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Fit Bodies Fat Minds: Why Evangelicals Don't Think and What to Do About It
Os Guinness traces the retreat of the evangelical mind and the dumbing down of evangelicalism through popular culture. But this book goes beyond mere analysis. It is a strong call for reformation of yet another place where evangelicalism in not evangelical enough.
160 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1994
About the author
Os Guinness
77 books342 followersOs Guinness (D.Phil., Oxford) is the author or editor of more than twenty-five books, including The American Hour, Time for Truth and The Case for Civility. A frequent speaker and prominent social critic, he was the founder of the Trinity Forum and has been a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution and a guest scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies. He lives near Washington, D.C.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
January 26, 2011
The more I think about this the madder I get. I hate the fact that I have been tricked (as well as the fact that I was too naive to see it for myself).
Has anybody ever wondered why television is free? We all know that nothing is free, right? And we know that the actors/actresses in these shows are paid large sums of money, don't we? Easy answer, then, advertisers pay for TV. So what? Now, let's think about that for a second. If advertisers pay for TV, then advertisers must determine what goes on TV, at least indirectly, right? Again, so what? Well, it puts some ... interesting ...constraints on television shows. First, in order to get as much advertising as possible, shows must be divided into short segments that are not logically dependent on one another (so we can have a commercial break without disrupting the flow) [A.D.D. anyone?]. Second, advertising never sells products based on facts but on image and emotion because facts take too long. In order to prevent TV schizophrenia, TV shows must to some extent remove any intellectual content. (If you don't believe me, take a history book and at the end of every paragraph put a little one or two sentence advertising slogan "ford ... like a rock" or "the army ... be all you can be", and see what happens. It's pretty weird actually)
Now let's give a little history lesson. Advertising started to pick up steam in America at the beginning of the 20th century because for the first time in HISTORY a nation was able to produce more goods than it could consume. So, the ultimate goal of corporations since that time has been to make us WANT things that we don't want. You see advertising, by its very nature, is amoral. Its only goal is the production of desire for a product. Thus the final result is that everything that happens on TV is an attempt to make us want stuff we don't have, to make us unhappy with ourselves, with the way we look, the relationship we're in, the food we eat, the clothes we wear ... in other words to foster discontent. Again, so what? So what if advertising owns TV? Well, there are two major effects that I see. One is that TV shows MUST do whatever they can do to get people to watch them and they must market to the lowest common denominator. That being said, it should come as no surprise to anyone that sex and violence become more prevalent on TV, that is what people WATCH, and TV shows must have an audience. Second, and perhaps more important, is the trivialization of life and the relativization of truth.
"There is no murder so brutal, no earthquake so devastating, no political burden so costly ... that it cannot be erased from our minds by a newscaster saying, 'Now ... this.'" Even our news programs have no interest in objective truth, they must be solely interested in getting viewers so that they can sell razor blades. I fear that we, as Christians, have become a large market, and an easily manipulated one at that. Companies put in us the desire for whatever they wish to sell us and we work our hands to the bone to get the things that they tell us we want, for ourselves and for our friends and families. We never really stop to think, "Why?"
That's enough, I guess. So turn off the computer and watch "The Office", it's a pretty good show .... and I'll see you at wal-mart afterward. :)
Has anybody ever wondered why television is free? We all know that nothing is free, right? And we know that the actors/actresses in these shows are paid large sums of money, don't we? Easy answer, then, advertisers pay for TV. So what? Now, let's think about that for a second. If advertisers pay for TV, then advertisers must determine what goes on TV, at least indirectly, right? Again, so what? Well, it puts some ... interesting ...constraints on television shows. First, in order to get as much advertising as possible, shows must be divided into short segments that are not logically dependent on one another (so we can have a commercial break without disrupting the flow) [A.D.D. anyone?]. Second, advertising never sells products based on facts but on image and emotion because facts take too long. In order to prevent TV schizophrenia, TV shows must to some extent remove any intellectual content. (If you don't believe me, take a history book and at the end of every paragraph put a little one or two sentence advertising slogan "ford ... like a rock" or "the army ... be all you can be", and see what happens. It's pretty weird actually)
Now let's give a little history lesson. Advertising started to pick up steam in America at the beginning of the 20th century because for the first time in HISTORY a nation was able to produce more goods than it could consume. So, the ultimate goal of corporations since that time has been to make us WANT things that we don't want. You see advertising, by its very nature, is amoral. Its only goal is the production of desire for a product. Thus the final result is that everything that happens on TV is an attempt to make us want stuff we don't have, to make us unhappy with ourselves, with the way we look, the relationship we're in, the food we eat, the clothes we wear ... in other words to foster discontent. Again, so what? So what if advertising owns TV? Well, there are two major effects that I see. One is that TV shows MUST do whatever they can do to get people to watch them and they must market to the lowest common denominator. That being said, it should come as no surprise to anyone that sex and violence become more prevalent on TV, that is what people WATCH, and TV shows must have an audience. Second, and perhaps more important, is the trivialization of life and the relativization of truth.
