Sometime back there was an article in Christianity Today
trying to describe why there were only 2 Evangelical
Christian Nobel larueates. If my memory serves me right the
author essentially concluded that it is to do with
our generaly indifferent and poor attitude towards the
matters of the mind. However, is it really fair to bemoan
the lack of Christian Nobelist?
Here are my some of my thoughts. I do not deny the
reality that we are guilty (some denominations more than
others) of being anti-intellectual and paying cursory
attention to the matters of mind. But, we as Christians
are called to a balanced life - we are accountable to God
not just for the tangible products of our talents but also
for the intangible products such as our character, the
character of those in our family, our church and those whom
we work with. This means we cannot afford to be solely
committed to a 1-dimensional pursuit of uderstanding
matter, at the expense of other God given priorities.
I wonder whether there is some statistics on the
character indices of the Nobel laureates. Such as the
integrity of their marriages and families, how did they
treat their employees, how did they treat their bosses.
Questions on their work ethics, etc. It appears that that
the world system inadvertantly rewards those who produce but
is silent about the above costs. But do we as Christians
continue to compare ourselves with standards that are
questionable in setting our priorities in life? I don't
want to sound like the proverbial fox and the sour grapes
(Aesop's wisdom) though....
When our fundamental calling in life is as
"interceding and mediating priests" in whatever
profession we are placed in, then how do we win Nobel
prizes?
Just some thoughts borne out of frustration of
preceived frustration of my spiritual kinsman.
ASA comments would be helpful
Shalom
gladwin