Christian Intelligence
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In discussing Social Intelligence as "one of a cluster of "intelligences," according to the theory of multiple intelligences advanced by Professor Howard Gardner of Harvard University", Dr. Karl Albrecht observes:
"The old idea that a person's potential in life can be measured and predicted by a single number - his or her "IQ" score - has lost a great deal of credibility during the last decade or so. Many researchers now accept Gardner's proposition that intelligence is multidimensional, and many believe that each of the key dimensions of intelligence can continue to increase throughout one's life, given the appropriate experiences, challenges and growth opportunities."
"Professor Gardner has proposed various categories of intelligence over the years of his research, typically suggesting seven of them. Inasmuch as he and others have recently been rearranging the categories and in some cases debating about how many intelligences we have, Karl Albrecht has taken the liberty of recasting them into a simpler model which is useful in business and professional settings. According to Karl Albrecht's simplified interpretation, we can think of human beings as having six primary dimensions of intelligence..."
Dr. Karl Albrecht's six primary dimensions of intelligence:
Abstract = Conceptual reasoning, manipulating verbal, mathematical & symbolic information
Social = Interacting successfully with others in various contexts
Practical = "Common sense" capabilities; the ability to solve problems & get things done
Emotional = Self-insight & the ability to regulate or manage one's reactions to experience
Aesthetic = Appreciation of form, design and relationships
Kinesthetic = Whole-body competence, e.g. singing, dancing, flying an airplane
Theory of Social Intelligence
According to research, human intelligence is multi-dimensional and is not measurable by IQ alone.
In what way(s) does Christianity sharpen intelligence? In what way(s) is Christianity an education itself?
When human intelligence is fully realized religions will be a thing of the past. They are all comprised of people who proffer explanations surrounding imaginary deities of things not understood in order to control the minds and will of the masses in order to benefit themselves. As our knowledge expands these false explanations disappear into logic and science as does the religions that put them forward.
I have resisted opening this thread for thirty minutes. I am disappointed that you could not contain yourself for at least one page.
God does, of course.
I'm glad you mentioned the speculation, which most predominantly entailed wholesale historyization of then extant and popular philosophys of the time all with a common base in accordance with the agenda then being actualized, world conquest was the plan. Crafty dark scribes sat arround in smokey caverns (with good light) and put flesh and bones to natural science. And god was made a meat bag. As near as I can figure.
God does, of course.
?????????????????? There are many intelligent people, many of whom aren't even religious!
I'll tell you what, I'll bet my pension cheque that if you get cut off from oxygen and I get cut off from faith, I'll out last you.
The dictionary meaning of religious disagrees with you. The root of the word is roughly "personal philosophy" I guess it is technically impossible to have none. And that is a guess.
I think you are half right. I'm pretty sure a "supreme being" has to be part of the formula.
The bible is a collection of texts selected from numerous writings (far more than included in the bible). These texts were selected and put together hundreds of years after the supposed time of jesus by a group of men with motives of controlling the minds of the masses. Most of the books in the new testament were written long after the those they are named after were dead. I'm not sure why you can't see this. Are you willfully blind to it or do you just have faith those men who gained power and wealth by putting forth the bible were not pulling your chain.
I have resisted opening this thread for thirty minutes. I am disappointed that you could not contain yourself for at least one page.
Just trying to better society by helping people see the truth!
Wrong...food, water and oxygen will sustain them. Faith will just ask them for donations! ;-)
Christianity is not an education, and it does not make one any more or less intelligent than anyone of any other belief system. Lewis may have been a brilliant man, but he was just a man, he wasn't right about everything. I suspect he was simply focusing on exceptional people within his faith, who were willing to stretch their minds a bit past what they'd been told they were capable of. I doubt that he spent a lot of time exploring the minds of the dullards who simply ingested what was said at mass, and then went home and didn't give it a second thought.
People like Lewis, I suspect would make an education out of anything that they were exposed to, flipping it over in their minds and looking at every facet of it. Being atheist doesn't prevent that (nor does it guarantee it judging by some of the moronic atheists I've met) just as being a Christian doesn't guarantee it.
In what way(s) does Christianity sharpen intelligence? In what way(s) is Christianity an education itself?
"Abstract Intelligence= Conceptual reasoning, manipulating verbal, mathematical & symbolic information" (Dr. Karl Albrecht) Are there any abstract concepts or is there any symbolic language (metaphor, simile, imagery) in Christian literature?
"He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field." (Matthew 13:31 NIV)
Jesus uses simile (symbolic language) to illustrate an abstract concept (kingdom of heaven) with concrete reality (mustard seed).
What are some other examples of abstract information presented symbolically in Christian literature? In what other ways does Christianity contribute to abstract intelligence?
"Abstract Intelligence= Conceptual reasoning, manipulating verbal, mathematical & symbolic information" (Dr. Karl Albrecht) Are there any abstract concepts or is there any symbolic language (metaphor, simile, imagery) in Christian literature?
"He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field." (Matthew 13:31 NIV)
Jesus uses simile (symbolic language) to illustrate an abstract concept (kingdom of heaven) with concrete reality (mustard seed).
What are some other examples of abstract information presented symbolically in Christian literature? In what other ways does Christianity contribute to abstract intelligence?
In fact some of the most intellectually challenging things i've ever read are the theological in scope. I'd suggest works of Thomas Aquinas rather than anything John Bunyan ever wrote.
But C.S. Lewis was an Anglican.. and that Church gave up on any kind of exacting theological rigour virtually from its inception.
But in general i agree... Christianity sharpens the wit and the mind. In fact the entire Western scientific, artistic and philosophical heritage can be set directly at Christianity's feet.. the fore runner and inspirational resource of it all.
I'd specifically sort out the Jesuit educational tradition.. as one that taps and empowers the genius that might be in all of us at a young age.. until obfuscated by modernist banality.
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... within a narrow spectrum of beliefs in the unnatural and superstitious claptrap and filtering every bit of info they receive through that bias, I'll agree that some religious people are quite bright.
Kind of like counting on fingers eventually led to the modern computers, but pretty much useless in performing as comprehensively as the computers. So after inspiring science, religion found itself to be irrelevant and vastly more inept than science at describing our universe to us and it should stick to matters that are abstract and surreal, but religion's proponents won't do that.
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I don't know if any one of us knows what a Christian is, let alone whether it sharpens the minds of those who claim they are. Buddhism may be the better nostrum.