Think Biblically! (Trade Paper) E-Book

• Herausgeber: Crossway
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 709

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2003

Beschreibung

Now in paperback, this helpful volume by pastor and best-selling author John MacArthur guides readers in cultivating a biblical worldview on a wide range of issues. What we think shapes who we are. That's why the Bible tells us, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind" (Romans 12:2a). In a world of differing voices competing for our allegiance, we must learn to "think biblically" so we can distinguish good from evil. God is the Creator of this world; his voice-his Word-must guide our thoughts and our lives. With the Bible in their hands, John MacArthur and other scholars and teachers from the Master's College confront the false worldviews that dominate our postmodern world. The authors provide models for cultivating a biblical mind-set on worship, psychology, gender, science, education, history, government, economics, and literature. This book will help anyone who is striving to think biblically in today's culture.

Leseprobe

Think Biblically!

Original edition copyright © 2003 by John MacArthur and Richard Mayhue

Published by Crossway Booksa publishing ministry of Good News Publishers1300 Crescent StreetWheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided by USA copyright law. Crossway® is a registered trademark in the United States of America.

Cover design: Kirk DouPonce, The DesignWorks Group, 

www.thedesignworksgroup.com

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible: English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

References marked NASB are from The New American Standard Bible, copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, and 1995 by The Lockman Foundation and are used by permission.

References marked KJV are from the King James Version.

First printing, new cover 2009

Printed in the United States of America

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-0398-6PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-0950-6Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-0951-3ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-1624-5

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

MacArthur, John, 1939—

Think biblically! : recovering a Christian worldview / John MacArthur and the Master’s College faculty ; John MacArthur, general editor ;

Richard L.Mayhue, John A. Hughes, associate editors.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 13: 978-1-58134-412-7 (HC : alk. paper)

ISBN 10: 1-58134-412-0

1. Christian life—Biblical teaching. I. Mayhue, Richard, 1944II. Hughes, J. A., 1941- . III. Master’s College. IV. Title.

BS680.C47 M335     2003230—dc21                                      2002151364

DEDICATED TO

the Board of Directors, friends of The Master’s University,faculty, staff, alumni, and present/future students atThe Master’s University who are committed toliving for God’s glory and pleasure according to theChristian worldview shaped by Scripture

CONTENTS

THE MASTER’S UNIVERSITY CONTRIBUTORS

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

PART ONETHE BIBLICAL FOUNDATION

1 EMBRACING THE AUTHORITY AND SUFFICIENCY OF SCRIPTURE

      John MacArthur

2 CULTIVATING A BIBLICAL MIND-SET

      Richard L. Mayhue

3 COMPREHENDING CREATION

      John MacArthur

4 COMING TO GRIPS WITH SIN

      John MacArthur

5 HAVING AN ETERNALLY RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

      John MacArthur

6 VIEWING THE NATIONS FROM GOD’S PERSPECTIVE

      Mark A. Tatlock

PART TWOTHE BIBLICAL FORMULATION

7 UNDERSTANDING OUR POSTMODERN WORLD

      Brian K. Morley

8 PROFILING CHRISTIAN MASCULINITY

      Stuart W. Scott

9 PORTRAYING CHRISTIAN FEMININITY

      Patricia A. Ennis

10 ENJOYING SPIRITUAL WORSHIP AND MUSIC

      Paul T. Plew

11 WHY BIBLICAL COUNSELING AND NOT PSYCHOLOGY?

      John D. Street

12 WHY A SCRIPTURAL VIEW OF SCIENCE?

      Taylor B. Jones

13 WHY CHRISTIAN EDUCATION AND NOTSECULAR INDOCTRINATION?

      John A. Hughes

14 REFLECTING HONESTLY ON HISTORY

      Clyde P. Greer, Jr.

15 DEVELOPING A BIBLICAL VIEW OF CHURCH AND STATE

      John P. Stead

16 PROPOSING A BIBLICAL APPROACH TO ECONOMICS

      R. W. Mackey, II

17 GLORIFYING GOD IN LITERARY AND ARTISTIC CULTURE

      Grant Horner

NOTES

THE MASTER’S UNIVERSITYCONTRIBUTORS

Patricia E. Ennis, Ed.D, Northern Arizona UniversityChairperson, Department of Home EconomicsProfessor of Home Economics

Clyde P. Greer, Jr., D.A., Carnegie-Mellon UniversityChairperson, Department of History and Political StudiesProfessor of History

Grant Horner, Ph.D. (A.B.D.), University of North CarolinaAssistant Professor of English

John A. Hughes, Ph.D., Brigham Young UniversityVice President for Academic AffairsProfessor of Education

Taylor B. Jones, Ph.D., University of TexasChairperson, Department of Biological and PhysicalSciences Chairperson, Department of MathematicsProfessor of Chemistry

John MacArthur, Litt.D, D.D., Talbot Theological SeminaryPresidentProfessor of Bible

R. W. Mackey, II, Ed.D., Pepperdine UniversityChairperson, Department of BusinessAdministration Professor of Business Administration

Richard L. Mayhue, Th.D., Grace Theological SeminarySenior Vice President and ProvostProfessor of Bible

Brian K. Morley, Ph.D., Claremont School of TheologyProfessor of Philosophy and Apologetics

Paul T. Plew, Ed.D., Nova Southeastern UniversityChairperson, Department of MusicProfessor of Music

Stuart W. Scott, D.Min., Covenant Theological SeminaryAssociate Professor of Biblical Counseling

John P. Stead, Ph.D., University of Southern CaliforniaProfessor of History and Political Studies

John D. Street, D.Min., Westminster Theological SeminaryChairperson, Department of Biblical CounselingAssociate Professor of Biblical Counseling

Mark A. Tatlock, Ed.D., Nova Southeastern UniversityVice President for Student Life

PREFACE

In keeping with the mission of The Master’s University to empower students for a life of enduring commitment to Christ, biblical fidelity, moral integrity, intellectual growth, and lasting contribution to the kingdom of God, this volume has been written to instruct and exhort all those who will eventually read this material to embrace a Christian worldview. Without apology or reservation, The Master’s University is committed to the absolute authority, centrality, inerrancy, infallibility, primacy, and sufficiency of God’s Word. Thus Scripture is by far the single most important source that informs and shapes our view of God and His created world.

