I was unfortunately a late bloomer to the Critical Thinking Club. I was a senior in college when, on one sunny morning, I found myself in a conversation which left me in a state of despair. A dear friend of mine who was studying Political Science was in a discussion with another friend about the then ongoing War in Iraq. I recall sitting and listening to those two intelligent men speak their opinions, debate the facts, and discuss the morality over that war. They spoke as men who each had an operating framework, and as men who had well formulate and well supported opinions. Here I was, at twenty-one years old, about to graduate from a top business school in the country, and I had absolutely nothing of value to add to the discussion. My only thoughts were not my own, but had been filtered to me through cheap headlines and the social media posts of fools. I realized very quickly that I was, in regards to substantive ideas and an understanding of how the world works, only a shell. I hated that, and determined then and there that though I was soon to graduate college, it was never too late to begin to really learn.
While I am no supporter of the Pope or the system of popery within the Roman Catholic Church, I saw an interview with the new Pope Leo recently where he said these words,
“How do we teach people to become critical thinkers…. To understand that not everything you hear, or everything you read should be taken at face value. And how do we come to give people the formation they need to read something, or to hear something, and to be able to discern or understand that underlying the message that is being communicated, is a very different message—a very subtle message—that has severe consequences for the future of society, that can or cannot be understood as a much bigger picture.”
Pope Leo has masterfully captured what I believe to be one of the greatest needs of our day. Most of us assume that we are critical thinkers. We believe that the information we have obtained is reliable, that the people whose opinions we have adopted are trustworthy, and that on the topics we have opinions on we are well thought through. In reality, most of the time modern man is simply an echo chamber of someone else’s opinion. This has been made a thousand times more complicated with the social media algorithms that feed our intellectual appetites. On a daily basis we are blasted with ideas, videos, arguments, and opinions that feed a certain egotistical part of psyche. Our social media feeds are not designed to present us with meaningful information that runs counter to our strongly held opinions, but rather our algorithms are designed to reinforce our opinions, no matter how off kilter those opinions might be.
As Christians, we are called to be critical thinkers. 2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us that, “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ…” This little passage is loaded with insight.
First, notice the reason given for taking “every thought captive.” The reason is so that we might obey Christ. This means that it is an act of disobedience to allow our minds to be infiltrated by false ideas, false ideologies, and false arguments. Praise God, repentance is a wonderful tool given to us by our merciful God. When we find we have accidentally swallowed a poison pill of secular ideology, the remedy is simple, repentance and restoration through Christ.
Second, in order to think critically we must have a strong foundation of knowledge, an intellectual operating system of sorts. When you buy a new computer, that computer comes on a pre-configured operating system. That operating system is a foundation upon which every bit of data that passes through your computer will be processed. In much the same way, our foundational Christian beliefs are the operating system with which we filter and interpret every teaching we ever encounter. Through that operating system, we are able to engage, critique, embrace, or discard any and every idea we encounter. The great danger of course in our modern biblically illiterate age, is that many Christians live every day without this operating system in place—the foundational doctrines of historic Christian truth have never been laid down in an orderly way and therefore we fail to take the Apostle’s counsel to be “rooted and built up in him and established in the faith.” Therefore every idea we encounter, no matter how foolish or farfetched, becomes legitimate grounds for adoption. One of the greatest dangers of false ideology is that the Devil is cunning enough to cloak a lie in Christian lingo in such a way that the poison pill in fact looks much like a vitamin tablet.This is precisely what he did to Eve in the Garden of Eden, and it is precisely what he does with much modern thought as well. We must a have a strong foundation to distinguish between the two.
Third, when we are confronted with an idea, we must train ourselves to filter that idea through the Word of God, or as the Apostle Paul worded it, to “take every thought captive.” God’s Word is the final and ultimate arbiter of all truth. That which contradicts or strays from the clarity of God’s Word, is not true. While the Bible does not directly speak into every personal circumstance we might encounter, it does provide insight and clarity, often at a principle level, to have applicable wisdom in any given circumstance. Therefore, when we encounter “lofty opinions” (as 2 Corinthians 10:5 called them), we have all the tools we need to categorize them properly and to “destroy them.” Lofty opinions that run contrary to God’s Word do not need to be entertained as potentially helpful, they must be destroyed.
Fourth, critical thinking today takes courage. Many of the moral and political arguments of our day, are simply clashes between secularism and the Bible, nothing more. Ever since the great early evolution/creation debates, Christians have been attempting to find ways to make Christianity sound appealing to the modern mind by giving away historical theological footing. Essentially, we have reinterpreted scripture, in order that the Scripture might mesh more cohesively with the secular mind. What a fool’s errand. What a failure to adhered to 2 Corinthians 10:5 which commands us to “destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God.” This takes courage. It takes courage to stand confidently and unashamedly on the Word of God. It takes courage to hold to what is publicly seen as a minority opinion, but which you know is utterly true, because of the biblical grounds upon which it stands. Majority opinions will come and go with the wind, God’s truth remains, and it is on that truth we want to build our lives.
I believe there is a wonderful opportunity brewing culturally at the moment. There are new winds driving that are surprisingly Christian. Many of the leading voices in the popular space are becoming very vocal about their faith in Christ. From athletes, to politicians, to big names in the media, God is raising up intellectually powerful Christians, culturally savvy Christians, and unashamedly biblical Christians, who are regularly witnessing in a very public way to the undeniable truth of Christ and His Word. We are in a season where a number of false secular ideologies are losing ground at rapid speed. If ever there was a moment to reignite your boldness for Christ, to determine in your soul to no longer be taken captive by empty philosophies, it is now.
The tides are turning. Aslan is on the move.
