Ch.2- Sketching a Biblical Portrait of the Life of the Mind

Observations
1) The importance of knowledge, reason, and intellect is clearly taught in the Bible.
-Job 37:16 & 1 John 3:20
-God is All-Knowing (omniscient)
-The Bible is meant as a revelation. (To reveal or to make known)

2) There is a false idea that Christians are somehow the gatekeepers for understanding God & The bible.
-This is the job of the Holy Spirit
-This teaching is based on a gnostic belief

3) Examples of using intellect, wisdom, understanding in the Bible
-Acts 18:28 - Apollos vigorously refuted the Jews...proving Jesus was the Christ
-Acts 15:2 - Paul & Barnabas - "This brought them into sharp debate & dispute with them."
-Acts 7 - Stephen's speech to the Sanhedrin (He based his defense on Scripture & History)

4) There is great value in the natural moral laws
-God created & ordained the natural laws
-People who do not believe in the validity of the Scriptures will not be swayed by evidence from it.
-There is sufficient evidence in the natural world, so we should study and know it.

5) Daniel was placed in a position of influence because of his knowledge of "all disciplines of wisdom".
-We must seek to understand all areas of knowledge.
-It is part of God's creation, to learn about it is to learn about Him
-Christians can become very exclusionary when all we know is what is in the Scripture.

6) 1 Peter 3:15 - As Christians we must be able to give a rational defense for our beliefs

7) God's wisdom, & knowledge are beyond our understanding, but we should never stop seeking to understand them.
-This is the same as training for a race that you know you will not win, but you still train to win.

8) God is a rational, intelligent being who has made us in His image, so we should use our God given ration and intellect.