Think Biblically! targets students and nonstudents alike. In an era of postmodern influence that advocates that there are no absolutes and that everyone’s opinion is of equal value, this volume issues a serious call to recover a Christian worldview that is absolute and exclusive. As many individual believers, conservative evangelical churches, and Christian schools drift away from a high view of God and His Word, their worldview will be compromised by error. These essays are intended to reaffirm and restore a biblically-based view of life’s reality from God’s perspective; some of the content is intended to be prescriptive and some proscriptive. Whether the reader is a student in high school or college, a pastor or professor, a missionary or biblical counselor, a layperson or Christian worker, this book will help refocus proper attention on God’s understanding of the world in which one lives.

This volume is not intended to be an unabridged treatment of the subject. For instance, the explanations of and defenses against other worldviews have not been included.1 Further, no single chapter exhausts its subject but rather furnishes a suggestive, general treatment. Each chapter could have been expanded into a full-length book. Also, additional disciplines could have been treated had space permitted. However, the broad sweep of this presentation is its intended strength.

This work is divided into two major sections. Part One presents “The Biblical Foundation,” which deals with six major ideas that frame the basics of a Christian worldview, including a special emphasis on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Part Two illustrates “The Biblical Formulation,” in which many, but not all, of the more important contemporary outworkings of a Christian worldview are representatively and briefly treated.2

The reader will also note a diversity in the levels of style in treating the different topics. At one end are chapters whose documentation is extensive, and at the other are those in which documentation is minimal. To some extent, this diversity results from the nature of individual subjects, and to a lesser degree, the choice of each contributor. Even though the reader might perceive a minor difference of opinion, The Master’s University Faculty is unanimously and wholeheartedly committed to a biblical worldview as presented in Scripture.

Each chapter concludes with a Further Reading section. These resources are listed as representative of the best volumes to pursue should the reader wish to further explore the subject matter of any given chapter. The inclusion of a work does not constitute an endorsement of everything in that work but reflects a favorable impression of its general thrust.

The endnotes provide additional information and cited documentation for the worldview literature in each chapter. An Index of Scriptures, an Index of Persons, and an Index of Subjects provide a ready reference. Scripture quotations are taken from the English Standard Version (ESV) unless otherwise noted.

The editors wish to thank many individuals who have assisted in the production of Think Biblically! Librarians John Stone and Dennis Swanson helped locate valuable resource material and references; administrative assistants Marjorie Ackerman, Sharon Staats, Tanya ten Pas, and the faculty secretaries workeed on various portions of the project; Dr.W. Gary Phillips and Bob White read the manuscript and offered helpful improvements; Phil Johnson and Gary Knussman helped with several chapters; and various TMC colleagues made valuable suggestions while reading preliminary chapter drafts.

The Master’s University faculty offer Think Biblically! with the simple prayer that the Lord Jesus Christ will be pleased to encourage this generation of Christians and the next to interpret the world around them with a Christian worldview because they possess “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16).

John MacArthur

Richard L. Mayhue

John A. Hughes

INTRODUCTION

Weltanschauung.1 What is it? Everyone has one. It colors the way all people interpret life. It triggers the decisions one makes, not to mention driving one’s responses. It comes in many varieties. Philosophy, science, culture, and/or religion generally make the dominant contributions to it. What is it? It is the personal worldview of each living individual.

What is a worldview? A worldview comprises one’s collection of presuppositions, convictions, and values from which a person tries to understand and make sense out of the world and life. “A world-view is a conceptual scheme by which we consciously or unconsciously place or fit everything we believe and by which we interpret and judge reality.”2 “A worldview is, first of all, an explanation and interpretation of the world and second, an application of this view to life.”3

How does one form a worldview? Where does one begin? Every world-view starts with presuppositions—i.e., beliefs that one presumes to be true without supporting independent evidence from other sources or systems. Interpreting reality, in part or in whole, requires that one adopt an interpretive stance since there is no “neutral” thought in the universe. This becomes the foundation upon which one builds.

What are the presuppositions of a Christian worldview that is solidly rooted and grounded in Scripture? Carl F. H. Henry, an important Christian thinker in the last half of the twentieth century, answers the question very simply: “. . . evangelical theology dares harbor one and only one presupposition: the living and personal God intelligibly known in his revelation.”4 Without equivocation, Dr. Henry forthrightly and clearly believes that “Our theological systems are not infallible, but God’s propositional revelation is.”5 Henry earlier had elaborated on this theme: “In its ontological and epistemological predictions Christianity begins with the biblically attested self-disclosing God, and not with creative speculation free to modify theism as an interpreter wishes.”6 Ronald Nash approaches the question in a similar manner: “Human beings and the universe in which they reside are the creation of God who has revealed himself in Scripture.”7

For the sake of this volume, let it be stated that two major presuppositions underlie the chapters that follow. The first will be the eternal existence of the personal, transcendent, triune, Creator God. Second, the God of Scripture has revealed His character, purposes, and will in the infallible and inerrant pages of His special revelation, the Bible, which is superior to any other source of revelation or human reason alone.

What is the Christian worldview?8 The following definition is offered as a working model:

The Christian worldview sees and understands God the Creator and His creation—i.e., man and the world—primarily through the lens of God’s special revelation, the Holy Scriptures, and secondarily through God’s natural revelation in creation as interpreted by human reason and reconciled by and with Scripture, for the purpose of believing and behaving in accord with God’s will and, thereby, glorifying God with one’s mind and life, both now and in eternity.

