Wednesday, November 05, 2008
How Are We Put Together?
Jollyblogger Looks at a quoted quotation and discusses some interesting points. He quotes John Frame:
I wonder what that would look like? There seems to be a necessity to differentiate these parts of ourselves, even Frame, after denying the differentiation slips into it,
When we talk about ourselves in terms of some sort of competition between intellect and emotion, what is really going on? It is all about us! We are indeed, as David points out, in a place where emotionalism seems to drive the church - but what that really is is an expression of selfishness since with our physical needs largely cared for in this nation, we feel needy emotionally.
It is difficult to think of the intellect as being needy, but it so often is. If nothing else, it is a means of ego gratification - "I'm smarter than you!" (Hence blogging....) But the desire to know is certainly rooted in the desire to control, and that, again, is about me.
To begin to view ourselves wholistically we must learn to adopt a different viewpoint, one in which we see ourselves as others see us - we must engage on some level in self-denial. Such is only possible when we confess sin.
On a practical level where we are is that the church has yet to fully incorporate the lessons of the therapeutic. There is a therapeutic role to what the church is supposed to do, but like the emotions and the intellect in us as individuals, it is about complementary parts of a whole, not competing entities of a bifurcated thing. The church has largely allowed the therapeutic to supplant the sacramental and the learned in what it does rather than to find a way to incorporate it into its whole.
This, as in the case of ourselves as individuals is because the church has worried more about itself than its mission. The church has sin to confess as well.
In the realm of the Christian, self-examination can only arrive at one conclusion - "I am a sinner," "We are sinners." Everything else flows from that.
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But Scripture does not warrant “the primacy of the intellect.” For one thing, Scripture does not even distinguish between intellect, will, and emotions, as distinct “faculties” of the mind. It talks about our thoughts, our decisions, and our feelings, but it never presents these as the products of three competing organs. Therefore, it never exhorts us to bring our decisions and feelings into conformity with the intellect.And then he comments:
My only comment, other than "amen!" is that in our current historical situation evangelicals have swung way far to the anti-intellectual side to such an extent that many are suspicious of intellectualism and treat it as an impediment to true spirituality. As such, I think we need to be jumping up and down and screaming and shouting for an elevation of the intellect.My first reaction is does not "jumping up and down and screaming and shouting for an elevation of the intellect," somehow flys in the face of the underlying assumption that "Scripture does not even distinguish between intellect, will, and emotions." These are not different things to be balanced, they are instead parts of an integrated whole. The key is not to change the relative levels of each, but to come to view ourselves in a very different fashion - one where these non-existent things are not somehow in competition with each other, but are simply expressions of ourselves.
I wonder what that would look like? There seems to be a necessity to differentiate these parts of ourselves, even Frame, after denying the differentiation slips into it,
For another thing, Scripture teaches that we are totally depraved, and that includes our intellectual, as well as our volitional and emotional aspects. Yes, our feelings sometimes lead us into sin, but the same is true of our intellects. If we seek to remedy our emotionalism by bringing our emotions into line with depraved intellectual concepts, there is no net gain.But I think he is onto the core of how to step out of this when he says, "Scripture teaches that we are totally depraved," and as such, we should, on some level, stop trying to figure ourselves out.
Similarly, Scripture teaches that God’s grace saves us as whole persons. Our thinking, acting, and feeling are all changed by regeneration. God’s grace leads us to seek conformity with God’s Word. The important thing is not to bring the emotions into line with the intellect, but to bring both emotions and intellect into line with God’s Word.
When we talk about ourselves in terms of some sort of competition between intellect and emotion, what is really going on? It is all about us! We are indeed, as David points out, in a place where emotionalism seems to drive the church - but what that really is is an expression of selfishness since with our physical needs largely cared for in this nation, we feel needy emotionally.
It is difficult to think of the intellect as being needy, but it so often is. If nothing else, it is a means of ego gratification - "I'm smarter than you!" (Hence blogging....) But the desire to know is certainly rooted in the desire to control, and that, again, is about me.
To begin to view ourselves wholistically we must learn to adopt a different viewpoint, one in which we see ourselves as others see us - we must engage on some level in self-denial. Such is only possible when we confess sin.
On a practical level where we are is that the church has yet to fully incorporate the lessons of the therapeutic. There is a therapeutic role to what the church is supposed to do, but like the emotions and the intellect in us as individuals, it is about complementary parts of a whole, not competing entities of a bifurcated thing. The church has largely allowed the therapeutic to supplant the sacramental and the learned in what it does rather than to find a way to incorporate it into its whole.
This, as in the case of ourselves as individuals is because the church has worried more about itself than its mission. The church has sin to confess as well.
In the realm of the Christian, self-examination can only arrive at one conclusion - "I am a sinner," "We are sinners." Everything else flows from that.
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