The Christian Mind

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8.31, 32

The Christian Mind
Harry Blamires (1916-)
“Christians use the word truth when we are thinking and speaking Christianly to indicate the full breadth of the chasm separating the Christian from the secular mind. For the Christian, truth is supernaturally grounded: it is not manufactured within nature.”

Having considered the first two characteristics of the Christian mind – its heavenly orientation and its awareness of evil – Blamires now turns to the third: The Christian mind’s view of truth as revealed rather than manufactured. Jesus makes it clear that, apart from Him, Who is truth (Jn. 14.6), we cannot know truth at all, and live according to one or more of the world’s versions of what Paul referred to as the Lie (Rom. 8.18-32). The chasm separating the Christian worldview from all other worldviews is defined by our view of truth – where it is grounded, or of what it consists, how it is to be used. The Christian understands truth to be revealed, fixed, and knowable; while the secular world considers truth to be tentative, utilitarian, and dependent on whoever has the power to define or wield it. Truth as a solid rock, for building a new world, or truth as Jello, to be shaped and consumed as we see fit.

What criteria do the leaders in your church teach as the means for determining truth from error, right from wrong, good from evil? How consistent are they in this?

Kingdom Vision
Two books can help you begin to strengthen your vision of Christ and His Kingdom. Order a copy of The Kingship of Jesus (click here) to grow in your understanding of what in the world Jesus is doing as He sits at the Father’s right hand. And what He’s doing is bringing His Kingdom to earth as it is in heaven, which is the subject of The Kingdom Turn (click here). Let these two books challenge your vision of what Christ can do as He makes disciples and builds His Church.

Renewing the Mind
We are currently running a multi-part series on Renewing the Mind in our daily ReVision series. The sixth installment is entitled, The Mind of Christ in His World: Part 1, and is available as a free PDF download by going to the website, www.ailbe.org, clicking on today’s ReVision column entitled, “Speaking Everywhere” and clicking the link at the end. I urge you to follow this entire series, and to consider using it with your leaders. If you are not subscribed to ReVision, you can do so at the website. Or you can download each week’s PDF study in a format suitable for group or personal use.

Join us in giving thanks to God for the people He moves and enables to support The Fellowship of Ailbe with their prayers and gifts. Does He want to use you? 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).