What will be some of the benefits of embracing the Christian worldview? Let the following serve as a small sample representing the kinds of crucial life-questions that can be answered with ultimate truth and can be embraced with confident faith.9

1. How did the world and all that is in it come into being?

2. What is reality in terms of knowledge and truth?

3. How does/should the world function?

4. What is the nature of a human being?

5. What is one’s personal purpose of existence?

6. How should one live?

7. Is there any personal hope for the future?

8. What happens to a person at and after death?

9. Why is it possible to know anything at all?

10. How does one know what is right and what is wrong?

11. What is the meaning of human history?

12. What does the future hold?

Christians of the twenty-first century face the same basic questions about this world and life that confronted the earliest humans in Genesis. They also had to sift through various worldviews to answer the above questions. This has been true throughout history. Consider what faced Joseph (Gen 37—50) and Moses (Ex 2—14) in Egypt, or Elijah when he encountered Jezebel and her pagan prophets (1 Kgs 17—19), or Nehemiah in Persia (Neh 1—2), or Daniel in Babylon (Dan 1—6), or Paul in Athens (Acts 17). They sorted out the difference between truth and error, right and wrong because they placed their faith in the living God and His revealed Word.10

What essentially distinguishes the Christian worldview from other worldviews? At the heart of the matter, a Christian worldview contrasts with competing worldviews in that it: 1) recognizes that God is the unique source of all truth, and 2) relates all truth back to an understanding of God and His purposes for this life and the next. Arthur Holmes superbly summarizes the unique implications of a Christian worldview when relating absolute truth to God.

1. To say that truth is absolute rather than relative means that it is unchanging and universally the same.

2. Truth is absolute not in or of itself but because it derives ultimately from the one, eternal God. It is grounded in his “metaphysical objectivity,” and that of his creation.

3. Absolute propositional truth, therefore, depends on the absolute personal truth (or fidelity) of God, who can be trusted in all he does and says.11

Are there any common misperceptions about the Christian worldview, especially by Christians? There are at least two mistaken notions. The first is that a Christian view of the world and life will differ on all points from other worldviews. While this is not always true (e.g., all worldviews accept the law of gravity), the Christian worldview will differ and will be unique on the most important points, especially as they relate to the character of God, the nature and value of Scripture, and the exclusivity of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. The second is that the Bible contains all that we need to know. Common sense should put this misdirected thought out of business. However, it is true that the Bible alone contains all that Christians need to know about their spiritual life and godliness through a knowledge of the one true God, which is the highest and most important level of knowledge (2 Pet 1:2-4). Also, while it does not exhaustively address every field, when Scripture speaks in any subject area, it speaks authoritatively.

How can a Christian worldview be spiritually profitable and in what life-contexts? First, in the world of scholarship the Christian worldview is offered, not as one of many equals or possibilities, but as the one true view of life whose single source of truth and reality is the Creator God. Thus it serves as a bright light reflecting the glory of God in the midst of intellectual darkness.

Second, a Christian worldview can be used as an effective tool in evangelism to answer the questions and objections of the unbeliever. However, it must be clearly understood that in the final analysis, it is the Gospel that has the power to bring an individual to salvation (Rom 1:16-17). Carl F. H. Henry clearly makes the point that

No person can be “argued into becoming a Christian.” Yet without meeting rational criteria one’s religious experience is less than biblical and evangelical. One can and ought to be persuaded intellectually of the logical consistency and truth of evangelical postulates concerning God and the world. One need not be a believer, however, to understand the truths affirmed by divine revelation. A person persuaded intellectually of the truth of the gospel but seeking to escape or seeking to postpone personal salvific trust invites divine condemnation. But personal faith is a gift of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit uses the truth as a means of conviction and persuasion.12

Finally, a Christian worldview is extraordinarily helpful in the realm of discipleship to inform and mature a true believer in Christ with regard to the implications and ramifications of one’s Christian faith. It provides a framework by which 1) to understand the world and all of its reality from God’s perspective and 2) to order one’s life according to God’s will.

What should be the ultimate goal of embracing the Christian worldview? Why is the Christian worldview worth recovering? Listen to Jeremiah who passes along God’s direct answer.

Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”

—JEREMIAH 9:23-24

FURTHER READING13

Geisler, Norman L. and William D. Watkins. Worlds Apart: A Handbook on World Views. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1989.

Hoffecker, W. Andrew and Gary Scott Smith, eds. Building a Christian World View. 2 vols. Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1986, 1988.

Holmes, Arthur F. Contours of a World View. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans. 1983.

MacArthur, John. Why One Way? Defending an Exclusive Claim in an Inclusive World. Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2002.

Nash, Ronald H. Worldviews in Conflict: Choosing Christianity in a World of Ideas. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1992.

Noebel, David A. Understanding the Times. Manitou Springs, CO: Summit Press, 1991. Reprint, Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1994.

North, Gary, ed. Foundations of Christian Scholarship. Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books, 1979.

Orr, James. The Christian View of God and the World. Edinburgh: A. Elliot, 1893. Reprint, Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1948.

Phillips, W. Gary and William E. Brown. Making Sense of Your World from a Biblical Viewpoint. Chicago: Moody Press, 1991. Reprint, Salem, WI: Sheffield Publishing, 1996.

Wells, David F. God in the Wasteland: The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1994.

PART ONETHE BIBLICAL FOUNDATION

1

EMBRACING THE AUTHORITY AND SUFFICIENCY OF SCRIPTURE

JOHN MACARTHUR

A truly Christian worldview begins with the conviction that God Himself has spoken in Scripture. As Christians, we are committed to the Bible as the inerrant and authoritative Word of God. We believe it is reliable and true from cover to cover, in every jot and tittle (cf. Matt 5:18). Scripture, therefore, is the standard by which we must test all other truth-claims. Unless that axiom dominates our perspective on all of life, we cannot legitimately claim to have embraced a Christian worldview.