"There is no murder so brutal, no earthquake so devastating, no political burden so costly ... that it cannot be erased from our minds by a newscaster saying, 'Now ... this.'" Even our news programs have no interest in objective truth, they must be solely interested in getting viewers so that they can sell razor blades. I fear that we, as Christians, have become a large market, and an easily manipulated one at that. Companies put in us the desire for whatever they wish to sell us and we work our hands to the bone to get the things that they tell us we want, for ourselves and for our friends and families. We never really stop to think, "Why?"
That's enough, I guess. So turn off the computer and watch "The Office", it's a pretty good show .... and I'll see you at wal-mart afterward. :)
February 17, 2019
Although this book was written in 1994, in many ways it's even more relevant today. The author bluntly states that anti-intellectualism is a sin because it violates Jesus' commandment to love the Lord our God with our minds. He goes on to examine how anti-intellectualism developed and its impact on the church. The author concludes the book by "sketching the rudiments of the needed reformation in evangelical thinking," which he describes as a brief summary of what "thinking Christianly" is and isn't. There were many points of interest and conviction, and my copy is now heavily underlined and has a number of little flags marking specific pages.
March 11, 2009
Quite good.
December 23, 2020
As I read through this book, I kept wondering if Os Guinness held these same views about evangelical thinking as he did in 1994. If quotes and follows on an earlier book by Mark Noll - The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind - the first foray this former evangelical had into considering how much I'd absorbed as "gospel" that was truly "traditions of men."
This book's emphasis on our call to love God with all our minds forms a continual basis for the author's points. After an introduction calling this factor "A Scandal and a Sin," Guinness divides the book into three parts: 1) A Ghost Mind; 2) An Idiot Culture; and 3) Let My People Think. The first section (from the Puritan age through the era around the Civil War) takes a more historical view of the influences that moved Christian thinking from the age of the Puritans to the anti-intellectualism I began to recognize through Noll's exposition. The second section (following the age of section one) looks at this period through the filter of specific writers' ideas (e.g., Neil Postman's "Amusing Ourselves to Death"). The final section provides actions for reformation starting with repentance. It is in this section that Guinness ties "thinking Christianly" (as prone to confusion as that term can be) with a mind fully engaged because of love for God - with intellect and with "ardor."
Many of the examples Guinness gives are tied to the media or the mid 90s before the era in which social media seems to dominate and degrade some of the calls to mental/love/obedience excelling this book seems to call us into. In the current era where truth seems to have been lost more significantly than even the 90s, I would love an updated version of this book - or a conversation with the author to ask how his thinking has solidified or changed since this writing.
If another reader has a sense of the answer I would receive, I'd love to hear it.
This book's emphasis on our call to love God with all our minds forms a continual basis for the author's points. After an introduction calling this factor "A Scandal and a Sin," Guinness divides the book into three parts: 1) A Ghost Mind; 2) An Idiot Culture; and 3) Let My People Think. The first section (from the Puritan age through the era around the Civil War) takes a more historical view of the influences that moved Christian thinking from the age of the Puritans to the anti-intellectualism I began to recognize through Noll's exposition. The second section (following the age of section one) looks at this period through the filter of specific writers' ideas (e.g., Neil Postman's "Amusing Ourselves to Death"). The final section provides actions for reformation starting with repentance. It is in this section that Guinness ties "thinking Christianly" (as prone to confusion as that term can be) with a mind fully engaged because of love for God - with intellect and with "ardor."
