Sunday, October 25, 2009

Augustine on The Renewal of Our Minds

"Since, therefore, we must enjoy to the full that truth which lives unchangeably, and since, within it, God the Trinity, the author and creator of everything, takes thought for the things that he has created, our minds must be purified so that they are able to perceive that light and then hold fast to it.  Let us consider this process of cleansing as a trek, or a voyage, to our homeland; though progress towards the one who is ever present is not made through space, but through integrity of purpose and character.  This we would be unable to do, if wisdom itself has not deigned to adapt itself to our great weakness and offered us a pattern for living; and it has actually done so in human form because we too are human"  (On Christian Teaching, 1.22-23).

I'm always encouraged to hear truly masterful theologians stress the importance of the renewal and sanctification of our minds.  (For another look at the sanctification of human reason, see the opening chapter of John Webster's Holiness.)

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