The American Mind Meets the Mind of Christ Paperback – May 18, 2010

This book is a selection of essays written by the faculty of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. Concordia is the seminary for the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, which means it is on the 'conservative' end of the the theological spectrum if idiosyncratically Lutheran. What makes this volume attractive is that it is an actual attempt to address contemporary questions from a sober theological standpoint. The standard operating procedure of 'conservative' theologians for decades has been either a demonization of the question or an outright denial that the questions have any validity or force. These essays do neither, but they attempt to address the American Mind, accepting the questions as valid, while asserting that the Mind of Christ (i.e. confessional Lutheranism) does still teach. Both sides of that are startling as The American Mind, when treated shabbily, has long since tuned out it theologians.One of the clearest expressions of the new attitude is contributor Joel Okamoto's admission, "Science, however, has gained an advantage not only because of the power of its theories, discoveries, and methods, but also in terms of it virtue. Science has the virtue of being open to criticism." Okamoto directly takes on that tuning out of theology common in America and makes a case for why Theology should still have a voice if it is only one among many. The other contributors focus on everything from the American belief in the mystical/spiritual (Schmitt), a plural society where the church is often the bad guy (Robinson), the American emphasis on health and body (Lessing), and a spirited engagement of the American culture of rights (Biermann).That said the title of the volume, and a gaping hole in it, is the idea of mind. The American mind essentially rejects that term. The mind is a figment of the physical brain all of which is explained by Darwin. Okamoto comes the closest to addressing evolution. It is not surprising that the faculty of a institution at least nominally dedicated to a young earth would avoid the subject (it would personally dangerous and leading with a glass chin), but it does leave the volume as a collection of good essays that dance around a big issue. The volume accomplishes its goal of starting engagement and is well worth reading while waiting for the willingness or ability to tackle that hole at the center.