestling with the culture-shaping ideas and issues of the past and the present. We do so with faith commitments, seeking to discover and expound God’s truth as it has been revealed in creation and redemption, and as it has been made alive and understandable for us by the ministry of God’s Spirit.¹⁸

III. Thoughtful Christians Prioritize the Pattern of Christian Truth

Many in our contemporary world think the idea of a thoughtful Christian to be a contradiction in terms because they have been led to believe that knowledge no longer has any connection with faith and, in fact, often seems to be in opposition to it. Thus faith thinking, in the minds of many, sounds like the words of a Kris Kristofferson song, something “partly true and partly fiction.” Yet Hart, Plantinga, Gerald Bray and others have refused to let non-Christian philosophy have the upper hand with regards to an understanding of knowledge and rationality.¹⁹ Kevin Vanhoozer suggests that this conversation is not merely an epistemological dispute, but a theological one. If indeed it is the case that “in Christ all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17), then a belief is justified if it coheres with the gospel of Jesus Christ. This means that reason does not stand over the gospel, deciding what to reject or accept. Instead the gospel, the Christian faith, becomes the interpretive framework with which to make sense of all other knowledge and experience.²⁰ Offering further commentary, Vanhoozer contends:

It is not necessary to apologize for taking Scripture as one’s ultimate epistemic norm. As postmoderns and presuppositionalists have reminded us, everyone thinks and reasons on the basis of some interpretive framework or another. On this view rationality is less a matter of starting points or neutral ground than it is a matter of being willing to put one’s faith commitments to any number of critical and existential tests. Jesus staked his own claim to be the way, truth, and life of God by his words and by the “argument,” so to speak, of his cross. Similarly, our rational defense of the gospel unfolds within faith’s interpretive framework.²¹

This interpretive framework, which guides the thoughtful Christian in faith thinking, in thinking Christianly, is shaped by primary Christian doctrines, what H. E. W. Turner has referred to as “the pattern of Christian truth,” those key doctrines believed consistently and in consensus by Christians throughout the centuries.²² We now turn our attention to these important doctrines that significantly inform all aspects of Christian thinking.

1. Creation: The Work of the Creator God

Christian thinking recognizes two broad dimensions of reality: God, the Creator, and the world, his creation. Scripture teaches that God, without the use of any preexisting material, brought into being everything that is. Both the opening verse of the Bible and the initial sentence of the Apostles’ Creed confess God as Creator. The doctrine of creation contains truth of utmost importance: everything that is, was created by God. The world, which was created by God, has been created for the good of men and women, who have been created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26–28).²³

This world is distinct from its Creator, the Triune God. The significance of the Trinitarian understanding of creation recognizes that it is not just any god who created the world; it is the Triune God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The great thinkers of the early church wrote numerous commentaries on the creation story in Genesis 1–3, more so than any other part of the Bible, because they understood that it contradicted the fundamental beliefs of their inherited pagan culture and challenged them to replace it with something that was true to reality.²⁴

2. Humanity and the Fall

Men and women are the highest form of God’s creation. The primary reason for stressing the importance of men and women in God’s plan for creation, over against the rest of God’s creation, relates to the distinctive description regarding humanity in God’s image (Genesis 1:26–27).²⁵ Because they are created in the image of God, men and women have dignity, rationality, morality, spirituality, and personality.²⁶

Even though men and women are created in God’s image, the entrance of sin into the world has resulted in negative influences upon God’s creation, especially humans. As a result of sin, men and women are separated from God, having fallen short of his glory (Romans 3: 23). The image of God, even though tainted, tarnished, and marred by sin, has not been lost (Genesis 9:6; James 3:9). The role of exercising stewardship over the earth (Genesis 1:28) has been drastically disturbed by the effects of sin on humans. The ability to live in right relationship with God, with others, with nature, and with our very own selves has now been corrupted.²⁷

The impact of sin is significant when reflecting upon the matters of our relationship to God. Because of the entrance of sin into the world and our inheritance of Adam’s sinful nature (Romans 5:12–19), we are by nature hostile to God and estranged from him (Romans 8:7; Ephesians 2:1-3). We thus have wills that do not obey, eyes that do not see, and ears that do not hear because spiritually we are dead to God. Because of sin, all dimensions of human beings, including our thinking, have been distorted. The effects of sin, fallenness, brokenness, and depravity, involve our total, willful rejection of the will and glory of God.²⁸