The Christian Mind

Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” John 18.37, 38

The Christian Mind
Harry Blamires (1916-)
“Briefly one may sum up the clash between the Christian mind and the secular mind thus. Secularism asserts the opinionated self as the only judge of truth. Christianity imposes the given divine revelation as the final touchstone of truth. The marks of truth as Christianly conceived, then, are: that it is supernaturally grounded, not developed within nature; that it is objective and not subjective; that it is a revelation and not a construction; that it is discovered by inquiry and not elected by majority vote; that it is authoritative and not a matter of personal choice.”

There is concern that some pastors may be losing sight of this view of truth. On certain matters of morality and church life, the plain teaching of Scripture is either qualified, ignored, or simply set aside as church leaders pursue views of truth and ministry practices more in step with the times. Francis Schaeffer warned against accommodating what he called “the spirit of the naturalism of the age” in our thinking about Christian life and ministry, but it seems that warning is not being heeded by some. We are not free to determine truth on the basis of what somebody feels strongly about, or what might keep people happy, or make us look either relevant or in step with the times to our unbelieving neighbors. The truth is in Jesus, as revealed in His Word, and we ignore or compromise this truth to our peril. Two views of truth compete in the world for the ascendancy; we must be careful that we are not giving a leg-up to the wrong one.

When issues of morality or ministry practice come up in your church, how are they decided? What forums exist to discuss contemporary issues or ministry practices to learn God’s truth for these matters?

Recovering Christian communication
Our Mission Partners Outreach program is designed as a life-based training curriculum, to help church members identify and begin working their Personal Mission Fields for the purpose of making disciples and advancing Christ’s Kingdom. I’m looking for some men to lead through this training program, and to help you see how our Mission Partners Outreach programcan help your church overcome its failure to communicate. If you’re interested, drop me a line at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The truth that is in Jesus
Jesus Christ is truth, and His Word teaches us how to understand Him and our lives in Him in the world. Our course, Introduction to Biblical Theology, looks at how we get at the Word of God, how we get into it, and how we can get with it more consistently in our lives. This free, online course would make an excellent review for pastors or church leaders concerning how rightly to handle the Word of truth, and to avoid the tendency toward a hermeneutic of convenience. Study at your own pace, individually or together. To learn more or register, click here.

Does the Lord want to use you to help support The Fellowship of Ailbe? 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).