Please at least read the last paragraph and contribute to my wonderings!
A month or so ago I finally finished reading The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today's Students. I was unaware of the controversy surrounding the book's assertions about philosophical roots of cultural trends and their (negative) effect on higher education. I picked it up because it was recommended by a few former profs. Allan Bloom was either loved or hated for this book.
I can guess from the Wikipedia article and from the associated books on Amazon that The Closing of the American Mind has come to be seen as a "conservative" book on politics, philosophy, culture and higher education. The first review on Amazon says a little bit of what I think about the book: it's not necessarily friendly to (political) liberals, (political) conservatives, (theologically conservative) Christians, or most any other major viewpoint in America. I found it an incredibly challenging book (not least because I spaced my reading of it over 10+ months), and I would enjoy hearing what you folks thought about it (maybe someone out there read it?). You could find a copy, read it in the next few months, and revisit this post for a comment.
So, the issue Bloom raised that is sticking with me is this: (1) We live in a liberal democratic society (in contrast to conservative societies with true aristocracies) where free speech and free inquiry are precious, hard-won freedoms we enjoy. The goals of higher education embodies (or should embody) the self-evident truths that are protected by our Constitution - we are free not only to live and engage in affairs of our choice, but we also have a fighting chance to improve our socio-economic status (again, in quite a contrast to aristocratic or even caste societies). Education is the noblest way to 'improve oneself.' (2) But I am a confessional & creedal Christian. I am biased already in the search for truth. Free inquiry ought to lead one to the truth I already affirm in the Bible and in well-written creeds and confessions of faith. (3) The rub is the idea of the quest for truth - free inquiry that is truly up to the discretion of the student does not always or even usually lead him to biblical Christianity. Therefore, can a Christian really affirm 'liberal arts education' in the sense that we have no reins on where the quest leads students?
Everyone is welcome to weigh in!
3 comments:
I don't know really how to respond, but I'll respond with a thought I have had post-seminary. I get the whole idea that a Southern Baptist seminary needs to teach Southern Baptist doctrine. Really, I get it. But I felt like the goal of seminary was to be able to parrot back the "right" answer. I think it would have served me better for them to encourage me to think for myself. Don't just spit back onto the paper exactly what you heard in class...think for yourself, study for yourself...don't be a wacko and go way off into left field, but there's freedom to disagree and think differently.
I know that's different than liberal arts education, but I do appreciate the dialog that you and I have had about continuation of the spiritual gifts. I believe that Scripture leaves freedom for us to disagree...and for you to be wrong (hah!). But at seminary, precision was prized over the thought process.
Sorry if my comment was way off base.
Good thought...that was very near the question I've been pondering. Being able to think is invaluable, and no college/seminary can reasonably expect to trust all students to study all the important data of any particular discipline AND to arrive at the desirable conclusion on their own. To be safe, students need to be few the "preferred/correct" answers.
Learning the content of a field of study is more often the focus than is learning to think clearly and independently within that field. Both take significant amounts of time; the latter requires that schools trust their students in the search for truth. Can schools really take such a risk?
You probably read this but here it is from J. Taylor's blog:
A number of years ago D.A. Carson took up the former topic in his essay, “Can There Be a Christian University?” The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 1:3 (1997): 20–38
He proposed eight theses and four priorities (below), but read the whole thing for his explanations and various sub-points on what this would look like in terms of structure and vision.
Theses
A university is a tertiary-level institution devoted to study and education in a plurality of fields at both undergraduate and graduate levels, controlled by some unifying Vision.
A Christian university is God-centered in the structure of its thinking and in the establishment of its priorities, cheerfully pledging allegiance to the Christian revelation, and in particular the focal point of that revelation, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the gospel he has proclaimed.
A Christian university is passionately committed to the formation and maintenance of a Christian worldview.
Because Christians recognize their finiteness and their sinful minds, the Christian university is called, whatever its prophetic voice, to humility of mind and the kind of communal care that fosters integrity and candor.
Because of its God-centeredness, the Christian university will recognize that it is beholden to the church, to the world, and to the God who inhabits eternity.
Because of its God-centeredness, the Christian university seeks to maintain a tension between a world-wide openness on the one hand, and cultural integrity and sensitivity at the local level on the other.
Within the vision of the Christian university already laid out, it is entirely appropriate to provide both liberal arts education and professional training.
A Christian university will rigorously reflect on academic freedom and confessional Fidelity.
Post a Comment