Intellect and Intelligence
“The natural tendency of human beings is to think their way away from God…Intellectual pride, rationalizations, and excuses all keep people from God…We humans, you see, have an infinite capacity for self-rationalization." (Life Application Study Bible, Ephesians 4:17, Chuck Colson)
“Man may think human intellect and reasoning are almighty, that the brain is able to comprehend all truths of the world; but the verdict of God's Word is,"vanity of vanities….Sometimes our sense of rugged individualism, self-reliance, or even being intellectually gifted really works against us when it comes to faith.” (Watchman Nee, Sacramental Living)
“We need to be careful in our learning and study that we don’t allow our intellectual learning to replace or diminish our sense of awe and wonder…God is not something philosophical that we can understand through our brains only… we know God in our hearts and through experience, not just through intellectual study and logical proofs.” (Sacramental Living)
“The key to understanding faith is understanding what it is anchored in. It is not based in our own wisdom or knowledge but in Christ.…before all else we must seek a deep, intimate relationship with Christ our God, rather than trusting exclusively in worldly knowledge.” (Steven Curtis Chapman, Dynamis 4/22/2015)
"Many think of simplicity as simple-mindedness and ignorance, but this is not what it means. Learning and education are not to be shunned. The intellect is not an enemy of faith. While it is certainly true that these things are not necessary for one to acquire virtue, it must be said that for someone who has been endowed with intelligence and a capacity for learning, it is wrong to spurn this gift, as though God wanted only our hearts and not our minds also." (Archimandrite Vassilios Papavassiliou)