"There is no longer a Christian mind. There is still, of course, a Christian ethic, a Christian practice, and a Christian spirituality. As a moral being, the modern Christian subscribes to a code other than that of the non-Christian. As a member of the church, he understands obligations and observations ignored by the non-Christian. As a spiritual being, in prayer and meditation, he strives to cultivate a dimension of life unexplored by the non-Christian. But as a thinking being, the modern Christian has succumbed to secularization. He accepts religion - its morality, its worship, its spiritual culture; but he rejects the religious view of life, the view which sets all earthly issues within the context of the eternal view which relates all human problems - social, political, cultural - the doctrinal foundations of the Christian Faith, the view which sees all things here below in terms of God's supremacy and earth's transitoriness, in terms of Heaven and Hell." pp 3-4Blamire's challenge to recover the authentic Christian mind was made in 1963! It still applies in 2011. CASE exists in response to challenges such as Blamire's. His book does not denigrate or ridicule the secular mind; rather, it calls upon Christians to seek to understand the difference between the two.
"To think secularly is to think within a frame of reference bounded by the limits of our life here on earth: it is to keep one's calculations rooted in this-worldly criteria. To think christianly is to accept all things with the mind as related, directly or indirectly, to man's eternal destiny as the redeemed and chosen child of God." p.44While Blamire's book is framed by his experience in the first half of the 20th century, his ideas still resonate. I'll probably do a longer post on this topic in the next few months.
* The lecture for those interested is HERE
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9 comments:
It is a great book. Thank you Trevor for the reminder.
Hi Trevor,
Is the book about Christians preventing their own minds from "thinking secularly", or preventing the secularisation of society in general?
I ask because it is of course inconsistent for an individual Christian to think secularly in his otr her own actions, but it is vitally important that we society itself remains secular.
Tim
Hi Tim,
The book is addressed to Christians. As I said above "His book does not denigrate or ridicule the secular mind; rather, it calls upon Christians to seek to understand the difference between the two." His aim is to remind Christians that their faith and beliefs do (and should) have a relationship to their thinking, reasoning, epistemology and so on.
Cheers,
Trevor
Trevor,
You haven't really answered my question... perhaps I didn't explain myself properly. I know the book is addressed to Christians, I know it doesn't seek to denigrate the secular mind, and I know that his aim is "to remind Christians that their faith and beliefs do (and should) have a relationship to their thinking, reasoning, epistemology and so on".
What I wanted to know was whether the above statements relate to an individual's mind, or society in general.
It's all well and good to say that each individual Christian should be focussed on the eternal consequences of their actions, rather than the immediate, Earthly consequences, but how does Blamire propse that plays out at a societal level?
He says that "to think christianly is to accept all things with the mind as related, directly or indirectly, to man's eternal destiny as the redeemed and chosen child of God". Will that involve imposing particular Christian beliefs on society as a whole?
Tim
Hi Tim,
Not sure where you're trying to take this. It might be helpful for you to read the book and then we can talk at length about it. But, if I understand what you're trying to get at, no, he isn't talking about "imposing particular Christian beliefs on society as a whole".
Cheers,
Trevor
Trevor,
Blamire made a challenge to "recover the authentic Christian mind". Part of that challenge seems to be for Christians to "accept all things with the mind as related...to man's eternal destiny", or has he phrased it elsewhere, to take more heed of the fact that "all things here below" should be considered "in terms of heaven and hell".
The obvious follow up question, which is the one I'm asking, is... how does he propose his challenge will affect society?
For example, Christians generally believe that abortion is a great evil. Does his challenge require Christians to simply not perform an abortion themselves? Or does it mean they should stop the rest of society from having access to abortions as well?
Tim
As I said Tim, you should read the book. Blamires' thesis is that our view of the future, our understanding of who we are and our relationship to God (and so on)should change how we think and act. Of course this will have implications for personal actions and decisions, but his book isn't about the moral decisions that individuals should make, and his intent certainly isn't to encourage the imposition of Christian beliefs on society at large. But he would want us to express our views in the light of our faith as surely you would in a democratic society.
As I said before, I'll write a fuller post on his book later. Thanks for your comments.
Cheers,
Trevor
Hi Trevor,
I'd be interested to hear what you had to say at St. Marks.
Thanks,
Matt
Hi Justin,
I'm still tidying up the paper for St Mark's to publish in the 'St Mark's Review'. I'll put a link on this post when done but email me in a couple of weeks and I'll send it to you.
Cheers,
Trevor
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