Thinking and the Bible

Jesus confronts wrong thinking in Matt 9:4. In Matt 10:34, he extinguishes incorrect thoughts related to His ministry. He engages Simon with questions to stimulate his thinking (Matt 17:25). In fact, you see Him regularly using questions to stimulate the thoughts of others (Matt 18:12; 21:28; 22:17, 42; 26:53). In Luke 6:8ff, Jesus performs a miracle to counter wrong thinking. He corrects the disciples wrong thinking on who would be greatest in Luke 9:47-48. Consistently, Jesus uses parables to develop correct thinking amongst his hearers (e.g., Luke 10:36). In John 5:39, we see that wrong thinking can lead people astray.

While anyone who reads Paul’s letters should be able to attest to the necessity of thinking as a matter of course, here I only desire to find some direct evidence. In Acts 17:29, Paul corrects wrongful thinking about the nature of God. He chastises those who may think too little of God’s gracious gift (Rom 2:4). He tells us to think with sound judgment in Romans 12:3. He warns us against be childish in our thinking; instead, we are told to be mature in our thinking (1 Cor 14:20). In Hebrews 10:29, Paul (or whoever the author is) uses questions to guide the thinking of his readers.

James encounters faulty thinking in 1:26 and 4:5. In truth, throughout the NT we see a teaching ministry that constantly challenges the thinking of people. God gave us both feelings and a thinking mind. We should not neglect either in our pursuit of God. That being said, it seems to me that Jesus and the NT writers focus their didactic efforts on thinking.

Finally, I end with my favorite text regarding the didactic ministry of guiding people to God-centered thinking.

2 Cor 10:3-5 NASB – “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but [b]divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,”

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