A Link and Some Initial Thoughts

This is a good post, concerning worldviews, intellect, imagination, and liturgy. One point of the article: logic and the intellect work within and "fine tune" the larger imaginative picture we already have of the world. Thus logic will not tend to get one out of a wrong view of the world, only an exercised imagination. Another key point: we're incarnate beings, not body-shells where the truly important thing is the mind.

I liked his thoughts on anemic "worldviews":

By working in terms of an anthropology that presumes the primacy of the intellect, Reformed Christians have often failed to develop and harness the power of the imagination. We talk a lot about ‘worldviews’, but worldviews are generally understood in very ideological terms. A ‘worldview’ is seen as a set of propositions or a conceptual construct that shapes the way that we view reality. However, such ideological grids do not play anywhere near as much of a role in our vision of reality as Reformed people generally presume. Mere reflection on our day to day lives should expose the weakness of the notion that our engagement with reality is primarily mediated by ideological systems...

If I am right in my claim that a true ‘worldview’ is practically identical to ‘culture’, it is worth questioning to what extent we can speak of a Reformed worldview at all. Reformed Christians have an ideological system, but an ideological system is not sufficient to constitute a worldview. If we do have a worldview, it gives us a narrowly intellectual and insubstantial vision of reality....

Oh, dear. I don't hate Reformed/Calvinist theology. Really. I've grown up in it; I've gotten rather beat up by it; I don't think it's the ultimate final answer to everything; I think it gets a HECK of a lot righter than a lot of other traditions. I'm grappling my way through its systemic strengths and systemic weaknesses, and trying to figure out what it is about parts of Reformed thought that make me react so strongly against it at times. I have not tended to be entirely fair and balanced in the process. Harriet Beecher Stowe -- of whom I will post later -- humbles me by her ability to walk the same path with deep compassion and understanding, and I can only hope to someday come close to her insight and humility.

In either case, this section here doesn't mention anything about Reformed theology, and I think it's the best part:

The Christian faith presents us with a beautiful story and a compelling vision of the world. Christianity’s hold on the Western imagination is great, even among those who try to reject the faith. The Christian message appeals to our imagination before it addresses our logic and reason. Unfortunately, the vision of the world that most Christians operate in terms of today is quite anaemic and lacks the fullness of classic Christian thought. This, I suspect, is one of the reasons why Christianity is becoming less and less of a force within our society. People regard Christians as ideologues rather than as people with a rich cultural vision and grasp of the ‘good life’. Christianity is seen as a set of disincarnate ideas, rather than as a world-encompassing story that we can truly be at home within, a form of renewed life and a fertile vision for culture and society.

Some running thoughts on the matter...Logical consistency of ideas is important for something to be convincingly true...yet I'm guessing that for most people (and I know for myself), mere logical consistency not what convinces, or what makes the true thing hit us deep, and "ring true."

Though I can't defend it at the moment, I'm going to step out on a limb and say that un-beautiful logic does not "ring true" to us at a deep level...and rightfully so. One can present a logically coherent system to a person, but if they feel that the system is all that there is -- that it's failed to catch up into itself the depth and messiness of reality and human experience -- it will not "ring true" to them. (And rightfully so.)

I should have the "rightfully so" part a bit better worked out eventually. It'll probably have something to do with George MacDonald and presuppositional apologetics and Job.