A Conversation on the Life of the Mind, Part 4

Is it possible to please God as much by thinking as by praying? The answer is yes (though hopefully you’re also thinking while praying). This conversation-style series centered on the life of the Christian mind ends appropriately with a quiz to test your thinking. (If you missed the previous installments, they can be accessed here: part 1, part 2, and part 3.)

The following quiz consists of 10 syllogisms (arguments). In a logical syllogism the first two sentences serve as the premises (support or evidence) followed immediately by the conclusion (the central claim). The challenge is to determine which of these arguments are valid, that is, where the conclusion follows necessarily from the premises. In other words, if the premises are assumed true, then conclusion follows with certainty.

The first person to post a comment here with all the correct answers will receive a signed copy of my brand-new book, Christian Endgame: Careful Thinking about the End Times. Editor Maureen Moser will announce the winner (and the answers) on Friday, November 1, here. Good luck!

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A.

1. All Christians should seek to love God with all of their faculties.

2. The mind is a faculty.

———

3. Therefore, all Christians should seek to love God with their mind.

B.

1. God wants all people to use their minds in service to him.

2. My mind isn’t very strong.

——–

3. Therefore, it is less important for me to serve God with my mind.

C.

1. God calls all people to love him with their minds.

2. Only certain people have robust minds.

———

3. Therefore, only the mentally robust should love God with their minds.

D.

1. The mind is a terrible thing to waste.

2. Some minds are limited.

——–

3. Therefore, it is not terrible to waste a mind.

E.

1. God gives some people strong cerebral faculties with which to serve him.

2. I don’t have strong cerebral faculties.

——–

3. Therefore, it isn’t important for me to use my cerebral faculties to serve God.

F.

1. All Christians should seek to serve God with their entire being.

2. The mind is a part of a person’s being.

———

3. Therefore, all Christians should seek to serve God with their mind.

G.

1. God wants all people to love him with their minds.

2. I’m not very interested in the mind.

——–

3. Therefore, loving God with my mind isn’t important.

H.

1. God wants people to use their mental faculties in his service.

2. Some people have extremely limited faculties.

——–

3. Therefore, using one’s faculties in service to God is unimportant.

I.

1. God wants all people to reason carefully.

2. Some people are not careful in their reasoning.

——–

3. Therefore, God doesn’t care how people reason.

J.

1. All Christians should seek to love God with their minds.

2. Individual Christians have different mental abilities.

——–

3. Therefore, all Christians should love God with their minds regardless of mental ability.