Many of the examples Guinness gives are tied to the media or the mid 90s before the era in which social media seems to dominate and degrade some of the calls to mental/love/obedience excelling this book seems to call us into. In the current era where truth seems to have been lost more significantly than even the 90s, I would love an updated version of this book - or a conversation with the author to ask how his thinking has solidified or changed since this writing.
If another reader has a sense of the answer I would receive, I'd love to hear it.
August 16, 2012
This short book was an easy read. Using alliteration to list why we don't think as deeply made it easier to remember (polarization, pietism, primitivism, populism, pluralism, pragmatism, philistinism, and premillennialism). Unfortunately, I see that I tend to be anti-intellectual and am more interested in personal experience and practicalities. However, too much emphasis here leads becoming an idiot culture. The author describes that as evidenced by people obsessed with entertainment (sounds like one of the themes of The Hunger Games), having more things (fueled by the advertising industry), preference for visual images vs the written word, emphasis on self-absorption and self-promotion, tabloid and talk show sensationalism/entertainment, identify as a generation and its uniqueness (generation X) vs an identify with others and a looking for common ground, and withdrawal from real social relationships into the artificial world of social media and virtual realities. The author encourages us to recognizes these issues, to develop a biblical worldview, to make a commitment to discipleship which will incur resistance and opposition from the culture at large, to think critically, to become involved in a community where there is feedback, to follow thinking with doing, and to develop some expertise in the area of christian apologetics. I appreciate how the author pointed out that Christians can be such as ridiculous in their narrow thinking as secularists. It also made sense how he went back in history and explained how we got here ( a look at the Puritans, the 2 Great Awakenings, the Civil War, etc). It was quite challenging both to the intellect and toward changing behaviors.
November 27, 2019
I first read this book back in 1997 and I remember thinking how different it was from the only other Guinness book I had tried to read, The Dust of Death. Obviously, this was written with the general public in view while the Dust of Death was more of a theologian’s book. I am glad that I reread this book. I did so in connection to my current Welch class Christianity, Culture and Worldview. The book speaks in a brief form about the state of the culture in the early 90’s. It complements Colson’s book well.
The subtitle of this book is “Why Evangelicals don’t think and what to do about it.” I would have to say that the first time I read the book, my emphasis was on why evangelicals don’t think. This time I tried to focus on what can be done about it. This is a compelling book. I am sure that I will recommend it to friends who read. That is getting to be a small group.
The subtitle of this book is “Why Evangelicals don’t think and what to do about it.” I would have to say that the first time I read the book, my emphasis was on why evangelicals don’t think. This time I tried to focus on what can be done about it. This is a compelling book. I am sure that I will recommend it to friends who read. That is getting to be a small group.
October 10, 2017
Sometimes words can diminish the impact of a book. My fear is that my words would do so here. This book is unquestionably thought provoking. I have marked it up more than most...and yet, I’m not certain I understand it’s full impact. Using Guinness’ own words, I will some up my comments here to say that this book is a challenge to the “anti-intellectual thinking” of many segments of evangelical Christianity and the damage that has done to the faith. I recommend this to those who are interested in being challenged to think more deeply about their Christian faith. I’m sure after a time on my bookshelf, I will come back to this book again to see if I can absorb it’s thoughtful challenges at a deeper level.
March 9, 2018
This is actually a very good book. The only reason it’s not a 5 star is because it is a bit dated when he speaks of both technology and generational labels, and I wanted more “what to do about it” than the one long chapter at the end.
But given these small dislikes, he does a great job of outlining the history of Christian thinking and explaining the circumstances and pressures to which Christians have responded by retreating from the life of the mind. Sadly, he is correct, Christians don’t think, they don’t know how to think, and evangelicalism has become an empty husk marked by a rabid anti-intellectualism.
