Title: CS Rote's resume
1Head Vs Heart Flow of Reasoning Outline
1a. Head Knowledge differs from Heart Knowledge
1b. Result Schism between Head Heart for We
Moderns
1c. Elevation of the rational faculty, and
assertion that it is the whole of the human mind.
1e. Modern man has become nearly incapable of
receiving the full Gospel.
1d. Denigration, or even denial, of the
intuitive, symbolic, or feeling mind.
1f. It is the HEART which perceives God and not
the REASON. That is what faith is God perceived
by the HEART, not by the REASON.
Why? Because the full Gospel cannot be perceived
ONLY by the rational mind. The HEART is required
because in addition to being rational and
conceptual, the full Gospel is grasped through
faith, love, prayer, worship, the Sacraments,
relationship, obedience and repentance. This is
why Pascal said Ties in to 1a and 4a.
Christians use such phrases as head and heart,
and head knowledge versus heart knowledge to
distinguish between discursive reason (proceeding
to a conclusion by reason or argument rather than
intuition), and intuitive, symbolic, or feeling
ways of knowing. The former consists mainly of
the analysis of data and propositions, while the
latter has to do with the ways of faith, love,
prayer, worship, the Sacraments, relationship,
obedience and repentance.
The false dichotomy between reason and faith that
has been so widely promulgated by atheists.
This has led to
In the Enlightenment era characterized by René
Descartes' (1596-1650) dictum, "I think,
therefore I am," only the cognitive, scientific
mind was recognized. More here. In other
words, modern atheists have supported their
contention of a Godless, non-spiritual,
non-supernatural world by defining the
non-rational ways of human perception and
knowledge as non-existent. We are now paying the
full spiritual and psychological price for such
false, reductionist thinking. The Result
Receiving the Full Gospel God perceived by Mind
HEART God perceived by the rational mind and
also by the intuitive, symbolic, feeling mind.
But Modern Man has defined the HEART as
non-existent. This is a significant problem for
Moderns seeking the full Truth of the full Gospel.
2a. The State of Our Hearts is Very Important to
God
2b. The heart is the locus of our spiritual and,
therefore, our eternal, identity. Heart Spirit?
2c. The HEART reveals who or what we really serve
2d. The HEART is (or should be) our organ of
spiritual discernment
2e. Religious behavior is what you get when you
follow the flesh.
2f. Redemption is what you get when you follow
the heart that Jesus gave you.
God is very concerned about how well our HEARTS
are able to hear, see, understand and obey Him.
Thirty-two Scripture verses supporting this
point may be easily found (see final two pages
of this document).
These people come near to me with their mouth and
honor me with their lips, but their HEARTS are
far from me. -Isaiah 2913, Matthew 158, Mark
76. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord,
Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only
he who does the will of my Father who is in
heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord,
Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in
your name drive out demons and perform many
miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I
never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' --
Matthew 721-23. Parable of The Narrow Door in
Luke 1322-30 -- "But he will answer, 'I don't
know you or where you come from.' Luke 1327.
...a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose
HEARTS were not loyal to God, whose SPIRITS were
not faithful to him. (Psalm 787-8). will expose
the motives of men's HEARTS. At that time each
will receive his praise from God. (1 Corinthians
45) so that Christ may dwell in your HEARTS
through faith. (Ephesians 316-17) 1 Samuel 167,
2 Chronicles 169,
Does God have our unwavering allegiance? (in your
HEARTS set apart Christ as Lord. 1 Peter 315).
Or do money, success, popularity, etc mean more
to us? God wants us to have an undivided HEART
(Ezekiel 1119) focused on loving and obeying
Him Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he
is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be
loved by my Father, and I too will love him and
show myself to him. (John 1421)
(I pray also that the eyes of your HEART may be
enlightened....Ephesians 118-19) When you are
living from your HEART, you are following an
inner directive that, if governed by the Spirit
of God, keeps you on the path that is spiritually
right for you. You are following Gods leading.
(These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips, but their HEARTS
are far from me. -Isaiah 2913, Matthew 158,
Mark 76).
The promised gift is described in Ezekiel
3625-27 I will sprinkle clean water on you,
and you will be clean I will cleanse you from
all your impurities and from all your idols. I
will give you a new HEART and put a new spirit in
you I will remove from you your HEART of stone
and give you a HEART of flesh. And I will put my
Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees
and be careful to keep my laws.
2Head Vs Heart Flow of Reasoning Outline
3b. Living from the heart does not mean we throw
away all the rules and live by our feelings.