“Judeo-Christian ethics” per se are not what make a worldview Christian. Admiration for the Person and moral teachings of Christ does not necessarily make one’s point of view Christian either. A truly Christian worldview, simply put, is one in which the Word of God, rightly understood, is firmly established as both the foundation and the final authority for everything we hold true.

When we begin with a right view of Scripture, the Bible itself ought to shape what we believe from start to finish. It should govern how we behave. It should frame our entire perspective on life. In other words, if we simply start by affirming what the Bible says about itself, the rest of our worldview should fall into place, with the Bible as the source and touchstone of all we believe. So this is the crucial, foundational starting point in developing a Christian worldview.

But is the Bible, in and of itself, sufficient to furnish us with a complete worldview? Many Christians these days seem to imagine that the Bible is neither modern enough nor sophisticated enough to equip people to live in the twenty-first century. Church growth experts tell pastors they must look beyond the Bible for principles of leadership and success gleaned from the modern business world. Psychologists claim the Bible is too simplistic to help people with complex emotional and psychological issues. In every quarter of the evangelical movement today the Scriptures are being set aside in favor of novel philosophies, scientific theories, experimental behavioral and counseling techniques, political correctness, and other similar fads of modern opinion. People who claim to be evangelicals have jumped on almost every novel bandwagon of secular opinion since the middle of the nineteenth century.

Observing the current trends in the church, one would think opinion polls, rather than Scripture, determines truth for Christians. (One Christian pollster recently issued a series of shrill warnings in the form of a book and a series of press releases, saying that the church would soon cease to exist completely if church leaders do not heed modern opinion polls and change the very nature of the church in order to get in step with the times. That point of view is flatly contrary to the principle of Matthew 16:18, where we are told that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the true church.) Obviously, many who call themselves evangelicals operate with something other than a biblical worldview.

THE ATTACK ON BIBLICAL SUFFICIENCY

Perhaps the one doctrine most under attack in the church of our generation is the sufficiency of Scripture. Even people who give lip service to the authority, inspiration, and inerrancy of Scripture sometimes balk at affirming its sufficiency. The result is virtually the same as a denial of biblical authority, because it directs people away from the Bible in search of other “truth.”

What do we mean when we say Scripture is sufficient? We mean that the Bible is an adequate guide for all matters of faith and conduct. Scripture gives us every truth we need for life and godliness. Or to borrow words from the A.D. 1647 Westminster Confession of Faith, “The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men.”1

The church, by and large, simply does not believe that anymore. The average Christian seems to assume that something more than Scripture is needed to help us cope in a modern world. Christian bookstores are full of books offering advice drawn from sources other than the Bible on almost every conceivable subject—parenting, Christian manhood and womanhood, success and self-esteem, relationships, church growth, church leadership, ministry, philosophy, and so on. Various self-appointed experts who claim to have discovered some deep truth not revealed in Scripture have now become familiar fixtures on the evangelical landscape. The sufficiency of Scripture is under attack, and the effect on the collective worldview of the evangelical movement has been disastrous.

We see evidence of this in the fact that so many pastors and church leaders now doubt that Scripture is a sufficient diet for the saints. They want to supplement biblical teaching with entertainment and ideas drawn from secular sources. They apparently do not believe that studying, teaching, and applying the Word of God alone is sufficient for meeting people’s spiritual needs. And they apparently do not believe that preaching the Bible is sufficiently appealing to unbelievers. They insist instead that in today’s media-driven, visually-oriented culture, the message must be augmented by music, drama, comedy, and extrabiblical motivational talks. Biblical principles aren’t deemed sufficiently “relevant” by themselves. Numerous churches are replacing preaching with carnal amusements. Pastors who are Bible teachers who carefully and thoroughly feed their people an unbroken pattern of accurate, deep, clear, and convicting understanding of God’s Word are more rare as time passes.

Do you want more evidence that evangelicals are losing confidence in the sufficiency of Scripture? You will see it in the rise of evangelical mysticism—the belief that Christians need to listen to God speaking directly to them through strong impressions in their mind, a voice in their head, or other mystical means. Some evangelicals have become obsessed with Satan and demonic powers. They imagine that they can command demons merely by speaking to them. All such mysticism is in reality nothing more than dabbling with the occult. It stems from a loss of confidence in the sufficiency of Scripture. Those who aren’t convinced the Bible is a sufficient revelation of truth will be continually looking elsewhere for more “revelation” and new mystical experiences. In doing so, they open the door wide to the worst kinds of demonic deception.

During the past quarter century we have witnessed the abandonment of belief in Scripture’s sufficiency in another category: marriage and the family. Christians once believed that if they studied the Word of God and obeyed its principles, they would have a God-honoring family life and a fulfilling marriage that would please the Lord. But now there is a proliferation of new techniques and a plethora of concepts, gimmicks, and opinions apart from the Word being offered as the real keys in dealing with family problems. All of that suggests that Christians no longer believe the Bible is a sufficient source of instruction concerning these matters.

I recently read an article in a respected magazine once known for its defense of Reformation principles—including the sufficiency of Scripture. Unfortunately, in this article the author was explaining why he had abandoned his confidence that the Bible is sufficient. He said he had read data from a poll indicating that the divorce rate among “born-again Christians” is as high as or higher than the divorce rate among non-Christian couples. He said those survey results made him conclude that the Bible simply does not have all the answers when it comes to keeping Christian marriages together. This man, who is a Professor of New Testament in a leading evangelical seminary, decided that the biblical guidelines on marriage are simply too superficial to work in the modern world. In short, he said he had abandoned his confidence in biblical sufficiency because of data from an opinion poll.

