Scripture says that although our mind is liable to error, it is a gift of God. It needs to be guided by His divine revelation and grace. God is a rational and intelligent being. So are we, but not to the same extent. He has created the universe in an orderly fashion. We are made in His image and His likeness (Genesis 1:26). Therefore, to be anti-intellectual means failing to show appreciation for the abilities that He has bestowed upon us. Our minds are a gift of God to be used. This presupposes it being the means by which civilization is built up and us glorifying Him.
It is a truth that God cares more by an infinite margin about our hearts than about the number of college degrees that we may obtain in this life. He wants to restore our fallen bodies. However, that does not mean the use of our rational faculties is to be pitted against our emotions or soul. An anti-intellectual attitude is not an acceptable approach to the Christian life. Hosea 4:6 says that the people of God are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. The Apostle Paul told his audience to not be children in understanding, but wise and examples of purity (1 Corinthians 14:20).
An anti-intellectual worldview is psychologically unhealthy. An anti-intellectual worldview is cultic, as is evidenced by the Watchtower Society forbidding adherents from investigating the truthfulness of its claims. An anti-intellectual worldview is both irrational and unbiblical. Wanting a career is not inherently sinful. It is also not wrong to learn from people that we disagree with. In the real world, we will encounter people with non-Christian worldviews. What we should be on guard against is turning our pursuits into idols. What we should be on guard against is our tendency to become prideful as a result of our material achievements.
It is a truth that God cares more by an infinite margin about our hearts than about the number of college degrees that we may obtain in this life. He wants to restore our fallen bodies. However, that does not mean the use of our rational faculties is to be pitted against our emotions or soul. An anti-intellectual attitude is not an acceptable approach to the Christian life. Hosea 4:6 says that the people of God are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. The Apostle Paul told his audience to not be children in understanding, but wise and examples of purity (1 Corinthians 14:20).
Ignorance can be a rather dangerous thing. It certainly is nothing to be proud of. Toddlers get their fingers burnt when they touch a hot stove as a result of their uninformed curiosity. We should know and understand our worldview, which is the means by which we interpret events around us. God gave us a mind. We learn and understand new concepts by utilizing it.
If literally everybody were to stop seeking higher levels of education, then that would inevitably collapse our civilization because nobody would be competent to work jobs that require obtaining those more advanced skills. Examples would include the legal and medical fields. This demonstrates an anti-intellectual worldview to not be workable. If a person has so much distrust in scholarship, and takes that level of skepticism to its logically consistent end, then he will inevitably be led to agnosticism. Nothing can be known for sure. That is insanity.
An anti-intellectual worldview is psychologically unhealthy. An anti-intellectual worldview is cultic, as is evidenced by the Watchtower Society forbidding adherents from investigating the truthfulness of its claims. An anti-intellectual worldview is both irrational and unbiblical. Wanting a career is not inherently sinful. It is also not wrong to learn from people that we disagree with. In the real world, we will encounter people with non-Christian worldviews. What we should be on guard against is turning our pursuits into idols. What we should be on guard against is our tendency to become prideful as a result of our material achievements.
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