Friend of mine shared this quote with me, and it made me smile...
"So far as I can remember, there is not one word in the Gospels in praise of intelligence."
- Bertrand Russell
British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 - 1970)
In reflecting on it a bit, I think that perhaps he should have said something besides intelligence -- perhaps: education, questioning, learning about the world, critical thinking, logic...
What do you think?
{ 7 comments }
The gospels seem to do a far better job at insulting one's intelligence rather than praising or cultivating it. Education, questioning, learning about the world, critical thinking, logic….these are all things that would hardly seem important to anyone who believed that the end of the world or the kingdom of god was at hand.
I'm not sure what church that you have attended, but I would like to appologize to you on their behalf. I can say that there are a handful of cogregations out there that actually encourage members to use their God given gifts of questioning and critical thinking abilities to gain a larger grasp of spiritual matters. As a Chistian, I do believe that the Holy Spirit leds you in those dirrections, and that the Kingdom of God is at hand. With that in mind,I am much more inclined to diligently seek and serve Him…which includes growing my intelligence.
I have never attended a church. You can get the impression I wrote simply from reading the gospels. That's great if some congregations encourage members to question and make use of their critical thinking abilities, but you will not come to that conclusion by studying the gospels any closer. You can thank other sources for fostering critical thinking skills.
I can't recall any place where the Bible talks down about intelligence.
BUT . . . I heard it from preachers ALL the time.
I can't count how many times a preacher has held up a bible and waved it around saying, "This is the only book you need to learn".
If the Bible represented the height of the human mind, we'd be so "third world" right now.
Everywhere.
Again, I would like to apologize for the misrepresentation of the Gospel. However, spiritually speaking, I am afraid I would have to say that we are so "third world" right now!
RedRover7373,
Well, I don't think we're '"third world" right now'– not everywhere, at least. I personally believe that the more that a government or population embraces a fundamentalist ideology, the closer that population resembles the third world. Reading Infidel gave me that impression. Also poll data. Even here in the US, the poorest states poll highest in the population that says religion is most important to them in their day-to-day lives. They also reign in obesity and teen pregnancy rates. And, less people have a post high school education in such areas compared to the state populations that don't embrace religion quite as much.
And now that I've had a little time to think on it, I recall seeing Romans 1:21 printed under caricatures of Darwin or other scientists. And that section of Romans seems to basically say that the gospel message concerning God and Christ is all that is true. Anything that doesn't line up with this is false by default.
What is happening when someone says that the earth is only 6,000 to 8,000 years old because the Biblical genealogies imply this? Mind you, they say this despite the fact that the speed of light implies that the universe must be billions of years old. People will forgo accepting the scientific knowledge because it conflicts with the "truth of God's word". People would rather come up with some other explanation like "c decay".
Check me out about the correlations between lower incomes, lower level of education, and obesity with religiosity of a region. The Gallup Poll along with other organizations document these statistics.
So, I think this gives religion the reputation for frowning on learning among non-believers.
Also, people can also learn and then lose faith. I sure did!
But, I do think someone can balance religion and learning. However, such a person usually isn't fundamentalist in their religious views and may even believe that even atheists can go to heaven.
Or that atheists will at least get another life to get it right.
These sort of Christians are not usually accepted by Christians who read the Bible in a more literal sense.
On a side note, RedRover, I accept your apology– though you're not the one at fault. But, your gesture reminds me personally that many religious people honestly do mean well. I was that way, once. So, I still have respect for that attitude. Thanks.
Atheists and agnostics are right in most of their thinking
It has been common among religious believers to look with misgiving at atheists and agnostics, and to think that they are mistaken; however, in many instances the opposite is the truth; some religious beliefs are not just irrelevant, but baseless. The “God” of main line traditions simply does not exist. I accepted the challenge of finding the One who may be recognized even by agnostics and atheists: the Existence itself. The God of religions may be denied, but nobody can deny that the Existence is. It doesn’t matter how you call it, but “All-That-Is,” is. A book (probably not written for you) “Christianity Reformed From ist Roots” tells all; perhaps its reflections will relieve your friends of the illusion, as they did for me. (Amazon.com).
Jairo Mejia, M. Psych., Santa Clara University
Episcopal Priest, Retired
Carmel Valley, California
http://www.mbay.net/~jmejia/Grudzen.htm
http://www.mbay.net/~jmejia/Churcher.htm
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