But given these small dislikes, he does a great job of outlining the history of Christian thinking and explaining the circumstances and pressures to which Christians have responded by retreating from the life of the mind. Sadly, he is correct, Christians don’t think, they don’t know how to think, and evangelicalism has become an empty husk marked by a rabid anti-intellectualism.
June 17, 2022
I borrowed this and had a hard time not underlining and annotating left and right. He hits the nail on the head with his observations of evangelical anti-intellectualism. Convicting. He pulls no punches that refusal to love God with our minds is sin, and must be repented of. Written in 1994 but incredibly relevant as many of the roots of anti-intellectualism have actually grown and blossomed (maybe into corpse-flowers) since then. Even so, he is careful not to condemn outright things like TV, but just their negative effects—in this he avoids the trap of legalism that is so easy when critiquing culture.
October 14, 2018
Excellent and — as always with Guinness — extremely well-written. Could use a better title; perhaps the British meaning of "fat" in the sense of "prosperous" or "satisfied" was intended, but lost on American browsing eyes. Since this was published over 20 years ago, I will be searching for any possible updates to this material. Social media did not technically exist at the time of publication. "...the creation of a ghost mind...and the rise of an idiot culture." Wait, is that from Facebook's mission statement?
August 16, 2017
Brief overview of the philosophically movements that influenced Evangelicalism. While it is mostly pointing out the problem, I felt that the solutions to Evangelicalism anti-intellectualism presented could have been more developed. Of course part of the problem is how do you present intellectual arguments to an anti-intellectual?
June 14, 2013
This should be a must-read for everyone in ministry. Whoa to those who ignore the command to love the Lord our God with all our minds. Especially helpful are the first 70 pages that outline the 8 primary ways we got to this point
April 25, 2018
“Fit Bodies, Fat Minds: Why Evangelicals Don't Think And What To Do About It” by Os Guinness
Eight years ago if I had of given this book a review it would have been 5-stars! I identified as an Evangelical.
Today, no! I've watched as 81% of US Evangelicals became “more Evangelical” in their brazen support of Donald Trump.
Still, the author makes many genuine observations and insights, it's just that for every sentence of insight it is accompanied by loaded biases. ***
What I do agree with is:
“.. it jolted me to consider a leading problem in Western evangelicalism: anti-intellectualism.
Anti-intellectualism is a disposition to discount the importance of truth and the life of the mind.” (p9)
“At root, evangelical anti-intellectualism is both a scandal and a sin.” (p10)
He speaks out about how:
“First, television discourse has a bias against understanding.
Second, '' '' '' against responsibility.
Third, '' '' '' against memory and history.
Fourth, '' '' '' against rationality.
Fifth, '' '' '' against truth and accuracy.” (p80-81)
… and then they go ahead and elect an ego-centric television reality show bully whose blatant lies have been tallied in the hundreds!
Eight years ago if I had of given this book a review it would have been 5-stars! I identified as an Evangelical.
Today, no! I've watched as 81% of US Evangelicals became “more Evangelical” in their brazen support of Donald Trump.
Still, the author makes many genuine observations and insights, it's just that for every sentence of insight it is accompanied by loaded biases. ***
What I do agree with is:
“.. it jolted me to consider a leading problem in Western evangelicalism: anti-intellectualism.
Anti-intellectualism is a disposition to discount the importance of truth and the life of the mind.” (p9)
“At root, evangelical anti-intellectualism is both a scandal and a sin.” (p10)
He speaks out about how:
“First, television discourse has a bias against understanding.
Second, '' '' '' against responsibility.
Third, '' '' '' against memory and history.
Fourth, '' '' '' against rationality.
Fifth, '' '' '' against truth and accuracy.” (p80-81)
… and then they go ahead and elect an ego-centric television reality show bully whose blatant lies have been tallied in the hundreds!
April 16, 2021
This was left in my LFL (little free library) and while I am not an Evangelical Christian I can see the merit in this book. Critical thinking has been lost as a mainstream approach to learning and this book, while published in 1994 is very relevant still today about the importance of recognizing our God given free will to learn and discern for ourselves. This book focuses on Faith and our understanding of God and how we allow him to work in our lives coupled with the influence of secular society.
