One thing that skeptics cannot understand is how Christians can love a God that is unseen by the physical eye. We’ve become so saturated with this view from science—a worldview called Naturalism now permeates our culture from education to the media. This view believes that nothing material exists, and states that everything must be measured empirically or it can’t be real. (This belief is a philosophical view more than anything. Read more about it here.) If one holds to this view, it’s clear why loving God who is “unseen” is hard to understand or appears foolish.
Even the Pagans, back in First Century Rome, were puzzled by this type of worship. It was so confusing to them that Christians were actually accused of atheism. Isn’t that ironic! How could Christians be labeled atheists? It’s because Pagan worship involved the worship of visible things. They worshipped gods related to natural phenomenon, like gods of the sea, sun, or moon. Then along came these strange Christians who refused to bow down to their pagan gods, and instead worshiped an “imageless God.”
Many in the Roman Empire could not grasp imageless worship. Sadly, a common human response to something one can’t understand is to demonize it. So, Roman officials began to accuse Christians of being atheists, and blamed them for when things went wrong in their society.[1] Thus began Christian persecution.
Persecution continues to this day. In other countries, Christians are being harmed, imprisoned, and sometimes killed for their faith.[2] In Western culture, however, the persecution is more subtle. It comes in the form of ridiculing Christians as being anti-intellectual or having blind faith. In some ways, this mockery is based in truth, as many Christians have not engaged their intellect to know why what they believe is evidentially-true.
This certainly was not always the case. History is full of plenty of scientists who were Christians: Copernicus, Bacon, Kepler, Pascal, Newton… to name a few. Then Darwin came along, claiming evolution showed us that there was no need for a Creator. Thus, many Christians withdrew from the sciences, and eventually from the intellectual discussions surrounding it.
Fortunately, because of apologetics, the image of the blind-faith Christian is dissolving. Share on X Fortunately, because of apologetics, the image of the blind-faith Christian is dissolving. Apologetics is a field of theology that gives good reasons for why Christianity is true. It’s anything but anti-intellectual.
As many Christians in the United States and other Western cultures, I was once a Christian who loved God with all my heart to the neglect my mind. At one point along my faith journey, my experiences with God were no longer satisfactory. I wanted more, and needed to study theology because of hard questions pressing on me from non-believers. I found the field of apologetics to be extremely satisfying to the life of the mind. Now, I’ve come to accept that faith should not be based in either the heart or the head alone. The life of the Christian should be based in both good reasoning and experiences of feeling God’s presence and knowing His love.
That can be difficult for some of us because generally people fall into two categories: ones who tend towards loving God experientially, and ones who tend to be more cerebral in their love of God. It’s the head versus the heart, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Churches also tend to fall into one of these two camps. There are churches which are purely Bible-based congregations that usually avoid anything with experiencing the presence of God through the Holy Spirit. Then there are churches that lean heavily on the experiences of God, but don’t teach the head knowledge of God as much. I believe God wants churches to embrace both fully: the head and the heart combined to glorify God.
Faith is a journey that stretches you, challenges you and most importantly, gives you hope. Without faith in God, there is no better life that lies beyond this one. Life is just a cosmic accident, ruled by unguided processes or chance. Where is the meaning in that? Surely, we can find individual some superficial meaning, but eventually, most people get to the end of that rope quickly. What do you find at the end of that rope? If not God, then you will try to hold on to the rope in a futile attempt to keep yourself from falling. Yet, your hands will tire and you must release your grip on it. When that happens, to what do you descend upon? If not God, then the place where you land can be a tenuous one that tosses you about from the winds of change that life ultimately brings. But when you place your faith in God, you fall onto a firm foundation, one built on the knowledge of God and the experience of His love for you. That is the best place to land in this journey called life.
The life of the mind and the love of the heart is the fullness of worshipping the “Unseen God.” But is He really unseen? No. He came in the form of a man, Jesus Christ, to not only pay our penalty for sins committed against Him, but to reveal Himself in a form we could understand. Jesus is the visible image of the unseen God.
“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” Col. 1:15
[1]Bruce Shelley, Church History in Plain Language(Nashville, Tennessee, Thomas Nelson, 2013), 45.
[2]https://www.statista.com/statistics/271002/persecution-of-christians-worldwide/
Thanks Lisa, I come away from your blogs with so much more understanding of our journey of faith. Thank you for taking on the role of Apologetics to help point others to the truth.
