51����

JACKSON, Tenn. — Jan. 4, 2011 — 51���� professor Brad Green explores the connection between Christianity and the academy in his new book, “The Gospel and the Mind.”

Green, associate professor of Christian thought and tradition, demonstrates how throughout history, when the gospel of Jesus Christ takes root in a culture, intellectual inquiry and the hunger for knowledge follows, and academies, schools and institutions of learning develop.

“They develop not only to teach people how to read and understand the Bible, as important and central as that is,” Green writes in the introduction. “But wherever the gospel goes it seems to generate intellectual deliberation and inquiry. In one sense this book is an extended effort simply to ask, why that is. What is the link between the Christian gospel and intellectual deliberation, between the Christian faith and learning?”

The book’s argument, rooted in Augustinian and Reformed thought, includes five main theological themes and their relation to the intellectual life: the realities of creation and history; the notion of a “telos,” or goal, to all of history; the cross of Christ; the nature of language; and knowledge, morality and action.

Green argues that the Christian vision of God, man and the world “provides the necessary precondition of the recovery of any meaningful intellectual life.” He further argues that Christianity “offers a particular, unique understanding of what the intellectual life might look like.”

Green said he hopes readers will grasp the graciousness of God and understand that he is the one who makes all knowledge possible. He also hopes the book ignites a passion in readers for the value of intellectual inquiry.

“There’s no room in a Christian understanding of reality for anti-intellectualism,” Green said. “Throughout history, some of our greatest minds have been those who loved God and loved neighbor and loved holy Scripture and were committed Christians.”

Published by Crossway, “The Gospel and the Mind” is available at the LifeWay Christian Store in Jackson, and at online retailers like and , in both print and Kindle formats.