The Christian Mind

Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!” But he said, “I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason.”Acts 26.24, 25

The Christian Mind
Harry Blamires (1916-)
“Of all the marks of the Christian mind, its supernatural orientation is the most important for anyone considering the collision of the Christian mind with the secular mind in the modern world. For it is the rootedness of the secular mind in the natural order which produces the most fundamental and violent clash with specifically Christian thinking. This is true at all levels, from the scholarly level at which rationalists and positivists collide with theologians, to the popular level at which the glossy magazine picture of life closes the blinkered mind to the Church’s account of the human situation.”

The secular worldview has become so firmly entrenched in American and Western society these days that any attempt to debate, deny, or dislodge it is met with scorn, vituperation, and in some cases, violence. Most Christians have learned to live at peace with their secular neighbors, and keep to themselves their cherished beliefs about salvation, eternal life, and the world to come. We just don’t want to get into an argument, have people think we’re mad, run the risk of breaking friends, or worse. I wonder if we would feel the same way if we happened to notice that our neighbor’s house was on fire? The world is perishing under the weight of unbelief because we in the Christian community have taken conflict avoidance as our preferred path in the world. If our experience of the unseen world were more real, perhaps talking about it would come more naturally.

What place does conflict avoidance have in the life of Christians you know? Ask a few of them.

Introduction to Christian Worldview
Our course, One in Twelve: Introduction to Christian Worldview, uses twelve diagrams to provide a comprehensive framework for thinking and living Christianly in the world. It’s free, online, and available for you to study by yourself or with your leadership team, at your own pace and on your own schedule. For more information and to register, click here.

Mission Partners Outreach
Thinking and living like a Christian begins in our daily lives, as we are going about in the world to which God sends us each day. Our Mission Partners Outreach programcan equip you to equip your church members to identify and work their Personal Mission Fields from the vantage point of a Gospel worldview and Holy Spirit power. I’m looking for some men to go through this program with me. If you’d like me to take you through this free, six-month program, and help you see how it could be used in your church, drop me a line at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Our heavenly Father supports The Fellowship of Ailbe through the prayers and gifts of those who benefit from and believe in our work. Does the Lord want to use you in this way? Please look to Him in prayer over this question. You can contribute to The Fellowship of Ailbe by using the Contribute button at our website, or by sending your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Drive, Essex Junction, VT 05452. Thank you.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All quotations from The Christian Mind are from Harry Blamires, The Christian Mind (Ann Arbor: Servant Books, 1963, 1978).