Ahhh… Yvonne, this comment is the reason I keep blogging! There are days when I feel it’s futile and I should go out and get a “real job.” Then I am reminded of the most important thing in life — to love God and love others. How do we love others? We share the truths of what we know about God, His Son and the promises of the faith-filled life. So, hearing that your faith journey has been enhanced by my blogs on Apologetics gives me the encouragement to continue at it. Thank you!
God bless you! Lisa Q
Beautiful Lisa! Love the call to love God with both our hearts & our minds. And I would add that when one makes the choice to follow God and see what happens, then life *really* becomes interesting 🙂 Keep doing this good work!
Brent – my favorite Christian philosopher!
Thank you for your comment. I know you live this out: loving God both with your heart and your mind. Look where the choice to follow God has led you – Oxford! Talk about a place to learn how to use your mind for God’s glory. I am so excited to see how your journey progresses. When you get a book published, because I am stating it right here that this will happen in your life, I want a signed copy!
Your fan/friend,
Lisa Q
Lisa,
You have done an amazing job calling us to love God with both mind and heart. I really love this statement:
The life of the mind and the love of the heart is the fullness of worshipping the “Unseen God.”
It is so easy for me to become caught up in either the intellectual pursuit of God or the heart presence of God and it is the both/and that is the fullness of worshipping.
Hi Elaine!
Thank you for your kind comments. I am certainly attempting to bring together these two areas of our faith journey because I feel very convicted (in a good way!) that this is what God wants of us — to use all things to His glory. We are all on that path and there is lots of grace to figure it out along the way.
Grace to you!
Lisa Q
Hello Lisa
Head and Heart is an expression I so often use when working with my clients on Employee Engagement – it is very expensive if the wages you pay are only giving you back effort from the hands and feet. True Leadership and Engagement is about people giving the Head and Heart to their goals, their job and their Company.
You have reminded me how much more important it is to consider my engagement of my own Head and Heart with my faith and my relationship with my Father
Thank you
Hi Bob!
Yeah, I think it is a challenge for many of us to know how to bring in spiritual insights into our workplace, but I think you are doing a great job at it. It’s not easy to do, that’s for sure, especially in today’s culture where, without even trying, we can offend people simply by trying to share our perspective on things.
I believe that the true life of a believer blends what they know to be true with everything they do, from the workplace to the gym and then back home again.
God bless you! Lisa Q
I also find this concept of Christians as atheists–because we worship the God we cannot see or touch–to be so fascinating. It proves how different Christianity was. It seemed so odd to the pagans of the day. Fabulous post! Love it!
Thanks, Nancy, for your comment. Pagans in the 1st C also thought Christians were cannibals because they didn’t understand the Eucharist! Ha ha ha…. Bless you, Lisa Q
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for your article. I especially liked this part:
‘There are churches which are purely Bible-based congregations that usually avoid anything with experiencing the presence of God through the Holy Spirit. Then there are churches that lean heavily on the experiences of God, but don’t teach the head knowledge of God as much. I believe God wants churches to embrace both fully: the head and the heart combined to glorify God.’
I’ve found this to be totally true in the churches we’ve attended over the years, and over time, I’ve learned to long for both. It’s a journey, but I’m thankful for God’s work, and eager to encourage that in others. Thanks for being part of that through your writing, Lisa!
Hi Bryan – thank you for your comments. I am hopeful that as we journey together, more Christians will see the need to develop their minds for the Lord, intergrating all things that they do for His honor. Bless you! Lisa Q
This is an intriguing discussion. This post particularly appeals to me because I enjoy thinking about the Church’s present journey in the context of its history.
I also enjoyed the discussion on apologetics. I rejoice that we serve a God that inspires both the heart and the mind to seek Him.
Thanks, Chloe!
Lisa, fresh insight in this post as always. I never thought about it before, how our faith doesn’t have to be heart OR mind.
Even Hebrews 11:1, faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen, never denies that very premise. It can be experienced in both heart and mind and makes the Christian journey richer and more full.
Love this thought, “The life of the Christian should be based in both good reasoning and experiences of feeling God’s presence and knowing His love.”
Blessings!
Thanks, Karen! I appreciate your comments. Bless you, Lisa Q
Excellent post, Lisa! It’s a topic close to my heart…or mind. Too many Christians have checked their brains at the door. Where did our thinkers go? We used to make inroads in the sciences as a means of learning about God and the world he made. Now we see science as the enemy.
