The Christian Mind

The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.
Day unto day utters speech,
And night unto night reveals knowledge.
There isno speech nor language
Wheretheir voice is not heard.
Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world. Psalm 19.1-4

The Christian Mind
Harry Blamires (1916-)
“A living Christian mind would elucidate for the young a finely articulated Christian sacramentalism which would make sense of, and give value to, the adolescent’s cravings towards the grandeur of natural scenery, towards the potent emotionalism of music and art, and towards the opposite sex. A living Christian mind will not be content to refer to these things only in cold abstract terms which annihilate wonder and transmute them into bloodless modes of experience, unrecognizable as the stuff of passion and exaltation. Nor will the Christian mind allow these richnesses of life to be vaguely identified as sins of the flesh, or even with a life of the body which it is the Christian’s duty to transcend.”

The human soul aspires upwards. Our thoughts long to anchor in unchanging truth. Our affections seek to soar in realms of perfect gratification. Our consciences long for values and priorities that are reliable and true, to help in processing our thoughts and feelings into right action. But how can any of us understand any of this unless we are carefully taught? The formation of a Christian mind must coincide with the formation of a Christian soul – mind, heart, and conscience – so that everything about our inward lives connects with God, because we are taught and we believe that only in Him will we find that perfect satisfaction and joy we desire. Christian formation – the work of making disciples – must take seriously Paul’s teaching that our lives have been hidden with God in Christ (Col. 3.1-3). Only as we grow into the image of Jesus (2 Cor. 3.18), and strain toward the upward prize of our Kingdom-and-glory calling in the Lord (Phil. 3.14) – only then will we realize our fullest joy and greatest fruitfulness. The whole vast cosmos is a witness from the Lord of His desire to be known and glorified. The sooner we begin teaching people to live this way, the more we will realize our true reason for being.

Would you say that your teaching and preaching are directed to all the components of the soul, to lift them toward life in God and Christ? Why or why not?

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..

If Men Will Pray
One way for men to think more like Christ is to spend more time in prayer. Watch our brief video, If Men Will Pray, and order your copies of If Men Will Pray to begin enlisting and training your men for more and better prayer.

Does the Lord want to use you to support the work of 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).