Spring 2026 · Vol. 55 No. 1 · pp. 126–128
Book Review
Healthy Christian Minds: A Biblical, Practical, and Sometimes Philosophical Exploration of Intellectual Virtues and Vices
Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2024. 205 pages.
At a time when the public debate, especially on political issues, has become highly charged, even vitriolic, this book promotes a careful consideration of the intellectual virtues that Christians need to be cultivating to bring about rational discussions based on open mindedness and humility. Elmer Thiessen is a retired professor of philosophy from Alberta with thirty-six years of teaching experience. His expertise is in the area of philosophy of education; he has previously published two books on Christian education and an additional two books on the ethics of evangelism. p. 127
This book, Healthy Christian Minds, first describes what the intellectual virtues are, and then proceeds to investigate them one by one. The intended audience is the general reading public, including those not previously familiar with the discipline of philosophy. So the initial chapter introduces the problem in accessible terms—how to disagree with one another respectfully—and the path to a solution—the “need to address the issue of character, the kind of persons we are” (xii).
Thiessen proceeds to identify the intellectual virtues we need to cultivate: the love of knowledge and truth, intellectual humility, commitment and openness, intellectual forbearance, fairmindedness, and intellectual courage. Thiessen sees the love of knowledge and truth as especially needed now at a time when the truth is commonly viewed as relative. He views intellectual humility as primarily a matter of “an honest assessment of one’s intellectual abilities, not too high and not too low, acknowledging that these abilities are a gift from God; a deep desire always to submit to the truth, accompanied by an ongoing willingness to admit that one doesn’t know it all and that one might be wrong; an abiding readiness to listen and learn from others and to join with others in gaining knowledge and finding truth” (65).
Commitment and openness balance the need to be faithful to one’s commitments while at the same time being willing to listen to others and potentially “change one’s mind in the light of new evidence and argument” (88). Intellectual forbearance is a disposition to treat people with love and respect despite differences of opinion (115); fairmindedness is the willingness to represent others’ views fairly (125); and intellectual courage is the ability to stand in the face of danger to yourself (131). Thiessen roots each of these intellectual virtues in studies of the Bible, and he references contemporary issues throughout.
The book’s strengths are its comprehensiveness based on the years of Thiessen’s experience as a philosopher and a Christian, its attempt to be balanced in its treatment of the virtues and how they relate to one another, and its reminder that the intellectual vices associated with these virtues are found on both sides of the political aisle. The overall argument compares to James K. A. Smith’s treatment of virtue ethics in Desiring the Kingdom (Baker Academic, 2009), but does not include the role of culture in shaping the mind through the liturgy of practice as Smith does.
This book might have been enhanced by expanded theological work to link the biblical studies to higher level thought outside of philosophy (which is heavily rooted in arguments about individual rationality). Although the author acknowledges the role of relationships and more p. 128 intuitive forms of knowing in the building of the intellectual virtues, he seems to continually fall back on “dogmatism and closed-mindedness and intellectual arrogance” as the real or primary sins we need to avoid (144). These words, in addition to being used as weapons to silence the other side, imply states of mind that are voluntary and individual, disconnected from the formative experiences of the communities that help produce our intellectual thought. Few people invent their own views. We are raised in communities of belief and practice, and are entirely dependent on them for our well-being. Thiessen wants readers to think critically for themselves. But the solution to the vitriol is not just trying to fix our minds, but also to work wholeheartedly on our communities and how they relate to one another. I suspect the author is aware of this. Perhaps the next book could be about the virtues a community needs to instill in its members and how this can be done.
