When the gospel is challenged, the tactic of personal attack—ad hominem—often surfaces. Jennifer Britt’s recent response is a textbook example: rather than engaging the scriptural argument, she targets individuals. This maneuver is not harmless. It diverts attention from the substance of the gospel itself, and that is no small matter. The gospel is not defended or undermined by personalities, but by the truth of God’s word. If we allow ad hominem to set the terms, we abandon the ground of the gospel and forfeit clarity on matters that are salvific, not secondary.
The Biblical Heart: More Than Emotion
Britt claims a separation between “heart” and “mind” in faith, as if one can believe with the mind but not the heart. This is not a minor error. The biblical witness is clear: the “heart” (Hebrew leb, Greek kardia) is not a mere seat of feelings. It is the center of the whole person—mind, will, emotions, and conscience. To believe “with the heart” is to engage the entirety of one’s inner man.
Scripture repeatedly demonstrates this unity:
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
Here, the heart is the locus of thoughts and intentions—cognitive and volitional faculties. The heart is where understanding happens:
He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them. (John 12:40)
This is not a poetic flourish. It is a doctrinal assertion: the heart understands. The dichotomy between heart and mind is not only unbiblical, it is destructive to the gospel’s operation.
The Mind and the Gospel: No Divide
The New Testament is explicit: the mind is not an enemy of faith, but its necessary instrument. Christ Himself “opened their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures” (Luke 24:45). The Greek nous—the intellect, the faculty of perceiving divine things—is the very means by which God brings light.
Satan knows this. He does not waste time blinding mere emotions; he blinds the mind:
In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:4)
If, as Britt alleges, faith is a matter of the heart apart from the mind, why does Satan target the mind? Because the mind and heart are not divided. The veil over the mind is the veil over the heart (2 Corinthians 3:14-15). To separate them is to grant the enemy a foothold and to undermine the very means by which God brings about faith.
Repentance: A Change of Mind, Not Mere Emotion
Repentance (metanoia) is not a mystical feeling or an act of contrition in the heart. It is, by definition, a change of mind. God calls us to turn from unbelief to faith by renewing our understanding. The faculties of mind, will, and conscience are all engaged in this holistic response. Anything less is a truncated gospel.
What Is Lost If This Error Is Accepted?
If we accept Britt’s error—dividing heart from mind—we lose the very foundation of justification by faith. The gospel call becomes mystical, inaccessible, and subjective. Assurance is severed from the objective promise of God and tethered to the shifting sands of emotional experience. Inheritance, sonship, and the cleansing of the conscience are all rendered uncertain, because the ground of faith is no longer the finished work of Christ apprehended by a convinced mind, but a nebulous “heart” experience that cannot be tested or anchored in scripture. This is not a minor theological misstep; it is a collapse of the covenantal promise and a return to the bondage of human performance and introspection.
The Whole Person: God’s Means for Faith
God addresses the whole person in the gospel. The mind, heart, will, and conscience are all summoned and engaged. The word of God discerns, divides, and renews every faculty. True faith is not a compartmentalized act, but a holistic response to the revelation of Christ. This is why Paul insists, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2), and why the noble Bereans “received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily” (Acts 17:11).
The gospel is not wizardry or psychological manipulation. It is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes—with the heart, which includes the mind, will, emotions, and conscience. To pit these against each other is to do violence to the text and to the very nature of saving faith.
The Only Way Forward: Scripture, Not Accusation
Jennifer, clear away the weeds of accusation and answer with scripture. If you can show from the word of God that the heart and mind are separate in faith, do so. But if not, abandon this error. Noble-mindedness demands that we test all things by the word, not by personal attack or subjective feeling.
The gospel stands or falls on this point. Let us not be found fighting against the means God Himself has ordained for faith, justification, and sonship. Let us receive the testimony of God concerning His Son with the whole heart—mind, will, emotions, and conscience—cleansed and secured by the finished work of Christ.
For further engagement, see the videos below addressing Jennifer Britt’s ad hominem attack and the biblical unity of heart and mind in faith.
