What does it mean to love God with your mind? Can the intellectual life be a legitimate Christian calling? In this deeply personal book, James Sire brings wit and wisdom to bear on these questions. He draws from his own experience and the life of John Henry Newman to explore how to think well for the glory of God and the sake of his kingdom. Habits of the Mind challenges you to avoid one of the greatest pitfalls of intellectual life: the temptation to separate being from knowing. Sire shows how to cultivate intellectual virtues and disciplines—habits of the mind—that will strengthen you in pursuit of your calling.  Thinking well is integral to acting righteously. Sire offers assurance that intellectual life can be a true calling for Christians: because Jesus was the smartest man who ever lived, you can and should accept the challenge to think with more accuracy, wisdom, humility, and passion. This classic work is now available as part of the IVP Signature Collection, which features special editions of iconic books in celebration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of InterVarsity Press. 263 pages.

View excerpt here.

CONTENTS

Preface
1. Confessions of an Intellectual Wannabe
2. John Henry Newman as an Intellectual
3. The Perfection of the Intellect
4. How Thinking Feels: What Is an Intellectual?
5. The Moral Dimension of the Mind: What Is a Christian Intellectual?
6. Perfecting the Intellect: The Intellectual Virtues
7. Perfecting the Intellect: The Intellectual Disciplines
8. Thinking by Reading
9. Jesus the Reasoner
10. The Responsibility of a Christian Intellectual
Notes
Index