Love Your God with All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul

by J.P. Moreland

Have you really thought about your faith? This book examines the role of reason in faith, helping you use your intellect to further God's kingdom.

Genres: Christian, Philosophy, Theology, Christianity, Christian Living, Nonfiction, Religion

343 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

J.P. Moreland is the Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, Biola University in La Mirada, California. He has four earned degrees: a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Missouri, a Th.M. in theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, an M. A. in philosophy from the University of California-Riverside, and a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Southern California.

He has co-planted three churches, spoken and debated on over 175 college campuses around the country, and served with Campus Crusade for Christ for 10 years. For eight years, he served as a bioethicist for PersonaCare Nursing Homes, Inc. headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.

His ideas have been covered by both popular religious and non-religious outlets, including the New Scientist and PBS’s “Closer to Truth,” Christianity Today and WORLD magazine. He has authored or co-authored 30 books, and published over 70 articles in journals, which include Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, American Philosophical Quarterly, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Metaphilosophy, Philosophia Christi, and Faith and Philosophy.

Reviews

[James Korsmo · Rating 5 out of 5]

J. P. Moreland, professor of philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, has written an absolute must-read in his book, Love Your God with All Your Mind. Moreland's basic argument is a simple but profound one: modern evangelicalism in the West has become largely anti-intellectual, and has lost much of its cultural power. The church needs to revive Christian intellectualism in order to engage the world and fulfill its vocation.

Moreland starts out by making the argument that since the Enlightenment and the Awakenings, evangelicalism has become largely anti-intellectual. In response to intellectual and cultural assaults from without (philosophical critiques, higher-critical critiques on the Bible, evolution), the church largely withdrew from the arena of ideas. Instead of engaging at an intellectual level, Christians grew suspicious of the whole idea of science or philosophy, and withdrew from the conversation. This has had a number of implications for the church: the misunderstanding of how faith and reason are related, the separation of secular and sacred, a weakening of missions, a largely irrelevant gospel of felt needs, and a lack of blodness in confronting hostile or wrong ideas.

This is the state of the christian mind into which Moreland comes. And his book is basicaly an argument for and proposal toward the deepening and reawakening of the Christian mind. He starts by making a case that Scripture basically mandates the development of the Christian mind. As his title indicates, we love God with our whole beings, and that especially includes the mind. For God is a God with reason (omniscient, wise, etc.), and God created reason. Truth is highly valued in Christianity, for we believe in a God of Truth. So study should be a natural result.
He closes the first part of the book by arguing that transforming the mind (as Romans 12:2 says) is absolutely fundamental to spiritual transformation. For our understanding of God and the world is directly related to our relationship with God and our attitudes toward God, ourselves, and the world around us. He further argues that the mind is an integraded and fundamental part of the soul, and thus its transformation is necessary to any deepening of the soul-life.

In the second part of the book (chs 4 and 5), Moreland starts to point the way forward toward the transformation of the Christian mind. He first begins by describing what he terms the "empty self," a set of values, thoughts, and behaviors that typifies much of the modern American mind. This empty self is inordinately individualistic, infantile (seeking to avoid boredom with amusement), narcissistic, passive, sensate, without interior life, and hurried and busy. This type of self is common in Western society, and in the church as well. So much of what he asserts as the solution to the problem of the Christian mind could be said to be a solution to precisely this problem of empty selves. He then goes on to begin outlining a solution, involving developing skills, abilities, habits, and attitudes that build the mind and push out the emptiness. This includes things as simple as knowing and using proper grammar and as life-long as developing and excercising philosophical powers of reasoning.

Part three of the book is a developing picture of what this new Christian mind can look like. He focuses on the theme of apologetics, asserting that rational defense for the faith is essential to Christian witness. He also demonstrates how the Christian mind should be intimately tied to our vocations. This includes painting a picture of how our faith and knowledge of God can and should permeate all areas of our lives, not just he "sacred" space on Sunday morning.

