P. Andrew Sandlin
Apr. 15, 2002

Webmaster's Note: This is a response to the following letter http://www.forerunner.com/puritan/PS.Anti-Intellectualism.html

Dear ____:

It's good to hear from you.

I think you're unlikely to find many "theologians or philosophers" exhibiting a firm head/heart distinction, because they tend to emphasize intellect and not "emotions," which are often (falsely) identified with the heart.

Some would say that Søren Kierkegaard, the Christian existentialist, embraced the strong head/heart distinction (see his Concluding Unscientific Postscript), though he wrote creditably in reaction to the Hegelian rationalism of his day; and the head/heart distinction has been rife among revivalists and fundamentalists and many evangelicals since. The real fountainhead seems to be in Protestant pietism, though it would be unfair to charge the pietists themselves with this. (See Ted Campbell's Religion of the Heart.)

As a result of the Enlightenment, most Christians headed in one of two directions — either surrender to rationalism (e.g., Unitarianism), or repudiate the life of the intellect (revivalism).

I'm a Calvinist, but too many Calvinists become rationalists. I'm a strong supporter of Cornelius Van Til, who was firmly Biblical but no rationalist.

I do hope this helps you.

Yours and His,

P. Andrew Sandlin
Chalcedon