Considering Think

When John Piper’s book Think: The Life of the Mind and the Love of God was originally release, I wasn’t too impressed with the subject.  “Meh” I thought.  When I found it at a deep discount, I thought “ah, I’ll give it a try.”  A few months later, as it hung out on my bookcase, I thought “now might be a good time to read it.”  And now I realize what a doofus I am.  Unlike the former CEO of Yahoo!, I won’t be sued for using that term since I am referring to myself.

“God is glorified not only by His glory’s being seen, but by its being rejoiced in.” Jonathan Edwards

Piper wrote this short book to refute two extremes of thought among Christians and to assert the “better way” to think about thinking.  “It is a plea to see thinking as a necessary, God-ordained means to knowing God.”  One extreme are thought separated from the reality of God as Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer.  This is to think independently of God.  The other extreme is to avoid intellectual exercise because such thinking is unnecessary and wrong.  Piper advocates deep, critical thinking about all things done in recognition and dependence upon God that we might treasure Him.

⁷Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. 2 Timothy 2

This is one of the primary texts Piper uses to make his case.  We see that Paul commands Timothy to think.  Without thinking there will be no understanding.  But that understanding is given by God.  We don’t just ask of it and fail to think.  We must think and God must grant understanding.  Thinking is often God’s means, His ordinary means.  So, it isn’t not thinking or praying but prayerfully thinking that Scripture advocates.

To accomplish Piper’s purpose he reads both of God’s books: the Bible and creation.  The Bible is authoritative.  Creation is more illustrative.  We can underestimate the amount of thinking we do.  Reading is not mindless regardless of the subject matter.  We can think well or poorly, but think we will do.  Thinking well is to understand and evaluate the author’s meaning.  This requires hard work at times, and the gratification is not usually immediate.  This is why some people count on mysticism.

Piper goes on to show that we come to faith through thinking.  He rightly assesses our depravity, that our thinking is darkened.  Yet, Paul reasoned with people.  His reasoning was necessary but insufficient.  God had to grant understanding, or shine His light into their hearts as it says in 2 Corinthians 4.  Faith is not unreasonable, the absence of thought.  Faith requires thinking about both of God’s books to understand the nature of reality.  And loving the nature of reality in Christ Jesus.  It isn’t about knowing facts, but loving the One to whom all the facts point.

“No single piece of our mental world is to be hermetically sealed off from the rest, and there is not a single square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, “Mine!”  Abraham Kuyper

This shows that our thinking is utterly dependent upon God.  We can study no subject independent of God precisely because He made us in His image and He made that which we are studying.  We use His gifts to study His gifts.  We are insufficient to the task.  So the pride of academia and ignorance is inappropriate.  We must repent.

The middle of the book has a few chapters dealing with the problem of relativism.  He briefly yet persuasively argues against moral and intellectual relativism.  He states that no one is a relativist at the bank.  I’d add that all the professors who teach relativism are not relativists when they grade their students’ work.  They understand that words have meaning, and the speaker’s intent (especially when THEY are the speaker) matters.  He views relativism as rebellion against God, and self-refuting since it has to rely on a few absolutes (like the law of non-contradiction) to argue its case.

This functions as a bit of a hinge in the book.  Relativism is also used by people to avoid thinking, or the consequences of their truth thoughts through the obscuring of meaning.  He then moves on to anti-intellectualism.  To do so he looks at 2 Scriptural texts which are often used to justify not loving God with all your mind- Luke 10:17-24 and 1 Corinthians 1:20-24.  He shows how thinking independently of God is the problem in view.  But that God reveals as we think about the message the Apostles preached and taught.  God wants us to believe particular things.

“A well-educated person sees the glory of God in the inspired Word of God and in the created world of God, and understands it and evaluates it and feels it and applies it and expresses it for others to see and enjoy.”

This, as I mentioned, is a short book.  But it is not a trivial book.  It requires thought.  But that thought will probably be rewarded if you approach the book humbly, as though you don’t have all the answers.  Though you may be tempted to overlook the first appendix, it was fruitful reading.  He spent some more time explaining what it means to think something through- understanding, evaluating and feeling the weight of something.