July 26, 2023
I recently took a class on public theology and wrote my final essay on anti-intellectualism in the American church and what we should do about it. Unfortunately, I didn’t have this book when I wrote the essay. It is an excellent take on the problem and offers great ideas on jumpstarting an intellectual reformation. Every evangelical should read this book and take it to heart.
December 18, 2017
Part 1, the history of the problem, was excellent. Then it sort of drifted off. Some of it is just outdated in terms of the discussion of technology.
June 25, 2018
Long on diagnosis; short on prescription, but very good.
December 5, 2018
Very relevant to 2018 despite being written so many years ago.
June 26, 2019
classic book! Read it back in my late teens have read through it several times since.
March 6, 2017
The first part on the history of anti-intellectualism in the American church was more interesting to me than the latter section on issues related to postmodernism. I had already learned about the history of anti-intellectualism in the American church from some different college classes, but it was nice to get it all abbreviated in one place. And then the latter section seemed a bit too all-over-the-place. I also feel like I've read a lot from Guinness about the problems with our postmodern culture, so perhaps it was a bit repetitious to me with everything else I've read from him in the past couple months. Anyways, decent book that certainly had some value, but not particularly memorable.
Rating: 3 Stars (Fairly Good).
Rating: 3 Stars (Fairly Good).
March 6, 2016
I had previously been a fan of Os Guinness, especially as he was influenced by the thought of Francis Schaeffer. I was hoping this book would light a fire under me to oppose the anti-intellectual faction of Evangelical Christianity that is evident in the widespread Evangelical support for Donald Trump in America. This book was not able to do that for me.
At the outset Guinness seemed to grieve the loss of influence that Evangelicals have in the academic and political power centers in America, something that was not formerly true. "Where is our C.S. Lewis?" it seemed to say. But getting from here to there was not outlined very well. And the diagnosis he gave seemed in the middle part of the book extend not just to the church, but to society as a whole. I tend to think on average a serious Christian tends to be as intellectually active as the average serious non-believer. So maybe Guinness is right to point more broadly, though it seems to dull the blow he's making with his book.
I also found the book needlessly difficult to read in terms of presentation and construction. The sentences all are clear, but together they tend to muddy each other rather than make a stronger point. In his previous book on the topic of doubt, I thought his nuance was brilliant and enlightening; here what he explains in one sentence is qualified in the next and then modified a little further in the following sentence to the extent that one comes away wondering what truth filters through all sharpening of his concepts to his exact point.
Some good points do make it through, however. To willingly refuse to think or to be too lazy to do the heavy lifting of real thinking is a SIN. We are to love God with all our MINDS, as well as all our hearts. I also appreciated this gem: "Thus even as Christians we are prone toward turning faith in God into a system of thoughts about God. In doing so we remove all mystery, tie up all the loose ends with our human logic, and finally reduce even Christ to being a mere part of our system of ideas."
At the outset Guinness seemed to grieve the loss of influence that Evangelicals have in the academic and political power centers in America, something that was not formerly true. "Where is our C.S. Lewis?" it seemed to say. But getting from here to there was not outlined very well. And the diagnosis he gave seemed in the middle part of the book extend not just to the church, but to society as a whole. I tend to think on average a serious Christian tends to be as intellectually active as the average serious non-believer. So maybe Guinness is right to point more broadly, though it seems to dull the blow he's making with his book.
I also found the book needlessly difficult to read in terms of presentation and construction. The sentences all are clear, but together they tend to muddy each other rather than make a stronger point. In his previous book on the topic of doubt, I thought his nuance was brilliant and enlightening; here what he explains in one sentence is qualified in the next and then modified a little further in the following sentence to the extent that one comes away wondering what truth filters through all sharpening of his concepts to his exact point.
Some good points do make it through, however. To willingly refuse to think or to be too lazy to do the heavy lifting of real thinking is a SIN. We are to love God with all our MINDS, as well as all our hearts. I also appreciated this gem: "Thus even as Christians we are prone toward turning faith in God into a system of thoughts about God. In doing so we remove all mystery, tie up all the loose ends with our human logic, and finally reduce even Christ to being a mere part of our system of ideas."
