feature section | intellectual engagement
The Christian Intellectual
by john stonestreet
I
n The Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis is-
sued this call for Christian intellectual
engagement:
“If all the world were Christian, it might
not matter if all the world were uned-
ucated. But, as it is, a cultural life will
exist outside the Church whether it
exists inside or not. To be ignorant and
simple now — not to be able to meet
the enemies on their own ground —
would be to throw down our weapons,
and to betray our uneducated brethren
who have, under God, no defense but
us against the intellectual attacks of the
heathen. Good philosophy must exist,
if for no other reason, because bad phi-
losophy needs to be answered.” (The
Weight of Glory and Other Addresses.
MacMillan, 1980, 28)
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A more robust picture of the Christian
mind is, however, offered in Scripture, and
its call extends beyond a merely defensive
endeavor tasked to certain professionals.
All Christians should steward their think-
ing as an expression of their faith.
The “greatest” of all the command-
ments, Jesus said, was to “Love the Lord
your God with all your heart, all your soul,
and all your mind” (Matt 22:37). Con-
necting how we think with how we love
will seem strange in a culture that not only
understands love to be little mor