But generations of Christians can testify that the Bible’s teaching about marriage is sufficient, if obeyed, to keep truly Christ-centered marriages healthy and vibrant. We certainly should not be willing to accept uncritically the data of any poll purporting to prove that the marriages of born-again people are more likely to fail than the marriages of unbelievers. In the first place, no pollster could ever accurately determine who is “born again” and who is not. The poll categorized people as “born again” if they claimed any kind of belief in Christ, even if other survey questions revealed they did not understand the essentials of the Gospel. Furthermore, the poll did not distinguish whether the divorce occurred before or after the person’s conversion, thereby invalidating the point.

In the second place, no marriage ever fails unless one or both of the partners is disobedient to the clear biblical teaching about how to live with one’s partner in love and understanding (cf. 1 Pet 3:1-7). The failure of supposedly Christian marriages today is not proof of the insufficiency of Scripture; it is proof of the weakness and biblical illiteracy of those who say they believe Scripture is the Word of God.

DOES SCRIPTURE CLAIM TO BE SUFFICIENT?

Is there a biblical response to this sinful abandonment of the sufficiency of Scripture? Of course there is. Many passages in the Bible teach that the Scriptures are a perfectly sufficient revelation of “all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Pet 1:3).

Second Corinthians 9:8, for example, is filled with superlatives regarding the all-sufficient resources God provides: “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work” (emphasis added). That is an amazingly comprehensive statement. For anyone to claim that human philosophy must augment the simple truth of Scripture, or that Scripture cannot deal with certain societal issues and individual problems, is to contradict Paul’s divinely inspired testimony in that verse.

When Jesus prayed to the Father for believers’ sanctification, He said, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). “Sanctify” means “set apart from sin, to be holy and separated to God.” Sanctification encompasses the whole concept of spiritual maturity. Jesus was teaching that every aspect of the believer’s holiness is the work of the Word of God (not the Word of God plus something else).

In fact, to suggest that the Word of God alone is insufficient is to espouse the very opinion that lies at the heart of virtually every cult that pretends to be Christian. The one thing nearly all of them have in common is the belief that people need the Bible plus something else—the writings of some “enlightened” prophet or seer, the edicts of church tradition, or the conclusions of science and secular philosophy. So, to deny the sufficiency of Scripture is to espouse an age-old heresy. But Scripture consistently teaches that the complete holiness of the believer is the work of the all-sufficient Word of God (cf. John 17:17).

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul described how God instructed him and the believers at Corinth: “And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual” (2:13). Through the Holy Spirit, God dispenses His wisdom to believers. His Word is so comprehensive, so effective, and so complete that verse 15 says believers can judge (appraise and evaluate) “all things.” Christians who know Scripture can have such a comprehensive ability to discern things because, according to verse 16, they have “the mind of Christ.”

The mind of Christ is the consummate mind of God—omniscient, supreme, and without any insufficiency. All the church needs to understand any problem, meet any need, or unravel any issue is the mind of God. And the mind of God is revealed to us in Scripture in a way that is adequate for all our spiritual needs.

In Mark 12:24 Jesus challenged the Pharisees, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?” All their errors—like every spiritual error in any context—stemmed from a lack of knowledge and understanding of the Word of God. Notice also that Jesus equated knowing the Scriptures with experiencing “the power of God.” Some modern evangelicals seem to think that if the church wants real power we cannot merely proclaim the Bible. That is the view of many charismatics, who insist that signs and wonders are a necessary supplement to merely proclaiming the truth of God’s Word. Others, including some of the most influential pundits of the church growth movement, likewise insist that unless biblical preaching is supplemented with other programs, the church can never successfully save the lost. They err severely, not knowing that the gospel message itself “is the power of God for salvation” (Rom 1:16, emphasis added).

How did Jesus handle Satan when the devil tempted Him (Matt 4:1-11)? Did He use some complicated exorcism formula to bind him or banish him to the abyss? No; He simply addressed the devil on three occasions with the words “It is written” and thus refuted the enemy’s evil tactics by citing the words of Scripture. So even Christ exercised the power of God through the Word of God, and that is what thwarted Satan’s temptation.

The power of God is not found in some mystical, extra-biblical source of knowledge, the use of signs and wonders and ecstatic utterances, the insights of secular psychology and philosophy, or clever insights into people’s felt needs. But rather the power of God resides only in the inspired, infallible, and inerrant Word of God. When believers read, study, obey, and apply Scripture, they will realize it has sufficient power to deal with any situation in life.

Jesus also said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Luke 11:28). By that He meant that all spiritual sufficiency is bound up in hearing and obeying the Word of God. Normally we equate “blessed” with an emotional tingle or a momentary sense of excitement. But here Jesus used the term to speak of a blissful state of life—a life accompanied by peace and joy, meaning and value, hope and fulfillment—a life that is fundamentally happy and content. Obedience to God’s sufficient Word opens the door to that kind of life. Again, Scripture is the answer to all of life’s challenges.

In Luke 16 Jesus relates the parable of Lazarus (the beggar full of sores) and the rich man. Lazarus died and went to Abraham’s bosom, the place of blessing. The rich man died and went to the place of torment. From his position of suffering, the rich man pleaded with Abraham:

“Then I beg you, father, to send him [Lazarus] to my father’s house—for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.” But Abraham said, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.” And he said, “No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” He said to him, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.”

—LUKE 16:27-31

The rich man’s perspective is the same view of many today who always seem to demand some kind of supernatural affirmation of spiritual truth. They imagine that the straightforward statements of Scripture and the power of the Gospel alone are not sufficient. But the Lord, through the words of the parable, argued otherwise and said that even though He Himself would rise from the dead, miracles are not necessary for the Gospel to do its work in changing lives. Why? Because the Word of God through the inspiration and illumination of the Holy Spirit is powerful enough—it is all-sufficient in what it teaches about redemption and sanctification.

