Now that is an interesting topic!
Can we define the spiritual mind or person?
Is it spiritually minded to believe that the world is flat?
Or is it a social / religious cliché? People profess things to be accepted in Christian groups but really do not believe it or apply it to their lives. There are a lot of Christians that believe in the saving Grace of Yeshua but do not believe the world is flat. Are we going to label them as carnal minded because they do not believe the world is flat and the sun and universe revolves around earth?
Do we have carnal Christians and spiritual Christians?
What is the difference? Where is the dividing line?
I have actually done quite a bit of travel and research on this because....I thought it was an interesting topic. Which was one of the reasons I started the thread "Types of Christians.....what type are you"
Types of Christians….what type are you?
And part of it was humor.
But before I got out of the defense department I took the opportunity to visit various churches and attend their Sunday schools up and down the eastern sea board and after I returned to Missouri I continued traveling around to various churches. I had a list of questions to ask them and see what their responses would be.
1. How can a Christian vote for a democrat?
2. Their opinion on science and the Bible?
3. Their beliefs on the various formulas on the Trinity?
4. Should we mix Judaism with Christianity?
5. What does the year 2000 mean to Christians? Back in the day.
Of course number 2 relates to this topic.
Some of the responses showed a negative view on education. To the point that they felt they had to do an intervention for their young adults that came out of college, to straighten them out. A few pointed out that Christ had warned about the "wisdom of men"
I tried to explain to them that He was talking about Greek philosophy and metaphysics that permeated the Greco-Roman culture.
It was so popular that some of it would eventually be adopted by Christianity, nearly from the beginning. John talks of the "Logos" which comes from Greek metaphysics, originating in the 6th century BC so that concept had been around a while. And when the converted Pagans....Gentiles took over the helm of the church, more of Greek thought was introduced.
So then the question is do some Christians believe that an educated Christian cannot be spiritual?
As far as the Bible and science? I got some interesting responses. Over all the people that consider themselves Fundamentalists - Bible only....denied what they could when science conflicted with the Bible....and that was the simple and definitive line of demarcation. They did not deny that microwave ovens and satellite TV's existed or worked because either someone could show them or they owned them. The line of denial was if they could see it or touch it. It takes a certain amount of education to understand science and as far as experience, the technology that makes up our everyday life might as well work on magic, but they accept it. At one time a lot of Christians denied that dinosaurs existed, but now they can go in a museum and see and touch them.
And as it turns out this negative view of science and education turns into a social / religious juggling act, talk about being conflicted? They are going to uphold the beliefs of the Old Testament and that science has it all wrong.....but it still comes down to see and touch....When the chips are down and they develop heart problems, they are not going to look for doctor that practices Old Testament medical procedures..... got any leeches handy? If they are having a heart attack they are not going to sit down and pray and read the Bible until they die. So all in all it is a juggling act. If their life is on the line they are going to use that witchy device to call the technology mobile, better known as the ambulance and go to the technology center, better known as the hospital!
And there is no way to explain it to them because it is complicated enough that you have to be educated on it, and they do not like education. All the technological products we have today started out in laboratories as theories and they work and we use them. Most people do not understand the science behind them or how they work, just that they work and they can touch them and see them and use them, so they believe in that science. But when you get into Quantum mechanics and Astro Physics and things like evolution and cosmology it is not something they can understand or can see or touch. So they deny it and it is more socially acceptable within Christian groups to deny science....even if they were to fly into the church parking lot with a jet pack.
So what does it matter? Beliefs, Truths, Facts, beliefs can be anything and they have the right to believe what they want. But it matters when they imply that Christians that are educated and understand science are less of a Christian than them. My profession and education and hobbies are all about science as well as biblical studies, theology, and Christian history, and I have had enough real Divine visitations to know that God knows that I am spiritual. I am a person of science and know what to be confident in, but on the other hand I know that one way or another God is behind everything and science is mostly about finding out how it all happened, or how it is, or how it works and how they can use that knowledge to make our lives better....look around your house....and imagine living without all those things that science has produced.