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Click on book cover to read a brief excerpt from the first two pages of each of the 20 chapters.

THINKING  CHRISTIANS,    

An ArkHaven Editorial: about pragmatism, indoctrinate, propagandize,  authoritarian,  modernity,  inductive reasoning,  anti-intellectualism, Os Guinness, Howard Hendricks

Some church leaders aren't altogether sure they want their people to think. They figure they've already done the thinking for their people. All their followers need to do is obey them…without question. The more we tell people what to think, the less they rely on their own thinking processes. Such people become indoctrinated or propagandized or brain washed. The most authoritarian churches, the most authoritarian parents, produce the most peer-pressure prone people. Frankly, we all are weary of "just do it because I said so".

As one of the foremost Christian thinkers of our times stated, "Another reason why American evangelicals have not faced up to modernity (which is basically a failure to be relevant to our own times) is that we are victims of a two-hundred year condition of chronic anti-intellectualism. We are thus prone to a mindless pragmatism that never finally succeeds because it is never reflective about its agenda, let alone the wider horizon of events" (Os Guinness, Dining With The Devil, p. 45).

Research shows that churches that encourage thinking produce more Christians with mature faith. However those churches are in the minority. Only 46 percent of church-going adults say their church challenges their thinking. Only 42 percent of teenagers say their thinking is challenged in church. And only 35 percent of fifth and sixth-graders say their church classes make them think.

Learning is a consequence of thinking. If our people aren't thinking, they' re not growing in their faith. Christian educator Howard Hendricks says the average church attendee "is not excited by the truth…he's embalmed by it."

Some theologians advertise this almost boastful arrogant attitude. The message seems to be: "Ours is a black-and-white world. Come to us with your questions, and we'll quickly dispense all the right answers and send you on your way." Today's people want answers, but they don't need to be told what to think. They desperately need to learn how to think in a Christian context.

Yes, many people today are seeking answers, but most aren't looking for quick and easy answers dispensed to them by authority figures. They want to find answers…their answers that they worked hard for—not 10¢ placebos from $20 books.

We help people grow…not by giving them all the answers, but by helping them learn to think for themselves. When they learn the process of finding God's wisdom and knowledge for their lives, their learning—wisdom gained from knowledge—becomes portable.

Rather than showing only the doctrine we believe to our readers, we present to-the-point documentation of all the doctrines that we are aware of (hopefully all of them) and let our readers decide for themselves what is the most Scriptural. Most people are not aware of the history (origins) of their own doctrinal beliefs, much less unfamiliar doctrines.

Our teaching methods are inductive and not always explicit. We are comfortable with that style because we can trust the Holy Spirit to teach you—and us—what we are to do with the material presented in our literature. The word is out. Thinking people don't need our opinion.