The final part of Moreland's book is a straight-forward proposal for how church could look different if it truly tried to foster the Christian intellectual life. This includes things as simple as uplifting and comissioning our Christian university and graduate students and professors, and things as straight-forward as broadening and deepening the church library. He also proposes the need for the church to be an education center. Sunday school is one possible point where this could occur, but churches can be creative in how they offer courses, and serious in their content (including readings, discussions, papers, etc.). The sermon is also another important piece. Sermons should be applicable, but they should also be educational, challenging the congregation to think and learn more as the basis for this new attitude or action. And occasionally, sermons should shoot for the upper third of the audience, instead of weekly dumbing down the message so that everyone can follow all of the points. Sermons could also be accompanied by weekly studies, questions to ponder, detailed outlines or additional reading, and bibliographies for further study. Last, he advocates a change in the way the church thinks about "senior pastors." Moreland asserts that this role has become a detriment to the church, as many people see the pastor as the "minister" (that is, the one doing ministry) in the congregation. Instead, he proposes that no one person should preach more than half of the Sundays in a year, and that a group of elders should be the functional and spiritual leaders of the congregation, jointly going before God and leading the congregation. This models to the church an attitude of discipleship, openness to God, and enabling of others to praticipate in ministry.

Moreland has presented a strong, integrated, and absolutely necessary call for a reinvigoration of the evangelical mind. As a rather intellectual person myself, I continually found myself agreeing with him, but I also found strong encouragement to grow much further in a number of areas. Apologetics will especially be an area of study I renew with fresh vigor. All churches and believers need to take the message of this book seriously. Because if we don't foster the evangelical mind, we are giving over "reality" to those who don't believe in God, instead of claiming all truth as God's truth.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not go in with high expectations. I assumed, like many books read over a decade since first marked to read, that it would rehash familiar arguments. Like, maybe once upon a time this was new, but culture embraced the arguments and moved on...

Not so!

I was pleasantly surprised with Love Your God with All Your Mind. Not only did it make a strong argument for the role of reason in faith, it also provided several practical steps to implement that reason in worship and daily life. There were several arguments and analogies that shifted the way I viewed intellect. This deserves a slower read to figure out how to implement better.

I did not love all of it. I know Moreland is trying to illustrate that it is possible (even preferable) to use reason when witnessing, but sometimes his arguments felt a little too "I made this brilliant argument and addressed all this one skeptic's concerns!"

That said, I do think he offers some very wise and practical steps, including encouraging Christians to +find two things they agree before responding to someone espousing something they disagree with.

Not all perfect but some unexpectedly good content.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this day and age we need to foster Christian intelligence more than ever. As it is, too many people hold to half-baked ideas and fight tooth and claw over internally incoherent beliefs. Moreland lays out a great case for why we need to love God with our minds as well as our hearts, how to begin that process, what it looks like, and a course of action for producing thinking Christians in the future.

Part One: Why the Mind Matters In Christianity
--In which he gives a brief history lesson in how we lost the Christian mind, why we must get it back, what the Bible has to say about the Christian mind, and the mind's role in our spiritual transformation

Part Two: How To Develop A Mature Christian Mind
--Here Moreland takes some time to look at, what he calls, "hobgoblins" that plague the Christian mind: the empty self (which he presents at some length), pride, and control. Then he moves on to a discussion about the importance of virtues before offering up a crash course in basic logic.

Part Three: What A Mature Christian Mind Looks Like
--In this section, he talks about evangelism and the role of apologetics (answering skeptics, scientism, and moral relativism). He gives examples of conversations he has had in each of these categories.
--Moreland also spends a chapter looking at worship (especially corporate worship) and how we can do a better job of using our intellects in Church services. I found this section particularly fascinating.
--Finally, he looks at building integrated Christian world views. What does it mean to think about one's job in a Christian way (ie. What does Jesus say about being a banker, a lawyer, a mechanic, a small business owner, a stay-at-home parent?) All too often people think of religion and work as separate things, so what does it look like to think Christianly about one's job?

