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[Note<\/strong>:\u00a0 <\/strong>This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles 2<\/strong> page.<\/span><\/p>\n Heart<\/em><\/strong> in our title refers to feelings, (e.g., joy, sorrow, fear, anger, hate, love, et al.). Head<\/em><\/strong> refers to reasoned conclusions based on evidence.<\/span><\/p>\n Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind (Mat. 22:37).<\/span><\/p>\n Bible students immediately recognize the validity of emotions in Christianity in the foregoing terms. These all have their part in the behavior of disciples. Emotions also involve sincerity and zeal. Jesus said the greatest commandment includes loving God with all the heart Surely, none can confuse a joyless, unemotional religion with Biblical Christianity.<\/span><\/p>\n However, without proper use of the mind, Christianity cannot exist. The Bible addresses man\u2019s intellect with such things as commands, binding examples, and with evidence concerning which one is expected to correctly reason. Jesus also said the greatest commandment involves loving God with all the mind. It is thus evident that, to please God, both head and heart must be engaged.<\/span><\/p>\n A \u201chead-only\u201d religion is cold and lifeless; Jesus condemned it when he said:<\/span><\/p>\n Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye tithe mint and anise and cummin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law, justice, and mercy, and faith: but these ye ought to have done, and not to have left the other undone (Mat. 23:23).<\/span><\/p>\n However, rampant emotion, unrestrained by one\u2019s rational powers, amounts to mere emotionalism. Such irrationality is not God\u2019s way; in extreme cases it may lead to great harm and evil (e.g., tragedies in the name of religion, such as the 1978 Jonestown massacre).<\/span><\/p>\n Modern \u201cculture\u201d operates far more on an emotional than a rational basis. Millions of people cast their ballots more because of their \u201cfeelings\u201d about a candidate than because of a careful examination of his or her qualifications, experience, moral convictions, integrity, or other factors.<\/span><\/p>\n Examples of emotion\u2019s triumph over reason in religion have been around for centuries. The 450 prophets of Baal sought his favor by leaping, crying, and cutting themselves in a display of raw (and vain) emotionalism (1 Kin. 18:26\u201328). Closer to our time, the vapid slogan, \u201cIt makes no difference what you believe as long as you\u2019re sincere,\u201d is an example of the heart\u2019s ruling the head. The Bible\u2019s predominant purposes are to reveal to mankind (a) what to believe (because it is the Truth) and (b) the necessity of believing (and acting upon) that Truth. One\u2019s reaction to Biblical Truth will determine one\u2019s eternal destiny (Mat. 7:21\u201323).<\/span><\/p>\n Some professed believers \u201cfeel\u201d that it is too narrow-minded to say that Jesus Christ is the only avenue to God. They see themselves as \u201ctolerant,\u201d \u201ckind,\u201d and \u201cmerciful.\u201d They can\u2019t bear to be called \u201cbigots\u201d and \u201cexclusivists.\u201d These \u201cprofessors\u201d exemplify emotions run amok. He said, \u201cNo one cometh unto the Father but by me\u201d (John 14:6). Only when the head balances the heart will one seek, find, and obey the Gospel.<\/span><\/p>\n [Note: <\/strong>I wrote this article for and it appeared in the Denton Record-Chronicle, <\/em>Denton, TX, January 16, 2016.]<\/span><\/p>\n Attribution: <\/strong>From TheScripturecache.com<\/em>, Dub McClish owner, curator, and administrator.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Views: 0[Note:\u00a0 This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles 2 page. Heart in our title refers to feelings, (e.g., joy, sorrow, fear, anger, hate, love, et al.). Head refers to reasoned conclusions based on evidence. Thou shalt love the Lord thy…<\/p>\n