I agree with Anton. Where did the idea come from that the emotions and the intellect are at odds? In our Western culture, we have gotten to the point where we talk about emotions and logic as opposing forces, and discussions of faith often fall into the trap of “head knowledge” and “heart knowledge.” I’m sure that some of the people who have contributed to this separation are a whole lot smarter than me, but I still hate the whole thing because I don’t really believe in the distinction.
Doesn’t the Bible tells us to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength? To me, this suggests that we don’t need to balance the emotions and the intellect, because they aren’t opposing forces. We don’t give the emotions fifty percent and the intellect fifty percent. We should give one hundred percent to each.
I think that the problem is that the emotions and the intellect have been separated for so long. It’s hard for us to imagine an intellectual speech or conversation as being anything but boring and dry. In the same way, it’s hard to imagine an emotional worship service being anything else than completely shallow. I think, having read people like C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, and Frederick Buechner, that it’s possible for doctrine to be a very emotional thing, and it’s possible for an emotional appeal to provoke a very intellectual response. Why shouldn’t the same be true in our worship?
Andrew
Sep 12 2003
07:32 pm
I agree with Anton. Where did the idea come from that the emotions and the intellect are at odds? In our Western culture, we have gotten to the point where we talk about emotions and logic as opposing forces, and discussions of faith often fall into the trap of “head knowledge” and “heart knowledge.” I’m sure that some of the people who have contributed to this separation are a whole lot smarter than me, but I still hate the whole thing because I don’t really believe in the distinction.
Doesn’t the Bible tells us to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength? To me, this suggests that we don’t need to balance the emotions and the intellect, because they aren’t opposing forces. We don’t give the emotions fifty percent and the intellect fifty percent. We should give one hundred percent to each.
I think that the problem is that the emotions and the intellect have been separated for so long. It’s hard for us to imagine an intellectual speech or conversation as being anything but boring and dry. In the same way, it’s hard to imagine an emotional worship service being anything else than completely shallow. I think, having read people like C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, and Frederick Buechner, that it’s possible for doctrine to be a very emotional thing, and it’s possible for an emotional appeal to provoke a very intellectual response. Why shouldn’t the same be true in our worship?