Lux Lucet

Here’s a quote from someone I’m not at all inclined to cite favorably, nevertheless the following is an excellent point,

[T]he ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back. – John Maynard Keynes, The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money, p.683.

Too often Christians dismiss the intellect and elevate feelings, what they call the heart, to a place of prominence. But the Bible knows nothing about a heart/head dichotomy. In the Bible, the heart and the head, or better, the heart and the mind are the same thing. Paul tells us we have the mind of Christ. John tells us that it is Christ the Logos, or Logic of God who lightens our minds. As Christians, therefore, we ought to have at least as much appreciation for the power of ideas as the pagan Keynes.