Part Four: Guaranteeing A Future For the Christian Mind
--In this last section, Moreland lays out some thoughts for building better discipleship in our local churches. You may be expecting a conversation about beefing up Sunday school classes and home groups, but he goes further than that--starting with the way churches are run at the leadership level.

I greatly enjoyed this book because it functioned on a survey level but gave plenty of concrete examples, was both theoretical and practical, and written in an intelligent yet accessible style.

[Jacob Aitken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many have rightly hailed this book as a game-changer. Unfortunately, not enough have. It’s hard to put this book’s importance into words. It changed my life in college. Enough with the praise; let’s begin.

Moreland’s thesis is developing a Christian mind is part of the essence of Christian discipleship (Moreland 43). Further, since the mind is a faculty of the soul (72, more on that later), one cannot develop one’s soul in relation to God without taking the mind into account. Yet Moreland is not encouraging us to become arcane theology wonks. He places the life of the mind within cultivating a framework of virtue (104-112). Virtue is elsewhere explicated as “the good life,” the life lived in accordance with God’s design (35). A virtuous life is a free life: freedom is the power to do what one ought to do. Finally, a virtuous life is a communal life.

Indeed, for example, it is this communal aspect of the virtuous life that Aristotle sought (170). It is a view of friendship that is formed around a common vision and shared goods (shades of Augustine!). Rather, New Testament fellowship--koinonia--is commitment to, and participation in, advancing the Kingdom from the body of Christ. What relevance, then, to the life of the mind? New Testament fellowship should be guided by the good life as revealed in the gospel, which includes a life of epistemic virtue. We are to build each other up in this.

Notae bene

Theology and Worship: God is a maximally perfect being. He is not just a perfect God, but perfect in all possible worlds. From this Moreland develops his theology of worship. While not Reformed, he anticipates some like an RPW. I disagree with his “testimony” time after the sermon, but mainly because this almost always kills the flow and narrative of worship (have you ever been to the last night of summer camp in youth group? Then you know of what I speak).

Interestingly, Moreland also accepts rule by elders, if not by synod.

Ethics: happiness, following the ancients and utilizing the New Testament, is a life of virtue whic includes suffering (35).

Philosophy and the Soul: we must remember that both ancient man and the Christian tradition defined the mind (as well as the spirit) as a faculty of the soul (Moreland 70-73). While it is a true statement that the soul has contact with God, yet it is the mind that is the vehicle for the soul’s making contact with God. On the other hand, the spirit is the faculty of the soul that relates to God (Romans 8:16 and maybe Eph. 4:23).

Moreland then outlines the five states of the soul (sensation, thought, belief, act of will, and desire). What’s interesting about that is the above states of the soul cannot be reduced to purely physical categories. This means the soul/mind is not reducible to the brain, which means scientific naturalism is false. This is also what R. L. Dabney meant by “connative” powers (I think; see Dabney Discussions II: 240, 243, III: 281; The Sensualistic Philosophy, chs. 1-2).
Not only does the soul have the aforementioned five states, it also has capacities or hierarchies. Without getting too technical, understanding the soul’s capacities is key in the abortion debate.

Moreland further gives some practical lessons in logic and analytical reading. That, too, changed my life. Few things are more beautiful than a well-time modus ponens.

Conclusion

This is a book to be savored, meditated upon. I’ve bought it several times and whenever I see it at used book sales, I buy it to give it away. It is that important. Don’t stop here, though. Immediately transition to Kingdom Triangle.

[Matthew Green · Rating 2 out of 5]

J.P. has some worthwhile things to say, and his intentions are good. However, there are some significant issues with it. First, there is sort of an underlying sense that the mind is of such importance to the person, to growth, and to God's design that it almost completely eclipses all other faculties in value. It almost seems as if the implicit argument is that salvation is accomplished by the cross, but sanctification is through reason, and while J.P. would never say this explicitly, the text has that texture throughout.

