What is the Christian faith’s perspective on the human mind?

The scholar Origen , the dean of the Catechetical School of Alexandria, discusses the role of the mind in the life of the believer: “as the eye naturally seeks the light and vision, and our body naturally desires food and drink, so our mind is possessed with a becoming and natural desire to become acquainted with the truth of God and the causes of things. Now we have received this desire from God.”⁸⁴¹

The Lord Christ came to offer salvation to the world and to raise the faithful to eternal heavenly glory. He was not associated with any school of philosophy or learning, but presented a new perspective to humanity, honoring us above all the world. He sanctified all things for humanity, that we might labor in the spirit of strength and progress and live our best possible life. Thus, He impelled humanity to value progress, learning, and knowledge. And His Church impels the world, directly or indirectly, towards progress.

The Lord Christ did not Himself engage in philosophical dialogues (‘science’ was part of philosophy) but opened the way for everyone to study and learn. For example, Aristotelians held that a person could not be happy if he was poor, without fame, sick, or a slave and his society viewed education as the unique privilege of free, wealthy, and powerful people. But the Church came to proclaim that there is neither slave nor free in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:28), ascribing blessedness to the poor, the grieving, and the afflicted. The Christian faith is an invitation to the whole world to seek knowledge; indeed, to be molded and renewed by the Spirit of God who is for everyone without partiality, so that we might become the image of our Creator. Thus, Christian teaching was available to everyone so that the believer might experience the new life offered in the Lord and enjoy a living experience every day in his relationship with his Creator and Savior. The door of education is open to all, as Origen says, and every bishopric became a school.

Education took the preeminent place in the life of the early Church, together with faith, as we see in many of the writings of the Church Fathers, especially those of St. Clement of Alexandria . The title of his famous work, the Paedagogus , which means The Instructor ,

841 Origen of Alexandria, De Principiis (On First Principles) 2.11.4 (ANF 4:298).

refers to the Lord Christ, who educates and trains His pupils to become an icon of Him. In his view, the Church is the school and the Teacher is the Lord Christ who takes care of us and instructs our souls. He explains: “it is time for us in due course to say who our Instructor is. He is called Jesus. Sometimes He calls Himself a shepherd, and says, ‘I am the good Shepherd’ (John 10:11) … The Word, then, who leads the children to salvation, is appropriately called the Instructor [Paedagogus] … Now piety is instruction, being the learning of the service of God, and training in the knowledge of the truth, and right guidance which leads to heaven,”⁸⁴² and “the Word, from whom we learn frugality and humility, and all that pertains to love of truth, love of man, and love of excellence … so is there a generous disposition, suitable to the choice that is set upon moral loveliness, resulting from the training of Christ.”⁸⁴³