Hebrews 4:12 is another significant verse that declares the inherent sufficiency of Scripture: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” The writer is essentially saying Scripture is unique and there is no spiritual weapon for the believer that is superior to it. The Word of God penetrates the inner being and nature of a person. How? Because it is living and powerful, sharper than any other spiritual tool and able to go deeper and cut cleaner and truer than any other resource to which someone might turn. When utilized effectively and properly, Scripture reveals the deepest thoughts and intentions of the human heart, so that “all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (v. 13). Thus, the Bible can do what psychoanalysis can never do. It is sufficient to penetrate and lay bare the deepest part of a person’s soul.

James 1:25 also gives testimony to the sufficiency of Scripture: “The one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” The expression “the perfect law of liberty” is synonymous with the complete—and sufficient—Word of God. Again, bliss, satisfaction, fulfillment, and everything else that pertains to life and conduct for a believer are bound up in obedience to the Word of God.

The apostle Peter wrote: “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up” (1 Pet 2:2). Spiritual growth and maturity, the sanctifying process of moving toward Christlikeness, is tied to the believer’s desire for “pure spiritual milk”—the Word of God. Of course, newborns do not want anything besides milk and cannot even digest other foods. Peter is saying that as a baby strongly desires milk for nourishment and growth, believers with the same singular desire and devotion should long for the Word of God. The Word provides all the resources they need for spiritual maturity (cf. 2 Pet 1:3).

Even more direct and comprehensive statements on the power and sufficiency of Scripture are those given by Paul in his farewell message to the Ephesian elders: “I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable . . . for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. . . . And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:20, 27, 32). Paul did not view any portion of God’s revelation as unimportant or insufficient to spiritual growth. Nor did he view any of it as incapable of dealing with life’s problems.

The Old Testament is equally clear about the sufficiency of Scripture. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 is the basic summary of doctrine for the people of Israel:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

That was a simple way to summarize the myriad commands God had given Moses. But the law of God—His revealed Word—was and is the one resource for life and godliness. Everywhere they went, the children of God were always to meditate on and apply the words of the living God. Those words were to occupy their attention as the source and centerpiece of everything. For His people, that is still God’s design for life.

A PSALM ABOUT THE SUFFICIENCY OF SCRIPTURE

Psalm 19 is, I believe, the most concise and direct treatment of the sufficiency of Scripture in all the Bible. This psalm conveys to us the significance of divine revelation. The first half (vv. 1-6) describes God’s revelation in nature, what theologians for years have called general revelation. God is revealed in His creation. As Romans 1:20 says, “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.”

But while general revelation is sufficient to reveal the fact that God exists, and to teach us something about His attributes, nature alone does not reveal saving truth. The point of the psalm is the superiority—the utter spiritual perfection and all-sufficiency—of special revelation, the written Word of God.

And so the second half of the psalm (vv. 7-14) focuses on the absolute and utter sufficiency of Scripture as our one true and infallible guide in life. The psalmist begins this section on the Word of God by writing:

The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul;the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.

—vv. 7-9

Those three verses, consistent with the infinite intelligence of God’s mind, contain an absolutely surpassing and comprehensive, yet concise, statement on the sufficiency of Scripture. They contain six basic lines of thought, each with three basic elements: a title for the Word of God, a characteristic of the Word of God, and a benefit of the Word of God. Each of those lines of thought uses the key phrase “of the LORD.” Six times the covenant name of God, Yahweh, is used to identify the source of the sufficient Word.

The first title for Scripture is “the law,” the Hebrew word tôrå(h), which basically means divine teaching. It points to the didactic or teaching nature of Scripture. In the Scriptures, God dispenses true doctrine to humanity, concerning what we should believe, what kind of character we should cultivate, and how we ought to live. The torah is God’s teaching for every area of life.

The first characteristic of God’s Word, according to verse 7, is that it is “perfect” (cf. Jas 1:25), in contrast to the imperfect, flawed reasonings of humanity. The Hebrew term translated “perfect” is a common word that also can mean “whole,” “complete,” or “sufficient.” One Old Testament scholar, endeavoring to capture the fullness of the word’s meaning, said it means “. . . all-sided so as to cover completely all aspects of life.”2 It is an expression of comprehensiveness, declaring that the Scripture covers everything and lacks nothing.

The first part of verse 7 also lists the first of Scripture’s six benefits: it revives the soul. The Hebrew term translated “reviving” speaks of converting, transforming, restoring, and refreshing. It indicates that Scripture is so comprehensive that if carefully obeyed, it can transform a person’s whole life in every regard. The truth of Scripture gives full life to all aspects of the soul. “Soul” is translated from a Hebrew word (neºe¡) that means the inner person, the whole self—the heart. In other words, Scripture is so comprehensive that it can transform the entire person by giving him salvation and providing all the means necessary for his sanctification, making the very soul of the individual new (cf. Rom 1:16; 2 Tim 3:15-17; 1 Pet 1:23-25).

Psalm 119, a wonderful parallel to Psalm 19, certainly affirms this. “Let your steadfast love come to me, O LORD, your salvation according to your promise” (v. 41). Salvation is connected to God’s promise, or His Word. “This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life” (v. 50). “My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word” (v. 81; cf. vv. 146 and 174). It is no wonder the apostle Paul commanded Timothy to “preach the word” (2 Tim 4:2). God’s Word is sufficient to convert the soul.

Psalm 19:7 also declares a second title and characteristic of Scripture: “the testimony of the LORD is sure.” The psalmist uses “testimony” as a poetic parallel to “the law.” He is not making a contrast between “law” and “testimony”; he is using the words as synonyms, both referring to Scripture. Furthermore, “testimony” defines God’s written Word as a witness to the truth. In the Bible God gives testimony to who He is and what He requires. His testimony is “sure,” in sharp contrast to the unsure, insecure, wavering, shifting, and unreliable notions of men. “Sure” means unwavering, immovable, unmistakable, and worthy to be trusted. The truth of God’sWord thus provides a solid foundation on which people, without hesitation, can build their lives and eternal destinies (cf. 2 Pet 1:19-21).