Second, the first half of the book in particular contains a host of problems. Many of his earlier arguments are not well reasoned, making good sized leaps of logic. Various problems are announced and then the cause is asserted to be a weakening of intellectualism in the church and Western culture as a whole. However, the cause and effect relationship is insufficiently presented and often rather dubious. You might even argue that he uses subtle appeals to emotion, a technique that he decries as flawed later on.

Additionally, he makes at least one major hermeneutical error and various dubious exegetical interpretations, most often in an effort to stress just how crucial the intellect is. While not proof-texting exactly, his goal of upholding the mind often seems to overshadow a fully objective perspective of the texts in question.

Moreover, he assumes that the intellect is capable of solving any given problem when applied sufficiently. While he, again, would never say that God is unnecessary, the implication seems to arise from the text; a right mind is sufficient, which negates dependence on God except for in the development of the mind. However, even in his examples, there are times when the manner in which the arguments were made could potentially have missed significant spiritual and psychological places that God might have desired to more fully explore and develop.

This brings up his denigration of the psychological. He posits, with insufficient backup, that the cause of psychological problems is wrong or poor thinking and that psychological treatment is nothing more than narcissistic efforts at self-gratification. I am fairly certain, having interacted with J. various times since this book was written, that this would be far from his perspective now, but it taints various parts of the text as it is written.

His distaste for the psychological belies a suspicion and even denigration of emotions in general (though not entirely). The difficulty is that there is much in psychology and neurobiology to suggest that thought, emotion, and decision-making are intertwined so completely that one cannot so easily separate the mind out and exalt it while denigrating or at least ignoring the emotions the way he does. The real problem, to J. in this text, is always an intellectual one and can always be thusly solved. A particular danger here is that in the process of solving intellectual problems, one may miss the rest of the person, which may result in other kinds of harm.

J. also overgeneralizes with his audience. There is the assumption that any Christian will find satisfaction and confidence (oddly enough, emotions to be sought) in being told that it is okay to be active in an intellectually rigorous environment. Further, all Christians will experience satisfaction and confidence with enough time and effort in such circumstances. While this is certainly true of a certain subset of persons, it is not true overall due to personality differences and potential psychological considerations.

And finally, I just found the second half of the book mostly dull. The lessons in logic in particular might be useful to those that think in that fashion and desire to develop that aspect of their mind, but I do not believe that that particular style of analysis is necessary for Christians universally. His connections to worship and spiritual growth were valid, but hardly doing either topic justice and perhaps stifling them due to the narrowness of J.'s theological anthropology.

Again, what J. was aiming for wasn't bad, but it is overstated and blown out of proportion. Rather than trumpeting the need for Christians to develop their minds, even potentially at the expense of other faculties, the call ought to be for Christians to develop their whole persons. We need not only Christians with solid minds, but stable, well-boundaried, and appropriate emotions; deep, significant, and healthy relationships; strong virtues and psychological capabilities; and so on. The mind is but one aspect of the person, and can be overemphasized in various ways. Yes, develop it! But develop the rest of the soul as well.

[Lisa Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an indispensable resource for those seeking to enrich their intellectual perspectives within the realm of faith. Moreland meticulously navigates the intersection of reason and spirituality, advocating for a holistic Christian life that seamlessly integrates intellect and faith.

This book addresses prevalent challenges such as anti-intellectualism within Christian circles and secular criticisms of the faith, offering profound insights into engaging thoughtfully with both. Moreland's emphasis on developing a Christian mindset, rooted in philosophical and theological foundations, equips ministry leaders with the tools to navigate the complexities of contemporary culture. With practical applications for everyday decision-making and cultural engagement, this book serves as a guide for ministry leaders who desire to cultivate a more nuanced and intellectual approach to the Christian spiritual journey.

