Articles
Critical Thinking Skills - 1
I am concerned about our culture’s diminishing critical thinking skills. This is reflected in both anecdotal observation and objective measurements such as standardized testing. And while this phenomenon may have various causes and a host of corrosive implications, the most critical concern is the inability to understand and process the word of God.
I am not implying that Scripture is exclusively aimed at academics or those of higher intellect. I am fully convinced that God’s various revelations, prophecies, instructions and general teaching of mankind via the written word (or even the oral communications of the past) are framed so that the common person can understand. However, they are not to be understood without effort. And various levels of effort and contemplation of Scripture will reveal deeper and more complex connections embedded within that revelation. How can it be otherwise given that the source of the revelation is the mind of God (1 Cor 2:10-16)?
Considering that God has chosen to express His will in written form, a society with fading reading comprehension raises obvious issues. We can speculate as to why God has chosen to communicate this way, but what matters is the consequence: if we lose skill in critically processing information via literature, we will likely neglect what God has said, corrupt it via unsound exegesis or bypass it in favor of something easier – like submit-ting mindlessly to self-proclaimed religious authority or following our feelings. The end result is that God is speaking through His word, but no one is hearing because they lack the inclination or ability to do so.
Consider Jesus’ insightful but depressing assessment of His generation. When asked by His disciples about His methodology of speaking in parables, Jesus replied: “I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the heart of this people has grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their heart and turn, so that I should heal them’” (Mt 13:13-15).
The word “fulfilled” here is interesting (critical thinking skills!); it does not bear the idea of coming to pass for the first time since the prophecy was issued by Isaiah. Isaiah spoke to his own generation who were unable to process his words. In sending Isaiah as a prophet to a dying nation, God issued this message as a warning of Israel’s coming demise (Is 6:9-13). Jesus applied Isaiah’s words to His generation because they suffered the same spiritual tone-deafness. Thus Isaiah’s words are “fulfilled” in any and every age that replicates such callous disregard for God’s word.
But note that Jesus also draws a distinction between the hardhead Jews and His soft-hearted apostles: “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him … But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear … many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it” (Mt 13:11-12, 16-17). Jesus is not saying that the apostles were smarter than everyone else; nor is He saying that they were arbitrarily “elected” by God to comprehend the truth while everyone else was out of luck. Jesus’ rebuke of His insensate generation places the blame squarely on their own shoulders. They are a “wicked and adulterous generation” (Mt 16:4); “fools and blind” or “blind guides” (Mt 23:16-17, 19, 24, 26); hypocrites (Mt 23:13-15, 23, 25, 27, 29); “serpents, brood of vipers” (Mt 23:33), among other things.
To be fair, the apostles’ critical thinking skills weren’t so hot during Jesus’ ministry. There were many occasions wherein they did not understand His parables (Mt 13:36; 15:15); they misinterpreted His figurative language (Mt 16:11-12; Jn 4:32-34; Jn 11:11-13); they even misunderstood His direct language (Mk 9:31-32). Thus Jesus mildly rebukes them: “Are you also still without understanding?” (Mt 15:16); or “Do you not yet understand … How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread …?” (Mt 16:9, 11); or, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?” (Jn 14:9).
So, what is the difference between the spiritually blind and deaf scribes and Pharisees and the slow-on-the-uptake disciples? To borrow from the beatitudes: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Mt 5:6). The real issue is not IQ (intelligence quotient) but SQ (spiritual quotient). I know from my own experience of teaching people through the years that those who have a genuine interest in knowing what the Bible says will learn critical thinking skills simply by reading and studying the text. Learning how God interacts with friends and foes alike in both the Old and New Testaments teaches one how to think critically, logically and rationally.
Here’s an example, again referring to Isaiah: About seven centuries before Christ Isaiah describes a servant who will suffer for the sins of others, “led as a lamb to the slaughter … for the transgressions of My people He was stricken” (53:7, 8). Centuries later an Ethiopian Jew is riding in a chariot reading this passage but is confused about its meaning. The Holy Spirit arranges for a prophet to join him, and Philip asks the man if he comprehends the text (Ac 8:26-30). The man replies, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” (8:31), and he questions Philip about the identity of the suffering servant (8:34). “Then Philip … beginning at this Scripture preached Jesus to him” (8:35). Then, “as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, ‘See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?’” (8:36).
The textual evidence suggests several things: 1) The Holy Spirit indicated via Philip that Jesus is the subject and fulfillment of Is 53; 2) that truth needed to be clarified by the teaching of the knowledgeable to those yet unlearned; 3) the understanding of this truth leads a penitent heart to submit to Christ; 4) a necessary part of that submission involves baptism (other passages elaborate upon the purpose of baptism; these should be consulted for a comprehensive understanding of baptism). Only disinterest or preexisting theological bias can obscure or deny these truths.