The benefit of this sure testimony is that of “making wise the simple.” The root of the Hebrew word for “simple” conveys the idea of an open door. A simple person is one who is like an open door—he does not know what to screen out. Everything comes in because he is unlearned, inexperienced, naive, and undiscerning. He may be proud to be “open-minded,” though he is really a fool. But the Word of God makes such a person “wise.” The word translated “wise” basically means to be skilled in the matters of practical godly living. To be wise is to master the art of daily living by knowing the Word of God and applying it in every situation.

Psalm 119 provides additional testimony to the value of the wisdom only God’sWord can supply, demonstrated by the psalmist’s request for such wisdom in verse 27: “Make me understand the way of your precepts.” In other words, the psalmist is calling on God to teach him, for God knows the right way to live. Wisdom and Scripture are inextricably linked: “Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart” (v. 34; cf. vv. 66, 104, 125, 169). We have more understanding than all the combined “wisdom” of those who propagate human knowledge (see vv. 98-100).

The first half of Psalm 19:8 begins with a third title and characteristic of God’s Word: “The precepts of the LORD are right.” Here the title David gives to Scripture is “precepts,” meaning divine principles, statutes, and guidelines. He characterizes those many precepts simply as “right.” That is to say, they show believers the right spiritual path and guide them into the way of true understanding. People who follow the Word of God are not left to wander around in the fog of human opinion.

The result of applying Scripture’s principles, obeying its precepts, and walking in its pathways is true joy—“rejoicing the heart.” The prophet Jeremiah, in the midst of tremendous human stress—rejection of his person and message, and the disaster befalling his entire nation—gave great testimony to the joy that comes through God’s Word: “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart” (Jer 15:16; cf. 1 John 1:4). Psalm 119 provides further confirmation of this truth. In verse 14 the psalmist writes, “In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches” (cf. v. 111). If those who claim to follow Christ today were as excited about scriptural precepts as they are about the materialism of this world, the character of the church would be wholly different, and our testimony to the world would be consistent and potent.

The second part of Psalm 19:8 lists a fourth title and characteristic to identify the Word of God: “the commandment of the LORD is pure.” The word “commandment” emphasizes the authoritative, binding character of Scripture. God requires certain things from people, and He blesses those who comply but judges those who do not. His requirements are “pure,” a word actually better translated as “clear” or “lucid.” Some elements of Scripture are more obscure and harder to understand than others, but generally the Bible is clear, not obscure.

Scripture’s purity and clarity produces the benefit of “enlightening the eyes.” It provides illumination in the midst of moral, ethical, and spiritual darkness. It reveals the knowledge of everything not otherwise readily seen (cf. Prov 6:23). One of the main reasons the Word of God is sufficient for all of humanity’s spiritual needs is because it leaves no doubt regarding essential truth. Life itself is confusing and chaotic. Seeking truth apart from Scripture only adds to the confusion. Scripture, by contrast, is remarkably clear.

Familiar verses from Psalm 119 contain powerful testimony to the purity and clarity of the Word. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (v. 105); “The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple” (v. 130).

Fifth in the list of Scripture’s titles and characteristics is the opening phrase of Psalm 19:9, “the fear of the LORD is clean.” Here the psalmist uses the term “fear” as a synonym for the Word of God. Why does he do that? Because the Word intends to convey and provoke in its hearers the fear of God, which will in turn bring about a reverential, worshipful awe in those who believe it (cf. Ps 119:38). And this Scripture that seeks to produce the fear of God in its readers is “clean.” That speaks of the utter absence of impurity, filthiness, defilement, or imperfection. God’s Word, and God’s Word alone, is unsullied by sin, untainted by evil, devoid of corruption, and without error of any kind (cf. 119:9). Psalm 12:6 affirms that “The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times” (cf. Ps 119:172).

Consequently, the Bible has the remarkable benefit of “enduring forever” (Ps 19:9). It is “the living and abiding word of God” (1 Pet 1:23) that never changes and never needs to be altered, no matter what the generation.

Sixth and last in David’s Psalm 19 litany of praise to the titles and characteristics of Scripture is the second half of verse 9: “The rules of the LORD are true.” These “rules” are the judgments and ordinances of God—in essence, divine verdicts. The commandments of the Bible are the eternally supreme Judge’s legal decrees for the life and eternal destiny of mankind. And those rules are “true.” Even though from an earthly standpoint the truth is very hard for people to discover, the Word of the Lord is always true. Therefore it is always dependable, relevant, and applicable—in contrast to the lies of unregenerate men who are mere pawns and victims of Satan, the father of lies.

The result of the truthfulness of Scripture in verse 9 is that it is “righteous altogether.” That phrase conveys the idea of comprehensiveness. Scripture is the complete, sufficient, error-free source of all truth. That is why God issued such commands as “You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it” (Deut 4:2; cf. Rev 22:18-19). Psalm 119:160 is another wonderful statement on the comprehensive, settled nature of Scripture: “The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever” (cf. vv. 89, 142, 151). God’s Word contains all the truth necessary for genuine spiritual life, and it perfectly meets all the spiritual needs of mankind.

The second half of Psalm 19 goes on to affirm the supreme value of Scripture:

More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold;sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.Moreover, by them is your servant warned;in keeping them there is great reward.Who can discern his errors?Declare me innocent from hidden faults.Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;let them not have dominion over me!Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.

—vv. 10-13

First, David says God’s Word is more valuable than “much fine gold.” To have the incomparable Word of God is far better than possessing earthly wealth. Material blessings are valueless compared to the truth of God’s Word.