This book encourages a deeper intellectual engagement that enriches both personal faith and the ability to guide others with wisdom and insight.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first five chapters about the intellectual life in a Christian context were the most exciting -- five stars for those. Really great points about the value of, and need for, study and intellectual discussions. Moreland points out how emotional appeals and therapeutics have grown in popularity. At the same time, people are often afraid to dig into the hard questions, even though Christianity can stand up to scrutiny.

Then in later chapters Moreland gets sidetracked by presenting some logical proofs for the existence of God and the historicity of Jesus's life, death, and resurrection -- other apologetics books have done it better (see The Case for Christ or I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist).

I read the revised and updated version from 2012. In the preface Moreland explains that he completely replaces several chapters from the old edition. I am curious what was cut.

The back of the book has many lists of resources for Christians looking to expand their knowledge -- in skimming this my TBR list grew by about 25 books.

It seems that Moreland was a student of Dallas Willard. See The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God.

I also want to read Loving God with All Your Mind.

[Nate Arguinchona-May · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh, boy. Here we go.

I agree that the mind plays a large role in transformation. I also agree that American Christians are woefully biblically and historically uneducated. I ALSO agree that there is a rising anti-intellectualism in the church. I have experienced it first-hand. However, I disagree with…a lot of what Moreland has to say in his chapter on transformation.

To begin, I disagree with Moreland’s anthropology. Although the bible does indeed affirm that humans are composed of both body and soul, Moreland’s assertions approach a gnostic dualism that the Church Father Irenaeus of Lyons fought against in his famous Against Heresies. Two thousand years ago, Gnostics such as Marcion thought that the physical world is evil and that the spiritual world is good. Therefore, Marcion deemed the body bad, and the soul to be good. Now, Moreland doesn’t say anything to this effect, but he gets reaalllyyyy close. He follows gnostic thought by affirming that one’s source of self is found by looking inward to the soul.

Humans don't just have a body. Humans are both body and soul. God didn’t make a bunch of souls and think, “huh, you know what would go good with these souls? Some bodies for them to wear!” No! God made us with both bodies and souls together, and the Christian faith has affirmed this for nigh on 2,000 years (Gen. 1, 2). We are holistic beings, and it is precisely because we are holistic beings that we will one day experience a bodily resurrection just like Christ did (Jn 5:28–29; 1 Cor. 15:20, 42–44; Rom. 6:3-5)!!

(Also, I would LOVE to know where in the world Moreland gets his “five states of the soul” and his “faculties of the soul”).

Moreland’s anthropology is dangerous, and so is his emphasis on the mind over and above everything else in the role of spiritual transformation.

As I said, I agree that the mind plays a large role in transformation, and I agree that anti-intellectualism is indeed rising. However, Moreland’s emphasis on transformation is informed more by the enlightenment than it is by the Bible. Do we need to train people to think well? Yes. Do we need more biblically educated Christians? Yes. Is the mind the only avenue through which one may be transformed? NO! Ever since the enlightenment, we have been so focused on didactic teaching that we have completely disregarded the role that spiritual practices and the Sunday liturgy play in transforming us to look like Jesus!

It is important to teach people things, yes. More importantly, however, we should be helping people become certain kinds of people through thoughtful and formative worship services and by teaching them how to practice spiritual disciplines Monday-Saturday. Transformation is less about stuffing things into your head than it is about participating in a life with Christ.

Also, Moreland’s idea that you can only be transformed by obtaining knowledge, once again, approaches the ancient Gnostics, who believed you could only find salvation by discovering the divine and mysterious knowledge of the spiritual realm.

My final thought: Is one limited in their ability to connect with God based on their intellectual prowess? Are those incapable of applying themselves to biblical studies (people with learning disabilities and children for example) unable to make contact with God or be spiritually transformed? This I reject wholeheartedly.

[Cathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

So glad I finally read this book! It was full of strong points about developing and nurturing the Christian intellect. It really inspired me on my pursuit to delve into the great Christian works. His thoughts on church are what I would love to see in our times. I especially loved the section at the end in support of church libraries! I will have to read this again in a few years because it is information I want to revisit.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there are some oddities (substance dualism, “thinking thing” anthropology), there are also some good suggestions for incorporating practices in church life to help encourage Christian thinking. Overall, good stuff.

[J.J. Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me awhile to finish this as it covered a lot of ground I've seen in other books. However, I really wish I'd have read this book first! It provides an incredible amount of direction for those interested in Christian Apologetics, enhancing the Christian intellectual world, and comes with resource suggestions to boot in the back of the book. J.P. Moreland has influenced a new generation of Christian thinkers and this work shows many of the reasons why. It is highly readable, yet not overly simplified. It is complex, yet accessible to anyone who's reasonably bright. I'll be tapping this book later for the resources mentioned and great summaries of the arguments for God and Christianity.

[Aaron Battey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I forgot how good this book was. Read it several years ago but needed a refresher. Moreland does a great explaining the importance of exercising the Christian intellect to the glory of God. A must read.

[Diogenes the Dog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not being an “evangelical”, but a “liturgical” if that suffices as a description, creates inherent disagreement with Moreland’s views on regular worship and the ministry, so I can’t give it a full five stars. However, Dr. Moreland does bring to light the intellectual malaise that plagues the lives of many Christians. Although it was not being argued in the book, I believe many of the arguments also suggest the need for robust systematic theology and liturgical living. Alas, those are my own conclusions.

[Albert Chan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personally, this is a special book. Not only was J.P. Moreland my favorite graduate school (seminary) professor and teacher, but Dallas Willard was his mentor, and my dissertation guidance advisor.

JP is a man who combines intellectual rigor with a passionate love for his proteges. I remember my introducing him to a large crowd at Biola University, and as he walked toward me before taking the lectern, giving me the biggest Bear Hug. That meant so much to me, as I have had a history of intimidating interactions with professors.

This was the first book I used for a men’s book study shortly after college, and it is my second go-around now with some individuals online during the pandemic.

We’ll see how it goes this time ... looking forward; more feedback later!

[Nicholas A. Gilbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this book for what it is and what it attempts to answer! I don’t agree with all the authors conclusions but his basic premise is outstanding. A very thoughtfully written and thought provoking book that truly challenges the individual as a Believer, to truly engage the mind in your life’s devotion, and as Ministerial leader of how to best order the life of a church to aid the saints in their Mental Devotion and development unto the Lord.

[Jeffrey Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is both intellectually stimulating as well as encouraging Christians to stimulate their intellect. I could say I read this book twice, because I was pretty much rereading the paragraph I had just read so I could make sure I was following the arguments of the author.

A pastor friend of mine shared some thoughts from the final chapter of the book, which got me interested in reading this book. The theme is that Christians have willingly lost ground in dealing with intellectual matters, feeding the lie that faith/belief is contrary to knowledge/science/reason.

The book is divided into four parts. The first focuses on the importance of the mind Scripturally and in the Christian life. The next section deals with exercising our minds. Part three examines the role of the Christian mind in evangelism, apologetic reasoning, worship and fellowship, and vocation. Finally, the last segment turns its attention to the local church and on how to recapture the intellectual life in the individual assembly.

This book gives some interesting ideas on focusing on the mental aspects. One is to discuss your reading with a friend, kind of like Christian book clubs. Another was to realize how important and necessary apologetics is to evangelism. Moreland in the final chapter challenges pastors to occassionally plan their sermons for the most intellectual third of the congregation, to encourage the rest to progress in this area.

I defintely plan on rereading this book - I consider it a very important book to read definitely for pastors, missionaries, and Christian educators, and also for lay leaders and for Christians involved in the arts/music/writing.

[Evghenii · Rating 4 out of 5]

My rating 4.5*. While reading through the first 2/3 or even 3/4 I was going to rate it 5*. The call to return the reason back to the church is imperative in 21st century. The consideration of Jesus as “a thinker” and “an intellectual” is a huge shift in our common approach to describing Him.