October 22, 2015
Guinness always has a lot of good things to say. This critique of Evangelical anti-intellectualism is no exception. However, the book was written in '94, so there have been further developments in Evangelicalism, some of them positive, particularly in the developing of a thoroughgoing Evangelical apologetic covering a wide range of fields. Nevertheless, Guinness's critique remains powerfully relevant and still deserves to be read. It turns out that patience is a virtue. There were some things I was wishing, as I read the book, that he had clarified or said. But some of those issues he did address in the end, and mostly to my satisfaction. The book is divided into three sections. In the first he examines a number of pre-Civil War phenomena among Evangelicals that, though they had positive elements, also contributed to and anti-intellectual disposition with many Evangelicals. In the second section he examines a number of post-Civil War cultural trends that also contribute to an anti-intellectual attitude or mental laziness. In the final section he lists eight things that he believes Evangelicals should do to right the ship in this regard. As I mentioned, I think, in the intervening 20+ years, some of those things are beginning to happen. Others perhaps not so much. The book is written simply, and at a popular level, so unlike much of Guinness's other works, it does not have the same academic rigor I normally expect from him. This is not to say he is sloppy or careless, but only that much that he says is not as thoroughly documented or clarified as would otherwise be the case. Given that he hasn't much confidence in depth of thinking of many Evangelicals, and that he is writing to urge them to think more deeply, his populist approach in this book is understandable.
October 26, 2010
I read this some years ago and its relevance has not dwindled in the mean time. Some might argue that our culture has a problem with our bodies being unfit as well and they have a legitimate point but overall, we are far more consumed with the image of fit bodies than we are about the state of our mental health. In this short book, Guinness calls the evangelical church, which continues largely to follow the lead of culture in the area of mental atrophy as in most things, to shape up our minds by knowing God's Word and cultivating critical thinking. This is not an exhaustive study and Guinness doesn't provide much for thoroughgoing solutions here but he does a good job of identifying, summarizing and tracing the development of the problem, albeit briefly. I recommend this book to those who genuinely want to cultivate a godly Christian mind but who don't yet recognize the issues we struggle with in our culture and the church of our day as well as to those who don't yet even realize there is a problem. Other good books on this topic are The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, Amusing Ourselves To Death and Discipleship Of The Mind.
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August 29, 2012Shows a little bit that it is dated both with its discusstion of current events and its assessment that there is no serious Christian thinking going on. I believe that there is. That granted, it make some good points about what forces in American culture are driving Christianity to "abandon its mind." Was motivating and interesting, but I found him rather brusque and sometimes lacking sophistication in his points. Very much worth the read![return]
February 7, 2018
This is a sad evaluation of evangelicalism, but accurate. Anti-intellectualism has become the trend for evangelicals and arguably a majority of Christians (my conclusion, but certainly implied by Guinness). This is a straightforward, short read with well-connected chapters that could also stand on their own. Whether you read the whole book or pick through a couple chapters, it'll rustle, convict, and/or challenge your intellect, which is the very point.
December 10, 2008
This is another great read in the vein of Amusing Ourselves to Death and Brave New World, only with a Christian worldview. It is a great treatment of how intellectualism and critical thinking, especially in the church, have largely been replaced by consumerism and vanity. It's a damning critique of the modern church mindset and "Christian ghetto" mentality.
May 10, 2017
The Goodreads book description summarizes the book nicely. What I can add is that the book is easy to read, but still thought provoking and written in a humble, honest and gentle spirit. Part three deals with what next; "let my people think." In this book it needed to be brief, but it sure would be nice to see this section expanded in a separate book.
June 21, 2011
I would have gotten much more from this book if I hadn't read it in such short snippets, but it still provided powerful explanation of the anti-intellectual vein in Christianity (particularly evengelicalism) and the reasons to resist and to THINK.
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June 24, 2021Prescient. Still relevant. Shows that the forces tearing Evangelicals apart from the inside are merely the great-grandchildren of structures of thought and heart allegiances that go back for a hundred years within our tribe. We’re reaping now, but we’ve been sowing for generations.
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