I think of course you can be a gifted person and a christian! That would most likely be because I see it in my everyday life. I thought where are the brightest of us in the christian world? Do we as thinking Christians shield ourselves from a sure argument or deridement by not announcing our belief’s in God. Sadly this is most likely true. Not because of a lack of faith, but an unremitting push against a belief in God by the “intellectuals” of our time. The idea that to believe in God demands you be of a lower IQ and ability than a tree stump, how repulsive and wrong!
Muriel Gray wrote about a debate between Richard Dawkins and Richard Holloway, “But the point he (Richard Dawkins) was making was that the many destructive forces of religion, as opposed to the few beneficial ones, are almost exclusively wielded by those with limited thinking power.” The rest of his post is here go with thick skin!
Instead let us focus on the fact that intellect is from God and should be based on God’s word. You can know all things in the world but you will still not know of the world. The quiet heart beat of the babe in it’s mother’s womb that you set to beating. The moment of the first brush of the sun on the newly formed earth. Know the edges of the universe because you set them. No matter how many books you read these things are out of your ability. They are of God.
Here is an interesting video of Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins about this very subject.
So intellect based on humanistic viewpoint will be limited in scope and understanding. Not what the world teaches but time and again history has shown it to be true. When you have faith in the Lord you are able to believe in what cannot be seen. You are able to be led by the Holy Spirit to accomplish great things for the Lord. This is the path I will lay before my gifted child.