Second, Scripture is so infinitely precious because it is the source of life’s greatest pleasure, described in verse 10 as being “sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.” Nothing is as enriching, as personally meaningful, as much a source of lasting pleasure as joyful hours spent reading, studying, and meditating on the contents of God’s Word (cf. Jer 15:16). The lack of resolution for the difficult problems of life is not a result of Scripture’s inadequacy; it’s a result of people’s inadequate study and application of Scripture. If people loved God’s Word the way they should, no one would ever question the Bible’s sufficiency.

Third, the Bible is valuable as the greatest source of spiritual protection: “By them is your servant warned” (v. 11). Scripture protects believers in the face of temptation, sin, and ignorance (cf. Ps 119:9-11).

Fourth, Scripture is the source of our greatest profit, for in keeping its truths there is “great reward.” True reward does not derive from fleeting materialism or man-centered theories and techniques that fade away, but from obedience to Scripture, which results in eternal glory. In fact, the word “reward” here in Hebrew is literally “the end.” The psalmist is saying that in obeying the Word there is a great end, an eternal reward.

The Scripture is also valuable as the supplier of the greatest purification. Even as David is extolling the virtues of Scripture, he asks, “Who can discern his errors?” (v. 12). In light of all the positive characteristics and life-transforming benefits attendant to God’s Word, David could not understand why anyone would ever disobey God’s precepts. That prompted him to cry out, “Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me!” (vv. 12-13). “Hidden faults” are the sins we do not plan to commit and often don’t remember to confess. “Presumptuous sins” are those arrogant, premeditated ones we commit even though we know better.

David sincerely desired not to have such sins dominate him, so that he could be “blameless, and innocent of great transgression.” He employs a Hebrew term for “transgression” that has the idea of willfully breaking free from a restraint or charging past a barrier to escape the dominion of God and the realm of grace. It simply means apostasy. The psalmist was appealing to God for purity of heart, that he might never apostatize, because he realized the Word of God was the only sufficient safeguard against spiritual disaster.

Psalm 19 concludes by expressing the psalmist’s commitment to Scripture: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer” (v. 14). David wanted the Lord to make his words and thoughts biblical. He wanted to be a man of the Word. A true and consistent commitment to divine revelation is the only commitment that really matters in this life.

Many of the trends in the evangelical church today stem from a willful abandonment of the perspective reflected in this psalm. Because Christians have lost their commitment to the sufficiency of Scripture, they have embraced worldviews that are not truly biblical. That is why Christians are leaving the Word of God (the mind of Christ) in order to chase after all kinds of worldly ideas. Even though they claim to believe in the truthfulness of Scripture, they apparently do not believe the Word is sufficient to meet all their needs and those of the people they target. They demonstrate such a lack of faith because they have never really been noble like the Bereans, who daily searched the Scriptures (Acts 17:11). They have treated the Bible in a cursory way and have never enjoyed the power of its rich and profound truths. The church’s message must not be the Bible plus the world, but the message that the Bible alone is sufficient.

Too many people in evangelical churches and schools today simply assume that certain difficult problems they encounter are beyond the purview of Scripture. The real problem is that they are not really devoted to Scripture. They haven’t committed themselves to the daily reading and application of the Word of God. Thus they lack genuine discernment and biblical understanding. If they truly studied Scripture, they would know that it is the Christian’s one true source of spiritual strength and wisdom. It is the all-comprehensive resource God has given us for dealing with the issues of life. When Christians abandon that resource, it is no wonder that they struggle spiritually.

Is the Bible really sufficient to meet every problem of human life? Of course it is. And anyone who says it is not, whether by explicit statement or by implicit action, calls God a liar and ignores or seriously undermines Paul’s clear, self-explanatory instruction to Timothy:

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

—2 TIM 3:14-17

That is the starting point for a true Christian worldview—and it is the point to which Christians must inevitably return in order to evaluate and discern every competing opinion and philosophy. Scripture is true. It is reliable. And above all, it is sufficient to guide us in every aspect of developing a world-view that honors God.

FURTHER READING

Geisler, Norman L. ed. Inerrancy. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1980.

Kistler, Don. ed. Sola Scriptura! Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria, 1995.

MacArthur, John. Ashamed of the Gospel. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1993.

___________. Our Sufficiency in Christ. Dallas: Word, 1991; reprint, Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1998.

___________. Reckless Faith. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1994.

Radmacher, Earl and Robert Preus, eds. Hermeneutics, Inerrancy, and the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1984.

Warfield, Benjamin Breckinridge. The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible. Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1948.

2

CULTIVATING A BIBLICAL MIND-SET

RICHARD L. MAYHUE

A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” This signature sound bite effectively calls to mind a prominent college-level scholarship foundation.1 Most, if not all, worldviews would embrace this generally accepted aphorism. However, a great divergence of opinion exists in describing what this waste might involve, how extensive it is or can be, how best to prevent this kind of mental resource loss, and what might be the best methods of renewing a damaged or neglected mind.

This chapter builds upon the fundamental idea that a human mind that 1) is redemptively focused on Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord (Rom 8:5-8) plus being renewed regularly by Scripture (Rom 12:2) and 2) is then receiving a quality education (formal or informal) from the perspective of a Christian worldview will be the mind that achieves the greatest gains and experiences the least waste (Ps 119:97-104). While the foundation’s classic slogan, mentioned above, embraces the intellectual side of life only, a Christian worldview considers both the intellectual and spiritual aspects of humanity as inseparably and integrally connected from the beginning.

When God created Adam and Eve (Gen 1—2), He brought them into existence in His own image (Gen 1:27) with a mind that immediately allowed them to think, communicate, and act (Gen 2:19-20; 3:1-6).2 The Creator desired that His creation love Him intensely with the mind (Matt 22:37; 2 John 6). Thus, the intellectual and spiritual dimensions were linked in the creation of humanity and in God’s will for them.

Proverbs 27:19 establishes a basic axiom relating to the individual character and mind of a human being.

As in water face reflects face,so the heart3 of man reflects the man.