[YTF]⇒ Download Smart Faith Loving Your God with All Your Mind JP Moreland Mark Matlock 9781576837344 Books

Smart Faith Loving Your God with All Your Mind JP Moreland Mark Matlock 9781576837344 Books

Download As PDF : Smart Faith Loving Your God with All Your Mind JP Moreland Mark Matlock 9781576837344 Books

Smart Faith Loving Your God with All Your Mind JP Moreland Mark Matlock 9781576837344 Books

“To mature in our faith we need to develop our minds.”

Preparing young, Christian high school seniors or recent graduates for the foreboding realm of higher education is a rather popular genre. Smart Faith is another volume in this genre.

I have read a several books like this one, and I am never really satisfied with their content. I don’t think it is really the fault of the authors, but the fault of my own unrealistic expectations. The question “What is the one thing a young Christian needs to know before going to college?” is rather ambitious and probably unresolvable.

Having said all that, Smart Faith is a decent book. It is short and to the point with not a lot of fluff or filler which is prevalent in the Christian-college-student-preparedness genre. The book is divided into two parts. Part One simply argues that we need to use our minds; faith is central to a Christian but that doesn’t mean stupidity is. Part two felt unnecessary to me. Part Two spends its time detailing the fine points to debate, how not to fall victim to common anti-Christian arguments, how to keep your Bible study, etc. There is not much in Part Two that I wholly disagree with, however I felt like the content wasn't helpful to me and wouldn’t be helpful to a young student.


Tags : Smart Faith: Loving Your God with All Your Mind [J.P. Moreland, Mark Matlock] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <DIV>Become a more well-rounded, intellectual disciple--someone who can clearly elucidate the finer points of the Christian faith. Learn to embrace the mind's role in spiritual formation and acquire new spiritual disciplines. </div>,J.P. Moreland, Mark Matlock,Smart Faith: Loving Your God with All Your Mind,Think,1576837343,Christianity - General,Apologetics,Apologetics.,Christian youth;Religious life.,Faith and reason - Christianity,Faith and reason;Christianity.,Christian Ministry - Discipleship,Christian youth,Christianity,Faith,Faith and reason,RELIGION Faith,Religion,Religion - Christian Life,Religion Christian Life Spiritual Growth,Religion Christianity General,Religion : Christian Ministry - Discipleship,Religious life

Smart Faith Loving Your God with All Your Mind JP Moreland Mark Matlock 9781576837344 Books Reviews

Today's Church is facing a growing epidemic. Our young people are leaving Christianity by the droves. They survive through high school, but often hit the eject button at some point during their college years. What's wrong?

J.P. Moreland and Mark Matlock think they have an answer to this crisis. In their recent book "Smart Faith Loving Your God with All Your Mind" published by NavPress, they expose part of the problem "We now live in a Christian culture so deeply committed to a nonintellectual way of understanding the Christian faith that this perspective is now embedded within us at a subconscious level." They continue "Faith is now understood as a blind act of the will -- a decision to believe something independent of reason..." The gospel we share has been reduced to "primarily... a means of addressing felt needs." "We give testimonies of our changed life and tell people that Christ is the answer to troubles." But this lacks true transforming power. "Religion has... become personal, private, and too often simply a matter of how we feel about things." (pg. 24-26). In sharp contrast stands the rest of life which demands the use of our intellect in today's ever-secular world.

The 58 percent of church-attending teenagers which Barna researchers tell us "won't be attending church by their thirtieth birthday", were likely "missing the intellectual aspects of faith." (pg. 25). Moreland and Matlock aim to cultivate a robust, Christian intellect through their book. Along the way, they hope to fortify their readers against the siren call of our world's increasingly anti-Christian culture.

The book describes the problem and how we got here. It explores faith and knowledge, and aims to elevate the importance of the mind. It then goes on to apply Christian intellect to evangelism and apologetical persuasion, personal devotion and study, worship, and more. The book provides case studies of complex real world scenarios that young people face that could present a problem. In the end, these case studies are fleshed out with an intellectually honest and faithful approach to integrating our Christianity with all of life.

The authors are irenic and patient, not to mention painfully honest. Slowly and surely the attentive reader is prodded and nudged in the right direction. The book is not a heady read. It's written in a light and straight-forward manner, and at 175 pages, it isn't too long. Still, it covers some important ground. More important, the authors achieve their goal they offer a book which will ground the faith of young people and encourage a deep-rooted faith in Christ.

This book would make a great gift for a high school graduate. Youth ministers will want a copy of this book both for their own benefit and to recommend to others. "Smart Faith" earns a high recommendation.

Disclaimer This book was provided by NavPress. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.
All universities started from seminaries and today hardly anyone reads theology. This is a relatively easy read. It is concise and well written. Have an open mind and try it!
I'm a youth pastor. This book not only challenged me but gave me all kinds of ideas on how I can challenge my students. I will definitely be re-reading this book with some students.
A wonderful work by two great Christian scholars. To love God with all ones mind is an amazing challenge which is made less frightening by this work. All of my staff has been transformed by this book.
I am reading this title as part of a theology class and was not looking forward to it. However, once I picked this up and started getting into it I was quickly drawn to the contents. I really had a different take on what faith was and what role it play in my Christian walk. I was more passive with my faith. This book makes many good arguments for why our faith in today's christian world is suffering from this passivity. It describes in detail what faith looks like to believers and non believers and how to begin to define and defend your faith and your beliefs. It takes a back to basics approach to apologetics and for me as a relatively new believer that was perfect.
This book is a must read for anyone wanting to gain a closer relationship with God or wanting to advance His Kingdom. The authors challenge the reader to reevaluate our relationship with God, the basis for our believing in Him, and gain solid reasons for placing our faith in Christ. So many people in America are incapable of providing an adequate answer for their faith in Christ. As the title implies, this book teaches Christians how to have a smart faith, one that we can justify, and that we can clearly articulate to those who come to us asking for a reason for the hope we have in Christ.

I truly believe that this book serves to fill a huge void in American Christianity. With so many Americans claiming to be Christian, yet so few being able to articulate a reason for believing in Christ, Christianity has become a joke. Christians are commanded to love God with their mind, to be able to give a reason for believing in Christ, and to evangelize. This book helps us to do those things by teaching us how to love God with our minds, how to gain knowledge, and how to defend the faith.

Overall I feel this is a great book, but chapter 7 was a bit dry, which is why I rate this book with 4 stars instead of 5.
“To mature in our faith we need to develop our minds.”

Preparing young, Christian high school seniors or recent graduates for the foreboding realm of higher education is a rather popular genre. Smart Faith is another volume in this genre.

I have read a several books like this one, and I am never really satisfied with their content. I don’t think it is really the fault of the authors, but the fault of my own unrealistic expectations. The question “What is the one thing a young Christian needs to know before going to college?” is rather ambitious and probably unresolvable.

Having said all that, Smart Faith is a decent book. It is short and to the point with not a lot of fluff or filler which is prevalent in the Christian-college-student-preparedness genre. The book is divided into two parts. Part One simply argues that we need to use our minds; faith is central to a Christian but that doesn’t mean stupidity is. Part two felt unnecessary to me. Part Two spends its time detailing the fine points to debate, how not to fall victim to common anti-Christian arguments, how to keep your Bible study, etc. There is not much in Part Two that I wholly disagree with, however I felt like the content wasn't helpful to me and wouldn’t be helpful to a young student.