1 Corinthians 1:18-31 New International Version (NIV)
18For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
19For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
20Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
21For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
22Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom,
23but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
24but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.
26Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.
27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
28He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things–and the things that are not–to nullify the things that are,
29so that no one may boast before him.
30It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God–that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
31Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
Showing posts with label Creativity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Creativity. Show all posts
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Creativity - #2
Continuing with a research paper previously written by this author:
James Sire in his book on Christians and the mind provides a listing of disciplines of intellect which could also be called disciplines of creativity.
They are as follows (with this author’s comments beside):
1) Solitude / Silence – Slowing down and letting the mind wander where it will is important.
2) Attention / Concentration – This author has used the 5 Ws (Why, Who, When, Where, and What) and 1 H (How) questions many times to provide a process for concentrating himself or a team on a specific question or problem.
3) Lateral thinking – or as a much used phrases state, ‘think outside of the box’ and ‘work toward a paradigm shift.’ One process used in the business world and I think we do not do it enough in the Church is brainstorming. A process which allows a group of people to use their minds to list answers to a specific question or problem.
4) Prayer – How many of us take time to prayer for wisdom or creativity as we begin a task of the mind?
5) Reading – As shown by the Ravi Z. question above, reading about diverse subjects assists in exercising the mind. (Sire, 127)
Sire, James W. "Habits of the Mind, Intellectual Life as a Christian Calling". Downers Grove: Intervaristy, 2000.
James Sire in his book on Christians and the mind provides a listing of disciplines of intellect which could also be called disciplines of creativity.
They are as follows (with this author’s comments beside):
1) Solitude / Silence – Slowing down and letting the mind wander where it will is important.
2) Attention / Concentration – This author has used the 5 Ws (Why, Who, When, Where, and What) and 1 H (How) questions many times to provide a process for concentrating himself or a team on a specific question or problem.
3) Lateral thinking – or as a much used phrases state, ‘think outside of the box’ and ‘work toward a paradigm shift.’ One process used in the business world and I think we do not do it enough in the Church is brainstorming. A process which allows a group of people to use their minds to list answers to a specific question or problem.
4) Prayer – How many of us take time to prayer for wisdom or creativity as we begin a task of the mind?
5) Reading – As shown by the Ravi Z. question above, reading about diverse subjects assists in exercising the mind. (Sire, 127)
Sire, James W. "Habits of the Mind, Intellectual Life as a Christian Calling". Downers Grove: Intervaristy, 2000.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Creativity - #1
I have always been interested in creativity and how/why some people seem more creative than others. In the next few posts I will be providing research I have accomplished and my thoughts on it.
One of my major papers at Tabor was on Christians and the Intellect. Here is an excerpt:
I was listening to Ravi Zacharias on his radio program last week during which he made a remark which surprised me so much, I missed the point of his sharing. He stated while reading the People magazine he learned a specific fact. I did not remember anything after his statement because I was trying to ‘get my brain around’ the thought of Ravi Z. reading People magazine. I consider Ravi Z. one of the few Christian intellectuals in the world today, so I asked myself, “Why was he reading People magazine?”
Two answers which came to me were: 1) He was reading it to understand where secular culture was and where it is headed or 2) He was putting diverse information in his mind which could be used later as a connection for a creative thought. The second answer reminded me of the research I have done on ‘creativity.’ The research revealed evidence that creative people read, talk, debate, and consider many diverse subjects or types of information. This exercising of the mind will provide many different ideas which can be used to create connections of diverse information into a new idea, a creative thought.
As I was contemplating the research on creativity and how Christians need to improve the use of the mind and develop Christian thinking, I was impressed by how similar the steps to develop creativity and the intellect are and how they need to be developed in Christians. Reviewing what Moreland provided as an important practice for developing the mind shows how close developing creativity is to it. He states, “It is no less true of becoming a deep, careful thinker in general exercised regularly, trained to acquire certain habits of thought, filled with an increasingly rich set of distinctions and categories.” This author believes the way a person acquires the ‘rich set of distinctions and categories’ is through the acquiring of diverse types of information and allowing it to be connected together during the exercising of the mind, which would be a creative thought. (Moreland, 104)
Moreland, J.P. "Love Your God With All Your Mind, The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul" Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1997
One of my major papers at Tabor was on Christians and the Intellect. Here is an excerpt:
I was listening to Ravi Zacharias on his radio program last week during which he made a remark which surprised me so much, I missed the point of his sharing. He stated while reading the People magazine he learned a specific fact. I did not remember anything after his statement because I was trying to ‘get my brain around’ the thought of Ravi Z. reading People magazine. I consider Ravi Z. one of the few Christian intellectuals in the world today, so I asked myself, “Why was he reading People magazine?”
Two answers which came to me were: 1) He was reading it to understand where secular culture was and where it is headed or 2) He was putting diverse information in his mind which could be used later as a connection for a creative thought. The second answer reminded me of the research I have done on ‘creativity.’ The research revealed evidence that creative people read, talk, debate, and consider many diverse subjects or types of information. This exercising of the mind will provide many different ideas which can be used to create connections of diverse information into a new idea, a creative thought.
As I was contemplating the research on creativity and how Christians need to improve the use of the mind and develop Christian thinking, I was impressed by how similar the steps to develop creativity and the intellect are and how they need to be developed in Christians. Reviewing what Moreland provided as an important practice for developing the mind shows how close developing creativity is to it. He states, “It is no less true of becoming a deep, careful thinker in general exercised regularly, trained to acquire certain habits of thought, filled with an increasingly rich set of distinctions and categories.” This author believes the way a person acquires the ‘rich set of distinctions and categories’ is through the acquiring of diverse types of information and allowing it to be connected together during the exercising of the mind, which would be a creative thought. (Moreland, 104)
Moreland, J.P. "Love Your God With All Your Mind, The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul" Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1997
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)