You’re so right. This is not an either-or conversation. It’s a both-and conversation. We need our minds and our hearts. We need explanation and experience. We need reason and relationship. I love this. Thanks!
Hey Chip! I agree that many Christians have “checked their brains at the door” and that hass reflected poorly on the Body of Christ throughout the culture. It’s important to take that back and recognize that Science is not the enemy (maybe some “scientists”, but that is another story! ha ha ha). Bless you, Lisa Q
I love this point: “In some ways, this mockery is based in truth, as many Christians have not engaged their intellect to know why what they believe is evidentially-true.”
Right now, I’m listening to a Ravi Zacharias book on audio (the only way I can get books finished with 4 kids these days!). Apologetics is so important in today’s culture.
Love this post.
Hi Stephanie! Thanks for your comments. I love Ravi Zacharias! He is one the of reasons I became a Christian Apologist. Yes, it is vital today that we know how to tell people about Jesus and WHY what He did really happened. People need hope and Jesus is that hope. Bless you!
Great post! I love your line, “The life of the Christian should be based in both good reasoning and experiences of feeling God’s presence and knowing His love.” I witnessed the danger of only trying to reason and think your way intellectually about God in my time in seminary. Experiencing God is both mind and heart. I also love apologetics! I’m looking forward to reading more of your work.
I know that Seminary can really challenge the believer to have simple, loving, and trusting faith in God. I totally get that! At Biola, during my Master’s studies, I found myself wondering, at times, if some of these people even had a relationship with Christ! It seemed as if it had become so focused on the intellect that the love had grown cold in some. So, yeah… it’s SO important to cultivate both. Thanks for your comment, and I hope to be able to achieve that balance in my apologetics writings. God bless you! Lisa Q
Heart and mind. We’re comprised of both. A faith that includes both is essential, otherwise we tip toward no knowledge of God and who he really is, but a lot of feel-good emotions with no idea how to respond biblically. Or we have no awareness of the life of the Spirit and the richness of God’s love, though we’ve got our theology straight in our heads. This: “The life of the Christian should be based in both good reasoning and experiences of feeling God’s presence and knowing His love.” Yes! This is true. I feel that if we know the true God in a theologically accurate way, our emotions and actions will respond by loving others and serving God in obedience. Great post!
Hey Melinda – you even write comments beautifully. I think, perhaps, you are one of the best writers I know – seriously good stuff! Thank you for your thoughtful (and well-written) comments. We are comprised of both the heart (or soul) and the intellect AND the body. I think we are kind of like a modified trinity concept, made up of three parts of the same subtance and of equal value. Well, at least sort of. Only God is the supreme Three-in-One being. We’re just like little ant-versions compared to Him – ha ha. Bless you! Lisa Q
“Faith is a journey that stretches you, challenges you and most importantly, gives you hope.” <== So much truth in that line alone. Great post, Lisa.
Thanks, Heather!
Lisa, I am so grateful for your faith and your powerful ministry. My faith has been deepened by thinking more deeply about the basis of my faith through the work of apologists like you. This piece is excellent.
I appreciate how you tackled some of the ridicule we face here in the West with insults about believing in an invisible God. So true. What a brilliant way to wrap up this piece by pointing out that Jesus was/is the visible God! Bless you!
Thank you, Melissa! God bless you, Lisa Q
Excellent blog, Lisa. I’m reminded of when Polycarp. Disciple of the Apostle John was brought to the arena for his execution. The Emperor did not want to execute such an aged man. So, he said, “I will spare you if you will wave your arm at your fellow Christians and say, away with the atheists!! With a gleam in his eye, Polycarp turned and waved his arm at the Romans in the stands and hollered, Away with the atheists! It infuriated the Emperor and of course Polycarp was martyred. One of my heroes of the faith.
Hi David,
Thanks for your comment. Wow – I didn’t know that about Polycarp. What an event that must have been! He was a brave soul and I am sure the Lord rewarded him with many crowns. Some days I wonder if we, too, could have as much faith as those who were martyred in such brutal and public ways as the 1st Century Christians. And then I am reminded that there are more martyrs today than ever before! There are plenty more heroes of the faith.
Bless you! Lisa Q
Reposted on my blog post: “Do you ever wonder if the world is coming to an end?”
The comment submission would not allow me to include the link. So you will have to go to my website to find it. Sorry about that.
Hey Melissa,
Sure – no problem. Thanks, Lisa Q