The Role of Intelligence in our Faith

[~candice~]

This has been on my mind of late, so I thought I would jot down my thoughts. Does intelligence help you in your walk with God?

I have made the argument in chat many times, that God does not discriminate on intelligence. A person seeking to find God need not be intelligent to find Him, they only need to search with their heart. A God, who requires intelligence or soophisticated science or philosophy to believe in Him or have a relationship with Him is indeed biased, and not the God that I love. I would argue further that we do not need intelligence to understand His Word.

Firstly, it is the Holy Spirit that teaches us, not our own intelligence.

John 14:26

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

Secondly, faith comes from hearing!

Romans 10:17

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.

Thirdly, we are told not to lean on our own understanding...

Proverbs 3:5

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

We are told to study to show ourselves approved, but I do not believe that this requires intelligence, instead, a relationship with God and the Holy Spirit. This is not to say that intelligence is a bad thing, but reliance on wordly wisdom, and the pride that can come from intelligence, do hinder our walk with God.

Your thoughts are appreciated .

Edited July 31, 2009 by ~andy~

[~candice~]

So how do you read Pr 3:5 then? Can you explain how you read John 14:26? I think that my understanding of God and His Word comes from the Holy Spirit, and from godly (not wordly) wisdom.

Colossians 1:9

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

James 1:5

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

Ephesians 1:17

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

In saying this, I believe that God can and does use whatever He can to communicate with us. This will, on occaison, include learned wordly knowledge. I just don't think it is essential. KWIM?

[~candice~]

Perhaps we ought to seperate the role of intelligence in obtaining faith, and the role of intelligence in strengthening faith.

Things like investigations into creationism and evolution comes to mind...

[~candice~]

No, I am not anti-intelligence. I find it dishonest for people to have conflicting ideas about science and God, for example. This is why I brought up the evolution / creation idea. I would just like to see from scripture the other side of the coin to what I have proposed, which is while God can use our intelligence, it is not essential in developing a loving relationship with Him. I hear your point, but I want to hear you assert it from scripture.

[OneLight]

It does not take intelligence to have faith. All it takes is enough understanding to know you are a sinner and that Jesus is our savior. Intelligence can sometimes hinder faith.

We are all created different. Luke was a doctor, but John the Baptist was in the desert led by the Spirit and John the Apostle was a fisherman, working for his father. It matters not how high your IQ is. What matters is your heart. It does not take intelligence to understand the teaching of Jesus when He tells us that we must be as a child to enter into the kingdom of Heaven.

There is way too much emphasis today placed on all the letters that appear after a name. The more letters, it seams, the more pride and vanity. where we are told to be humble and not think too highly of ourselves.

[Hunterpoet]

This has been on my mind of late, so I thought I would jot down my thoughts. Does intelligence help you in your walk with God?

I have made the argument in chat many times, that God does not discriminate on intelligence. A person seeking to find God need not be intelligent to find Him, they only need to search with their heart. A God, who requires intelligence or soophisticated science or philosophy to believe in Him or have a relationship with Him is indeed biased, and not the God that I love. I would argue further that we do not need intelligence to understand His Word.

Firstly, it is the Holy Spirit that teaches us, not our own intelligence.

John 14:26

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

Secondly, faith comes from hearing!

Romans 10:17

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.

Thirdly, we are told not to lean on our own understanding...

Proverbs 3:5

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

We are told to study to show ourselves approved, but I do not believe that this requires intelligence, instead, a relationship with God and the Holy Spirit. This is not to say that intelligence is a bad thing, but reliance on wordly wisdom, and the pride that can come from intelligence, do hinder our walk with God.

Your thoughts are appreciated .

I think intelligence can be a hinderance to ones faith, especially when folks start trying to prove things.

[Shaliach]

This is a quick thought on the subject. Most likely it will require extensive reworking, but, here it goes anyway. (I have to wonder if this is wise?)

----------------------------------

Here are two views of intelligence:

1. The ability to learn facts and skills and apply them, especially when this ability is highly developed

2. The ability to comprehend; to understand and profit from experience

I find nothing here that would disqualify anyone from acquiring faith in Christ or hinder their walk (relationship) with God.

Even so, as with any talent, skill or ability taken to an “extreme”, it becomes a stumbling block to the individual and perhaps to others also.

Mental ramblings:

The lack of knowledge (what) is a dangerous thing. However, knowledge without understanding (why) is a disaster. Intelligence (how) is the ability to integrate one’s knowledge and understanding into achieving a chosen goal. Wisdom is the ability to make good choices concerning (when, where, and why) to apply all of the above.

I have met and worked with people who had a tremendous amount of information in their heads (knowledge) but had no clue on how to use it “productively”. It took an individual with some knowledge but with a good understanding of the principles/concepts (what) to manage those with knowledge so that the task(s) could be efficiently accomplished. Above this level of organization, we needed people with a highly developed mental capacity (intelligence) in order to integrate all of the many different tasks into a finished product/action. At the top of the organization we required a person with the wisdom (and vision) in order to direct the finished product/action into a profitable enterprise.

As with most things spiritual, God turns things either upside down or on its side. In the world we proceed from knowledge through the maturing steps to reach wisdom. In the kingdom, we start out with a degree of wisdom and grow to an acquisition of the knowledge. Example:

1. Wisdom (or the beginning thereof) is the fear of God. An emotional state generated by a perceived danger, not requiring any particular level of knowledge, understanding or intelligence, only as what a small child might possess. Note: The wisdom of a small child is still wisdom.

2. Intelligence is then used to identify the source of one’s fear and to choose a course of action. One may choose to search out the truth of the fear or to hide from it.

3. Understanding is coming to grips with one’s relationship with God (or lack thereof).

4. Knowledge keeps one in the relationship, growing and maturing into the fullness of Christ. Without learning of God and what it takes to please Him, one will drift away and the relationship will grow cold, perhaps even die (perish).

Shalom Aleichem

Peace Be Unto You

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NOTE: This rambling is offered without scriptural references. However, if anyone requires them, I will be pleased to provide same.

Edited July 31, 2009 by Shaliach

[Fez]

ummm....Does this help?

Mat 6:5 "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen (heard?) by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

Mat 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Mat 6:7 "And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.

Focus on Jesus, thats what I do, and it does not take much thinking either! (Oh and this is NOT a put down), it's just the way I like to walk with Jesus - under His grace.

Blessings.

[canuckamuck]

I used to think intelligence was a barrier to faith, but now I think God is not something you figure out, rather something you enter into. There are many ways to resist, leaning on understanding is a big one, loving your sin is bigger though, Pride is bigger yet.

For all types of resistance God has gifted us differently so we can reach all society.

[EricH]

Since God created each of us with the level of intelligence we have, it would seem proper to thing that as long as it is submitted to Him, He is pleased