On the other hand, it amazes me at times how intellectuals can also become over-confident in their intellectual approach. I respect the author, but his use of basic biblical text out of context makes me cringe. Paul’s charge to husbands to love their wives as Jesus loves the church is stretched. The details in this figure of speech are prescribed new meanings in an attempt to apply it to personal worship. Husband-wife relationships used by Paul are made to say much more then originally intended. And this kind of approach kills the arguments to use the mind in a right way to love God.

Why do people feel the need to go beyond grammatical-historical approach to hermeneutics?

Moreover, some practical suggestions the author makes for ecclesiastical life do not show deep competence in the issue. The modern church and current cultural trends could use new approaches. For example, I disagree with the approach of offering extensive notes for sermons, etc. There is a difference between a lecture with a study-guide and a sermon. There is a reason the church has teachers and preachers. I think the author is a teacher in his calling and giftedness. I am sure the author is convinced that his suggestions are the best way, but he is obviously not a pastor.

Overall, great read. Highly recommend.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars! This book is for you if you want to love and serve God with all your mind, and if you value critical thinking as part of spiritual growth.

It focuses on the recent trend of anti-intellectualism in the church and offers suggestions to recapture the life of the Christian mind, both for spiritual growth and for Christian witness.
Important to note is that from Puritan times to the middle of the nineteenth century, American believers highly valued the intellectual life. The great American revivals of the nineteenth century, however, “overemphasized immediate personal conversions to Christ rather than a studied period of reflection and conviction,” and in turn gave rise to anti-intellectualism.

It is this studied period of reflection and conviction and its continuation in the life of each Christian that Moreland wants to recapture.

Perhaps most importantly, Moreland addresses what a mature Christian mind looks like and the effect a mature Christian mind has on evangelism, stating that “apologetics is the primary form through which the Christian mind expresses itself in the task of evangelism.”

[Nate · Rating 2 out of 5]

The positives are the book gives a strong case for the life of the mind in the Christian. If you're battling folks that are anti-intellectual in the church then this will have a strong appeal. But Moreland goes too far in his trust in the ability of the mind and especially the mind of those without God's indwelling Spirit. The conclusion seems to be the mind is the end all be all of the Christian life and there is nothing else of substance. A good rejoinder is Jonathan Edwards' Religious Affections which makes a great case (a rational case) that the Christian life is mainly about the spiritual affections (which include the mind but are not only the rational sense). Over all I think the book is pretty unbalanced and would not recommend it to anyone unless they are doing research into the discipline of the Christian mind.

[Jordan J. Andlovec · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are only a few books I think every evangelical should read, and I think this is one of them, particularly because many wouldn't see any benefit in it. J.P. Moreland is not just a brilliant man but a man who is loves the church and is a practitioner, not just an intellectual, and the way the book is written is to be applied in your life, not just ingested.

I imagine I will be reading this book many more times.

[Jonathan Kurtz · Rating 1 out of 5]

A better tagline for this book would be “Love Your God with All Your Mind: How to be Closed-Minded in a God-Honoring Way.” This book is rife with conservative propaganda camouflaged by the concept of encountering God intellectually. The author takes an approach that directly says liberal theology is not only anti-biblical, but anti-intellectual, and it all goes downhill from there. His conclusion includes an encouragement to raise up people to infiltrate progressive institutions and tear them down from the inside. I honestly kept reading to see if there would be any redeeming qualities about this book, but there were none.

[Sumner Adkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think Moreland did a great job introducing logic and philosophy and explaining how it’s needed in today’s Church. I also appreciated his ideas of how he thinks the Church should be organized today and would say I agree. Also, hundreds of resources are provided in the back for the purpose of growing in knowledge and avoiding anti-intellectualism which is something he talks about. I love that he not only discusses, but provides the resources!! Such a good book and i would highly recommend if you’re tired of being fed shallow theology and want to read about how that can be changed.

