Introduction

In our last essay we took a quick tour through Scripture to learn what it has to say about our minds and our thinking. In that brief survey we found that God is vitally interested in what we think. He is actively scanning our thoughts, judging them and allowing us to experience the fruits of those thoughts.

In this way our thoughts are as determinative of our condition in life as the actions we engage in. We also learned that when we exclude God from our thinking it sets a course for our lives, as well as determining our way of viewing the world around us. We found this is different from the way those who do not exclude God view the world. Finally, we found that we are to work at developing the mind of Christ. This takes active effort on our part, along with the work of the Holy Spirit. As we engage in this activity we are loving God with our minds.

So let’s begin looking at how we go about renewing our minds. To do this we are going to begin at the very beginning, by examining the most basic things we all believe.

Presuppositions

Presuppositions- now that is a big word. Let’s begin by defining what we mean by the term presupposition.

Turn to the book of Proverbs. In the first part of Prov. 23:7 we read, “For as he thinks within himself, so is he.” (NASB)

The context here is eating with a stingy or selfish man (vs. 6). The proverb tells us that this man may say to you, “Eat and drink,” but his heart is not with you. He resents having to share his food with you.

This is because in his heart is a parsimonious or stingy attitude and it is this thinking that makes him the way he is. His heart attitude is what he is despite what words come out of his mouth.

This proverb teaches us that it is what is in us, in our thoughts and attitudes, that shape us and color our view of the world around us. Another name for these inward attitudes and assumptions that shape us is presuppositions.

Presuppositions are like our tuccas’- everyone has one, but we like to keep them covered, and protected, and we rarely look at them.

A presupposition is a tacit assumption you hold prior to looking at any evidence. In other words, a presupposition is an accepted belief that colors how you understand everything else. Presuppositions are crucial because they determine how you interpret the evidence.

Let me give you an example of what I’m talking about. There was a certain man who thought he was dead. Now this man firmly believed he was dead, even though he was a living, normally functioning human being. His wife got tired of living with this burden and finally persuaded him to visit a psychiatrist. The doctor tried in vain to convince him that he was in fact alive.

Finally, the psychiatrist hit upon a plan. He showed the man medical reports and scientific evidence that dead men do not bleed. After thoroughly convincing the man that dead men do not bleed, the psychiatrist took out a pin and pricked the man’s finger. When the man saw the drop of blood trickle down his finger, his eyes bugged out. “Ha!” he cried, “Dead men do bleed after all!”

While we may laugh at this story it relays something that is very common in humans.The man’s belief that he was dead was his presupposition and that presupposition determined how he interpreted the evidence. He held so strongly to that presupposition that it skewed how he looked at the facts.  

Francis Schaeffer has written: 

“People have presuppositions, and they will live more consistently on the basis of these presuppositions than even they themselves may realize. By presuppositions we mean the basic way an individual looks at life, his basic worldview, the grid through which he sees the world. Presuppositions rest upon that which a person considers to be the truth about what exists. People’s presuppositions lay a grid for all they bring forth into the external world. Their presuppositions also provide the basis for their values and therefore the basis for their decisions.” (Francis A. Schaeffer, How Should We Then Live? Ch. 1)

The key point to remember here is that people will live in terms of their presuppositions, despite what they say.

What are some categories of presuppositions that everyone have? Or to put it another way, what are some things that everyone has a basic belief about?

Presuppositions that everyone have include such things as who is their god, what is their view of man, how they know things, what is right and wrong, how we came into being, and what is the ultimate purpose of all things. 

As we said, all our reasoning is presuppositional. That is to say, our reasoning rests upon our presuppositions. The trick is to be consistently and self-consciously presuppositional.

Problems arise when we are not. For example there are many in our day that have a presupposition about our origins that includes random chance as the prime motivator for all that we know and are. Yet these people do not live consistently with that presupposition. They even rely on the laws of science to prove their case as if consistent laws that govern the universe can be the result of random chance. They believe there is meaning in their life and meaning in what they are saying and doing, despite their belief that they are the product of the chance collisions of chemicals. They would never pull out in front of a speeding semi on the chance that it might not hit them.

But they are not usually aware of their inconsistency, and if it is pointed out to them they will sometimes listen to what you have to say. We will see later that this can sometimes be a good method of evangelism. For others they just suppress the truth of their inconsistency in their unrighteousness. (Cf. Rom. 1:18; 2Th. 2:10)

In our next essay we will pick up here and look at how our presuppositions form the foundation of our worldview.