-Bookreport-PHIL201 - Grade: A PDF

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Book report assignment for PHIL 201, Dr. Jones....

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J. P. Moreland’s Love Your God with All Your Mind: The role of reason in the life of the soul, 2nd ed

Chapter one begins with a discussion of how the church has moved away from intellectualism and the impact this has had on evangelism and culture. Moreland says that the church has a tendency to “overemphasize immediate personal conversion to Christ instead of a studied period of reflection and conviction” (23) and that “many believers [have grown] suspicious of intellectual issues altogether” (24). This shift turns faith into “a blind act of will” (25) and religion and ethics into “subjective notions in modern society” (35). Chapter two dives into Scripture to show how the “God of the Bible has a natural affinity for reason and rationality in humans” (45). Moreland shows through Old and New Testament passages how important it is to cultivate the mind in biblical and extrabiblical knowledge so that Christians can “be prepared to stand up for God’s truth and honor when they are challenged, and to do so with carefully thought-out answers” (51). Chapter three begins by looking at how the Old and New Testament emphasize the importance of wisdom, but also how wisdom can only be gained through diligent exercising of the mind (67). Moreland then launches into a discussion of the body, soul, mind, and spirit, and discusses the importance of the mind in the transformation of a person’s life (73). Since the content, strength, centrality, and plausibility of beliefs play an important role in determining a person’s character and behavior, he argues how important it is to devote time to strengthening the mind (77). Chapter four begins a more practical section of the book, beginning with a discussion of what the “empty self” is, and how it is “the enemy of the Christian mind and its cultivation” (93). He then challenges the reader to “cast out” the empty self and gives six steps to help the reader begin cultivating the mind (95). After clearing the mind and establishing good habits, chapter five introduces the principles of reasoning, including syllogisms and fallacies (115). The last five chapters look at how the new and improved mind will interact with the different aspects of today’s culture, including apologetics, evangelism, skepticism, scientism, moral relativism, worship, vocation, and discipleship. Basically, Moreland shows that there is no area of life that will not benefit from an intellectually active mind and refined reasoning skills. He concludes the book with a chapter on how to restructure the church to promote intellectualism, and what that would practically look like from hierarchy to the church library. I loved how carefully outlined this book was—it made it easy for me to follow along. Moreland clearly laid out each of his chapters, and the headings and subheadings helped me create an outline to follow as I read through the book. While some sections were much longer than others, their length was generally bolstered by examples, stories, and biblical passages, which helped me connect with and understand the material better. Moreland definitely has strong opinions on the current state of the church and what he thinks it should look like. His observations of modern culture and critiques of the church were aligned with what I have experienced, and he backs up his statements with plenty of Scripture, which makes some of his harsher allegations against the modern church more palatable. One thing that stood out to me was while he made plenty of criticisms, he did not end the book without giving suggestions. Many times, very opinionated books fail to provide practical applications of their critiques, but Moreland incorporated suggested changes throughout the book, and then devoted an entire chapter to it at the end. Moreland also weaves philosophical ideas into his book in a (mostly) clear way to introduce them to audiences who might not have devoted energy towards developing their minds. Specifically, his logic section helps lay a clear foundation for people just beginning to venture into intellectualism. However, I found his foray into the mind/body/soul discussion to be more

confusing than the discussion in Coffee and Philosophy, which is probably because he tried to address several substantial discussions in just a few pages....