[Kristen Parnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moreland calls out the disconnect between the Christian faith and the mind. He says, “If we are to be wise, spiritual people prepared to meet the crises of our age, we must be a studying, learning community that values the life of the mind.” I absolutely agree.

Moreland then undertakes to examine why the mind matters and why Christians must develop it. He also provides helpful apologetics on questions about God and the evidence for Jesus that are relevant for believers as we answer questions about our faith. This is not a light read, but it is an important one.

[Josiah Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Very good introduction to logical thinking and reasonable discourse. Every Christian should be a thinker, but few have been taught or helped to think properly, logically, or reasonably. Moreland does a fine job of providing tools for accomplishing these things and he writes clearly and succinctly.

[Nicholas Zerangue · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important message for the church.

[Daniel Rangel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una vera opera di arte su come lodare Dio con il nostro pensiero. Fino ad ora, il mio libro favorito da Moreland.

[Robbie Pruitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

J.P. Moreland’s Love Your God with All Your Mind is a fantastic book that all Christians should read so we can recapture our minds for the sake of the Kingdom of God, for the sake of the gospel being proclaimed in the world, and for our own sakes. We must close the false chasm between the secular and the sacred and we must not “check our brains at the door” as it pertains to our faith. As Christians, we are obligated, even commanded, to integrate our faith into all of our lives. We must not live fragmented lives where we do not love God with all our minds. Christians must assert their stewardship over creation and over their thinking. We must live lives of intellect and reasoning, offering all of ourselves up to God in worship, including our thinking and reasoning. Only then will we be able to worship holistically, and in a God honoring manner as God calls us to, like Paul mentions in Romans 12:1-2, “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

From my review posted on Amazon.com and My Two Mites: http://www.amazon.com/Total-Truth-Lib... and http://robbiepruitt.blogspot.com/2012...

This review was first published on my blog: http://robbiepruitt.blogspot.com

[Donald Owens II · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-intentioned, but provincial and imbalanced. I agree that critical thinking skills are woefully lacking in the American church and broader culture. But I do not agree that the mind is "the most intergral component of the believer's sanctification." Doesn't his title verse even deny this?

I especially found his applications to the corporate assembly objectionable in their narrowness. Treating humans as basically walking brains, he ignores practically everything the Bible says about worship, covenant renewal, the corporate assembly and church government, and essentially takes his own (Vineyard) tradition and tweaks it to be more of a logic course/philosophy book club, with members free to correct each other's grammar in public. I know philosophy is his area of study, but it is not the only issue facing the church, and I suspect his solutions would only make the church more insufferable, rather than more winsome or faithful.

[Spencer Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, very important topic. The book starts with an assessment of anti-intellectual trends in evangelical Christianity in the last century or so and contrasts them with the rich intellectual history of the church, and also looks at the imperative for believers to pursue intellectual development from the very pages of the Scriptures as well. The book tries to do a lot of things, from giving an overview of apologetic arguments for God and the Scriptures to analyzing potential problems with the structure of modern churches and practical tips for nourishing the intellectual lives of the Christians in our lives/churches. I might have removed a star just for the wide scope of some of the content, especially around the middle, but I felt that the beginning and ending were very strong and very practical. The very end of the book is pages and pages of information on resources for personal development. That alone is probably worth the cost of the book.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

My rating:
1: don't read
2: mediocre
3: good
4: great
5: everything i wanted it to be.
Moreland takes reason a little too far without uniting it with faith, and gets caught up in philosophy to the extent that it clouds his judgement and prevents him from seeing simple solutions. He also puts so much trust in his own argument that he doesn't objectively hear others' counter points. To contrast, many Christians switch their brains off for religious matters, and Moreland shows that is not necessary. This book is great, and those who desire growth should consider it. Move forward, and love the Lord with all of you that you can, heart, mind, and soul.