The Week February 8-14, 2016

Vision
Imagination
More research on the potential of imagination to exert powerful, transformative effects for good in people’s lives. Susie Neilson reports in Nautilus on how prison inmates used time in solitary confinement to imagine new lives for themselves (“How to Survive Solitary Confinement,” Jan/Feb 2016). By determined effort to envision themselves in various situations, inmates have been able to make significant rehabilitative gains. Ms. Neilson notes that these same results can be seen in athletes who imagine themselves doing certain things as part of their preparation to compete. Imagination, or “mental imagery,” “is associated with higher cognitive processes and abstract thought – as well as perception and motor control.” She adds, “As a result, mental imagery is an ideal portable training tool.” Further, imagination works best when other stimuli are reduced – as in solitary confinement. Imagine how much power believers might be able to harness for their Personal Mission Fields if we spent more time in solitude setting our minds on the things that are above.

Disciplines
Christian Higher Education
Over 100 institutions of higher education are members of the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities. These institutions are served by thousands of faculty teaching in a wide variety of disciplines, preparing scores of thousands of students for vocations in every area of professional, economic, and social life. On the one hand, we should be very encouraged by this. On the other hand, where is the evidence that this Christian preparatory endeavor is making a difference in the social, cultural, ethical, professional, and commercial life of our society? We have heard recently that ISIS has founded a “jihadist university.” The mere prospect of such an institution sounds an ominous alarm. But over 100 Christian institutions of higher learning don’t seem to be much of a threat to the secular and materialistic status quo. Why? Perhaps the answer can be found in a recent survey of faculty members from CCCU institutions indicating incomplete, inconsistent, or even non-existent integration of Christian faith and tradition into the teaching and learning process (Nathan F. Alleman, Perry L. Glanzer, and David S. Guthrie, “The Integration of Christian Theological Traditions into the Classroom: A Survey of CCCU Faculty,” Christian Scholar’s Review, Winter 2016). According to the study, 52% of the respondents indicated that their beliefs have no influence over course design, objectives, or instruction. Of the 48% who do try to integrate, no consistent or thorough pattern of integration was discernible. The authors of the study conclude that CCCU institutions should provide course development training for their instructors. Yeah, that should do it.

Time
In her book, Sacred Time in Early Christian Ireland, Patricia M. Rumsey examines two different approaches to time and how we should use it as represented by monks from 8th century Ireland. One group, associated with the celi de movement – a kind of elite ascetic movement within certain monasteries – looked upon time as fallen and in need of redemption. These monks considered that the best way to redeem time – to make the best use of it – was through rigorous use of spiritual disciplines, especially prayer. The celi de had little time for much of anything else, in fact. They lived separate from the world, did not engage in mission, kept most forms of culture at arms’ length, and devoted themselves to prayer, meditation, and fasting as their way of redeeming the time allotted to them. The monks associated with the Navigatio Brendani, on the other hand, were very much involved in the world and practiced their spiritual lives in the midst of various adventures in mission. Ms. Rumsey perhaps rightly sees the two groups as opposing one another. The celi de insisted on praying through the entire psalter every day. The monks of Brendan’s group prayed the psalms, but only in part, and while they were busy about other matters. Certainly, there is an element of truth in the perspective on time held by each group. Time is fallen, and must be received, engaged, and invested with deliberate intentionality if it is not to slip away from us into the darkness of unbelief, disobedience, and spiritual rebellion. We need to be disciplined in how we make the most of our time. At the same time, we are engaged in the world and its culture, and we should improve all the time allotted to us for bringing the glory of God to light in as many ways as we can. The key here is to hold these two perspectives in perpetual tension as we apply ourselves, in every moment of our lives, to knowing, enjoying, serving, and celebrating our Lord Jesus Christ. “So teach us to number our days, O Lord, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Ps. 90.12).

Apologetics
Do we need arguments for the existence of God? Doesn’t Paul teach that all people know God, whether or not they admit it, and that they are all without excuse for not worshiping Him? But the knowledge of God which each person possesses can become quite muffled, buried as it is under the detritus of unbelief and sin each unbelieving person heaps upon it. It can be helpful, therefore, in opening people to further conversation about the Lord, to appeal to that inherent knowledge of God with arguments accessible to fallen reason. Such an argument is offered by John R. Baumgardner and Jeremy D. Lyon in the December, 2015, issue of JETS (“A Linguistic Argument for God’s Existence”). This is a fine example of how believers can show that the very structures of the universe point beyond themselves to God. The authors show convincingly that the very existence of language points to unseen realities and fixed meanings, which cannot exist except in a world intended for such matters. And such a world, fraught with ideas and meanings, implies a Maker of ideas and meanings, One Who is Himself the ultimate Idea and final Meaning of all things, the very Logos of God Himself. The article is a bit technical in places, but the logic of it is clear. God invites rebels to reason with Him (Is. 1.18), and it can be helpful to have arguments such as this available to clear a path for the Gospel through the wild weeds of unbelief, prejudice, and ignorance.

Go to the Ant
Scientific American reports that ants, which have no leaders but exhibit enormous collective wisdom, might provide insights for improving a variety of human social systems (“Collective Wisdom of Ants,” Deborah M. Gordon, February 2016). SA recommends that we go to the ant and consider her ways and be wise, to learn how shared need and common interest can generate undirected cooperative social behavior. Don’t you love it when science catches up with Scripture (Prov. 6.6-8)?

Outcomes
Making Moral Judgments
Thomas Dabay reflects on the process whereby human beings make moral judgments, and in so doing he provides a glimpse into the workings of the soul (“Justifying Our Moral Judgments,” Philosophy Now, January 16, 2016). Taking Hume and Kant as his philosophical starting-points, Mr. Dabay explains how sentiment and reason factor into moral decision-making. We make judgments and take actions based on how we feel or on what we conclude to be reasonable. But each of these approaches has obvious flaws, as neither sentiment nor reason alone can be relied on in every circumstance. Mr. Dabay’s solution is to employ each in concert, working toward what he refers to as “sound common sense.” And he is correct, as far as he goes. Yet the inner person – the soul – which is the forge for moral actions, also consists of a conscience, that facet of the soul where settled convictions exercise strong influence over both heart and mind. A weak or corrupt conscience will be of little help in guiding feelings and thinking toward right moral action. Only as the conscience is rooted in the absolute truths of God’s Law and Word can it exercise bridling and guiding power over affections and reason. And only as the soul in all its facets is subject to the searching, teaching, convicting, and transforming work of the Holy Spirit will we be able to think like Christ and act like Christ in loving words and deeds.

Envoi
Let Not My Words
                  1 Samuel 3.19

Let not my words fall to the ground, O Lord,
like Onan’s wasted, self-indulgent seed.
Let mine convey Your ever-fruitful Word,

and let them be far-flung, and gladly heard
or read according to each person’s need.
Let not my words fall to the ground, O Lord,

like some discarded, useless, broken shard.
Let many take them up, and as they read,
let my words bear your ever-fruitful Word;

and in the chambers of men’s souls, deep bored,
let them embed and germinate with speed.
Let not my words fall to the ground, O Lord,

but draw them from Your scabbard with Your Sword,
and both together for Your glory wield.
Let mine with Yours be ever fruitful , Lord.

This calling, this vocation, let me heed
with diligence and faithfulness, I plead.
Let not my words fall to the ground, O Lord,
but let them prove Your ever-fruitful Word.

T. M. Moore