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Tue Nov 25, 2008 2:05 PM
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This is perhaps a question that has already been dealt with on this forum: What is the meaning of the word "heart" as it is used eg. in Deut. 6:5 : You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all you soul, and with all your might" ?
My reason for asking this question is because I hear more and more that people implicitly say that the intellectual side of our faith is not that important. For example, an older man said to me earlier this year that his faith used to be something of the mind in the past but now it is of the heart. But then I also read somewhere that in ancient Hebrew culture the heart (not meaning the physical organ) was linked with intellectual activity.
Thus, is what we mean by "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart" the same as what the meaning was in the original text?
Johan
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Johan, I just love how people bifurcate the intellect from the "heart" and "soul" as if the intellect is some less-than-desirable aspect of man. Anyway, we are fortunate in not having to rely upon speculation as to the meaning of that text for the Gospel writers have recorded the words of Christ, the very Son of God in the flesh, where He perfectly repeats Deut 6:5 in its true understanding: Mark 12:29-30 (ASV) "Jesus answered, The first is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, <span style="background-color:yellow">and with all thy mind</span>, and with all thy strength." It would seem that the mind was definitely included in that first great commandment even though it wasn't mentioned specifically. It is a rare thing for the heart to be moved or changed without something first passing through the intellect. This is how God made man to function and thus it is through the preaching of the Word that we are even saved and our lives are to be sanctified as we apply those things which we KNOW via sound doctrine. (1Tim 4:16; Tim 3:16, 17). In His grace,
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Johan said:
. . . an older man said to me earlier this year that his faith used to be something of the mind in the past but now it is of the heart. I may be a little off topic but the older man is guilty of an incorrect statement. Salvation effects our heart, head and hands. Consider perhaps that this older man now realizes that he only had an historical faith (see below) and had only a confidence in a presumed Heaven for himself but now he has been effectually called seeing himself in his damnable condition and Jesus Christ in His preciousness. A SPECIMEN OF DIVINE TRUTHS by the Rev. A. Hellenbroek 2. Q. What is an historical faith? A. A bare assent to known truth. 3. Q. Is this not a good faith? A. Yes, it is necessary, but not sufficient. James 2:19. Thou believest that there is one God: thou dost well, the devils also believe and tremble.8. Q. In how many things does saving faith consist? A. In three: knowledge, assent and trust. 9. Q. Is not an implicit faith without knowledge sufficient? A. No. John 17:3. This is life eternal that they might know thee.10. Q. What is the principal and true justifying deed of faith? A. It is that deed of the soul whereby she heartily wills and desires, not alone that the promises of the Gospel be true in themselves, but whereby she also, with submissive affection longs for an actually accepts the Lord Jesus as the only cause of her salvation, accompanied with a denial of herself and all other things or persons. 11. Q. What is the fruit of the justifying deed of faith? A. The special and certain application of the promises of the Gospel and the Lord Jesus personally to every believer. Which is not always present in all believers, because of the temptations of Satan and the accusation of the Law, and the allurements of the flesh, for which however all should strive who have truly accepted Jesus. 12. Q. Can and ought believers be assured of the uprightness of their faith? A. They can. II Tim. 1:12b. For I know whom I have believed. They must also strive thereafter; II Cor. 13:5. Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith, prove your ownselves.13. Q. By whom is this faith wrought in us? A. By the Holy Ghost. I Cor. 12:3. And that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost. Compare Phil. 1:19, 29, and Gal. 5:22. William, .
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What is the meaning of "heart" in the Bible?
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[color:"0000FF"]A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards
God has endued the soul with two principal faculties: The one, that by which it is capable of perception and speculation, or by which it discerns and judges of things; which is called the understanding. The other, that by which the soul is some way inclined with respect to the things it views or considers; or it is the faculty by which the soul beholds things—not as an indifferent unaffected spectator, but—either as liking or disliking, pleased or displeased, approving or rejecting. This faculty is called by various names: it is sometimes called the inclination; and, as it respects the actions determined and governed by it, the will: and the mind, with regard to the exercises of this faculty, is often called the heart[/color]
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I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart. Psalm 119:32,
William
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Thanks for the replies!
Pilgrim, I checked in Calvin's commentary on Mrk 12:29,30 and indeed he also makes the statement that in Hebrew the word heart often includes the mind. In fact he says, ... that the mind signifies for me the higher seat of reason from which all purposes and thoughts proceed..
William, it is very difficult for me to say what the older man really meant by the change of his faith from the mind to the heart. I know this man for many years and found this statement somewhat of a surprise.
Mark, your blog is quite interesting!! Your observations "I have noticed that the separation of the intellect and the heart or emotions is a popular statement made today in many reformed contexts" and "Often we hear preachers talk about a head knowledge only, and then the claim is made that unless the heart is moved and the will engaged, such head knowledge is a bad thing, or is to be avoided. Often the context involves the subject of "doctrine", and on most occasions, doctrine comes out of the whole situation with negative connotations attributed to it" are precisely the sort of things I am refering to. I think it simply says that there is indeed a popular misunderstanding of what the word heart in these contexts, means in Scripture.
Johan
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