The Benefits of a Life of the Mind: 7. Elevate Your Worship

In the last episode I addressed the common concern that deep intellectual engagement leads to doubt and a crisis of faith. Here I consider a second concern often raised by well-meaning Christians. It is sometimes claimed that a focus on the intellectual side of the faith will result in intellectualism. By ‘intellectualism’ I mean a kind of an emotionless, affection-less, or dispassionate pursuit of knowledge. There is a worry that too much of a focus on the mind can produce a dryness of soul and a passionless faith. Moreover, some maintain that the pursuit of knowledge distracts believers from what is really important, namely personal devotion. Now, these are valid concerns that we should take seriously, we certainly do not want our intellectual pursuit to devolve into a stale intellectualism. Happily though, a life of intellectual engagement doesn’t have to lead to intellectualism and can instead lead to a deeper devotion and a more profound religious experience. And this brings us to the final and the greatest benefit that comes from pursuing a life of the mind for Christ: elevate your worship.