Loving God

Loving God with All Your Mind:

Developing an Intellectual Life in the Church

Summer Quarter 2005

Teacher: Kyle Brown

Primary Texts:

J.P. Moreland, Love God with All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul, ISBN: 57683-016-0, NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO, 1997.

Os Guinness, ’Fit Bodies, Fat Minds: Why Evangelicals Dont Think And What To Do About It, ISBN: 0-8010-3870-7, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1994

Kay Arthur, How to Study Your Bible, ISBN: 0-7369-0544-8, Harvest House, Eugene OR, 1994

Supplemental Reading:

Francis Schaeffer, Trilogy (The God Who Is There, Escape from Reason, He Is There and He Is Not Silent), ISBN: 0-89107-561-5, Crossway Books, 1990

Alan Bloom, The Closing Of The American Mind, ISBN: 0-671-47990-3, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY, 1987

Millard Erickson, Truth or consequences: The promise & perils of postmodernism, ISBN: 0-8308-2657-2, Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, 2001

Class Format

The class will be an open discussion on each topic, drawing from general themes in the primary texts and the supplemental reading, but we will not be covering the text line-by-line in class. Usually I lead the class through a series of open-ended questions on the theme, sometimes adding short lectures on specific topics as they fit into the structure of the questions. “Rabbits” will be tolerated (and happily chased) if they relate directly to the topic at hand, otherwise the conversation will be gently redirected back to the theme of the lesson.

Lesson Plan

The following is a rough lesson plan for the quarter; note that I’ve simply divided the material into topical lessons – each lesson may take more than one week to cover, depending on how long it takes us to get through the material. After each lesson topic I’ve included reading from the primary texts as well as Biblical passages that are either directly referenced in the texts, or will serve as background for the discussion. Please prepare for discussion by completing the reading before discussions on Sunday Morning, as well as meditating on the scripture passages during the week.

Part I: Where are we and how did we get here?

Lesson 1: Overview; What Does It Mean To Love God With All Your Mind?

Matt 22: 34-38

Rom 7:22-25; 12: 1-2

Phil. 2: 2-5

Lesson 2: How We Lost Our (Christian) Minds

Moreland, Ch. 1 (pp 20-40)

Guinness, Chs. 1-8 (pp. 9-67)

Matt. 5:13, 10:16, 22:37

2 Cor 10:5

Lesson 3: The Empty Self; Hollow People in a Pagan Culture

Moreland, Ch. 4 (pp. 86-101)