3a. Our new hearts, not our minds, souls or
flesh, are the place of true knowing.
3c. When we look into Gods face with the eyes of
the heart Jesus gave us, He makes His face shine
upon us with joy.
The heart is much deeper than our emotions. The
heart Jesus gives us is the most solid thing
about us. Often our emotions become overwhelmed
when our soul is unable to bear all that the
heart knows. But as our joy-strength increases,
we learn to live with our hearts.
We follow what we see Jesus doing in our hearts,
just as Jesus did what He saw the Father doing.
Jesus, our example of one who lived from His
heart, constantly watched and listened to God in
perfect communion, while refusing to pick His own
way. Ties back to 2d.
God is glad to be with us no matter the state
we are in whether in shame, anger, fear,
disgust, humiliation or even hopeless despair.
We love Him for it, and He teaches us how to act
in accordance with the heart that He gave us so
we, in turn, can bring each other back to joy,
build love bonds, and comfort one another with
the comfort we have received. Ties back to 2a.
4a. We come to know ultimate reality not by
theological ideas about it (head knowledge), even
though these are valid and necessary, but by
union with it by the establishing of a personal
relationship between God and man (heart
knowledge).
4b. Conclusion 1 A believing heart, then, is not
one with a mere rational understanding of
Christs being and mission, but one that has
entered into a relationship of trust and love
with the Person of Christ.
To experience this union is to apprehend the
presence of God within and without. The most
concrete reality that can be known, it is often
relegated to the abstract and the theoretical by
those who attempt to know it only with the
conscious, analytical mind. But our sole avenue
to the reality of God is through prayer,
sacrament, obedience, repentance, and love that
is, through the hearts ways of knowing. Knowing
here is not a direct knowledge about (savoir)
God, but a knowledge-by-acquaintance
(connaître), a tasting, of Love Himself that
the humblest of us, in a state of Grace, can
know. Ties in to 1e.
Of course the conceptual belief ought to be there
too, but a child or a simple person can be a
Christian without understanding what, logically
or theologically speaking, a Christian is. We
now know that an infant, even as an embryo, can
experience rejections by his parents when
unwanted and unloved, and can, by the same token,
experience their affirmation and love. This
receiving, of either rejections or of love, is
not on a conceptual level, but is a very real
message written into the infants unconscious
mind. and HEART. Insofar as divine Love is
concerned, an infant can believe can, in other
words, experientially know or receive love long
before he can conceptually comprehend it.
5a. For further reflection You do not fail in
obedience through lack of love,but have lost
love because you never attempted obedience.
5b. Conclusion 2 Understanding the differences
between head and heart, and learning to live from
the heart that Jesus gave me, have been key
elements of my Christian journey.
Quoted from Lewiss novel, That Hideous Strength
(the third book in his Space Trilogy). See also,
C.S. Lewis on the Final Frontier Science and the
Supernatural in the Space Trilogy.
3Overall context of Head vs Heart document
- This document is drawn from my Christian Faith
web page (see http//profilecsr.homestead.com/).
That is its context. - I have my own website and have written hundreds
of pages. - I just may qualify as an intellectual
Christian. - I certainly use my mind and have demonstrated
that a rational and conceptual understanding of
Christianity is important to me. - Excerpt from the Christian Faith page on my
website - Describe Your Christian Journey
- I became a Christian
- My identity in Christ is now the most important
defining fact about myself. My work and
accomplishments are secondary. I am
growth-oriented my goal is to continue growing
in the faith -- to progress "higher up and
further in" (as CS Lewis said). Romans 122 " Do
not conform any longer to this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind." I
have just cited Romans122 as a defining, or
Life Verse. - I admire St. Paul tremendously -- here was a man
who, unlike many of his day and ours, wanted to
know the TRUTH, regardless of where it led. As a
result of his "road to Damascus" experience, Paul
was willing to question who he was, what he stood
for, and what he believed about the nature of
reality. He gave up all he had and radically
changed his life to do the will of the Lord. He
is a fitting model for anyone who is truly
seeking the TRUTH. - I have learned that head knowledge (intellectual
assent to the Christian doctrines) is
insufficient. Even Satan's demons have correct
theology in the sense that they believe God is
one -- and tremble (James 219). Belief must be
authentic, loyal to God, of the HEART (not only
the HEAD), and worked out in real life (James
chaper 2). The great men and women of God all
had extraordinary personal belief systems that
set them apart from their generation (Hebrews
11). - If you would like to read more of my perspective
on the HEAD vs the HEART in Christian faith,
please click here. - Next section of Christian Faith web page
Coffee/tea thought "Dear children, keep away
from anything that might take God's place in your
hearts." -- 1 John 5.21 NLT
4Scripture Sources Oh, that their HEARTS would be
inclined to fear me and keep all my commands
always, so that it might go well with them and
their children forever! (Deuteronomy 529) And
Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, "If you
are returning to the LORD with all your HEARTS,
then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the
Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the LORD and
serve him only. (1 Samuel 73) The LORD does
not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at
the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the
HEART." (1 Samuel 167) But your HEARTS must be
fully committed to the LORD our God, to live by
his decrees and obey his commands (1 Kings
861) For the eyes of the LORD range throughout
the earth to strengthen those whose HEARTS are
fully committed to him. (2 Chronicles
169) ...a stubborn and rebellious generation,
whose HEARTS were not loyal to God, whose spirits
were not faithful to him. (Psalm 787-8) "Above
all else, guard your HEART, for it is the
wellspring of life." (Proverbs 423) For this
people's HEART has become calloused they hardly
hear with their ears, and they have closed their
eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears, understand with their
HEARTS and turn, and I would heal them. But
blessed are your eyes because they see, and your
ears because they hear. (Isaiah 610)
(Matthew 1315-16) (John 1240) (Acts
2827) The Lord says "These people come near to
me with their mouth and honor me with their lips,
but their HEARTS are far from me. Their worship
of me is made up only of rules taught by men.
(Isaiah 2913) (Matthew 158) (Mark 76) But
these people have stubborn and rebellious HEARTS
they have turned aside and gone away. (Jeremiah
523) ...how I have been grieved by their
adulterous HEARTS, which have turned away from
me, and by their eyes, which have lusted after
their idols. They will loathe themselves for the
evil they have done. (Ezekiel 69) "I will give
them an undivided HEART and put a new spirit in
them I will remove from them their HEART of
stone and give them a HEART of flesh." (Ezekiel
1119) They made their HEARTS as hard as flint
and would not listen to the law or to the words
that the LORD Almighty had sent by his Spirit
through the earlier prophets. (Zechariah
712) For from within, out of men's HEARTS, come
evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy,
slander, arrogance and folly. (Mark 721) "You
stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised HEARTS
and ears! You are just like your fathers You
always resist the Holy Spirit! (Acts
751) ...encouraged them all to remain true to
the Lord with all their HEARTS (Acts
1123) ...wait till the Lord comes. He will
bring to light what is hidden in darkness and
will expose the motives of men's HEARTS. At that
time each will receive his praise from God. (1
Corinthians 45) Now these things occurred as
examples to keep us from setting our HEARTS on
evil things...(1 Corinthians 106) "...those who
take pride in what is seen rather than in what is
in the HEART." (2 Corinthians 512b) "I pray
also that the eyes of your HEART may be
enlightened in order that you may know the hope
to which he has called you, the riches of his
glorious inheritance in the saints, and his
incomparably great power for us who believe."
(Ephesians 118-19) I pray that out of his
glorious riches he may strengthen you with power
through his Spirit in your inner being, so that
Christ may dwell in your HEARTS through faith.
(Ephesians 316-17) They are darkened in their
understanding and separated from the life of God
because of the ignorance that is in them due to
the hardening of their HEARTS. (Ephesians
418) ...set your HEARTS on things above, where
Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
(Colossians 31)
5Scripture Sources Let the word of Christ dwell in
you richly as you teach and admonish one another
with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns
and spiritual songs with gratitude in your HEARTS
to God. (Colossians 316) May the Lord direct
your HEARTS into God's love and Christ's
perseverance. (2 Thessalonians 35) Their
HEARTS are always going astray, and they have not
known my ways. (Hebrews 310) Today, if you
hear his voice, do not harden your HEARTS as you
did in the rebellion. (Hebrews 47) For the
word of God is living and active. Sharper than
any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to
dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow it
judges the thoughts and attitudes of the HEART.
(Hebrews 412) ...let us draw near to God with a
sincere HEART in full assurance of faith...
(Hebrews 1022) But if you harbor bitter envy
and selfish ambition in your HEARTS, do not boast
about it or deny the truth. (James
314) ...purify your HEARTS, you double-minded.
(James 48) But in your HEARTS set apart Christ
as Lord. (1 Peter 315)