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We live in a world characterized by a paradoxical mixture of globalization and fragmentation, a world in which global communication is possible but universal understanding is not. Our post-modern culture bases its creed in the notion that there is no absolute law of truth or justice. It is popularly believed that everyone has the right to his own opinion as long as we all recognize the fundamental 'truth' that there cannot be any universal truth. Although this view commends itself as pluralistic and tolerant its inner contradiction makes it a self-defeating position, devoid of any consistent sense of meaning or direction. Like a serpent eating its tail our present view of civilization has no place to advance but to feed upon itself until the reserve of its past runs out. Meanwhile, the struggle for power becomes the ruling principle for action, filling the meaningless void created by the loss of hope in truth in a fragmented world limited to its temporal uses. Since education is both cause and effect of our cultural existence, we need to understand our age keeping in mind that the educational system of a state develops in conformity to its basic idea of civilization. As Western Civilization has moved away from its Christian roots the educational apparatus has evolved accordingly. The Church has increasingly lost influence upon the educational philosophy of our culture. Our prevailing philosophies of education follow upon the lines of pragmatism, behaviorism and materialistic naturalism. These perspectives coincide in their opposition to religion as the ground of education. This rejection enforces the break of existence into the separate spheres of secular and religious life, which has been the tacit presupposition of education after the enlightenment. Meanwhile under the rule of expedience the aims of education have become heterogeneous and casual. The secularization of Western Culture is an obvious fact. It is less obvious that it is not primarily linked with the resistance of culture to the message of the Church, but with the Church's compromise concerning the truth entrusted to her. Like salt that loses its flavour, the truly dangerous threat to Christianity comes from within, from the adulteration of its heart and mind. Fundamentalism has reacted to this threat in a defensive retreat, accentuating the divorce between faith and reason. Liberalism embraces the trend of secular thought retaining religious terminology but losing the meaning of the Christian message. A reformation path should avoid both of these extremes following a middle way of passion for truth built upon fidelity to Christ. There cannot be any doubt about the relationship between education and Protestantism. Its power is related to the capacity to educate the people in the understanding of Scripture so everyone may have a personal encounter with Christ. It rightly turned the attention away from the corruption of the Church to the life of Christ opening once again a way for the dynamic transforming power of the Gospel of truth to affect each individual. But in doing so it also opened the door for a form of individualistic Christianity that believes the personal dimension of religion to be all that matters. The medieval Church ran into excesses of power, abusing its authority and tradition. In its attempt to clean the Church, calling her back to faithfulness to the original truth of the Gospel, the Reformation unwillingly set in motion a conflict that opened the door for a break with tradition and the possibility of opposition to authority that has enabled the pendulum to sway to another extreme. A chain of action and reaction, in which charity and love of truth have not been the prevailing spirit, has had the fragmentation of Christendom as its end result with a corresponding weakening of its power to inform culture. A divided Church has been an easy target for the world. The enlightenment first aimed at discrediting the Church's academic credentials, preaching a divorce between faith and reason, affecting the Church's own understanding of the faith. The post-reformation times have seen how popular education slips off the hands of the Church as the new sciences displaced theology as the organizing power of a life now limited to temporal aims. It is time for the Church to reclaim the unity of faith and reason which provides a solid base for tolerance and dialogue. Diversity of opinion only becomes a vice when we assume that human understanding is the ultimate measure of truth. When we recognize that God has the ultimate answer to every question that baffles human understanding we are enabled to continue our quest for knowledge in a spirit of charity. Tolerance is possible because we acknowledge that, as faith seeks understanding, diverse opinions spring from our continual strife to gain a clearer comprehension of things from a limited human perspective. Our denominational struggles should be approached with a renewed sense of humility, love of truth and willingness to learn from one another, allowing us to agree in the essentials we share and respect the disagreements, because only God has all the right answers.
This is the basic contemporary
challenge of Christian teaching in our secularized society. We need to overcome
the fragmentation that has fallen upon our culture resulting from the effects
of the enlightenment's break with tradition in an attempt to make a name for
humankind building another Christian teaching is constructive. It knows that it has a unique message to offer. Although it is closed in its foundation it is open in its scope. It is strong enough to offer a basis for dialogue, exploration and new learning. It is clear, simple and profound. It is persuasive but not manipulative. It gives the kind of knowledge one can live by. It provides a clear orientation that is universal and illuminating. It does not give ready made answers to every question, but it blesses life with a faith in truth that provides true hope for the future. I believe we are witnessing an awakening of the Christian mind. It is increasingly clear that the antagonistic dichotomies of heart and mind, the intellectual and the spiritual, science and religion are artificial. There is no reason to force a decision for one against the other. For Christianity all truth is God's Truth, human knowledge is not the measure of all things and there is no legitimate separation of life between secular and religious. Reason, even when struggling to assert its autonomy, is always subservient to faith, because reason always argues on behalf of its initial trusted ideas and inclinations. The challenge of education for the Church today has more to do with faithfulness to its heritage and calling than with creating new alternative systems of education. The Church needs to remember that Sunday School is not just a school, that religious education is more than sending the kids to a Christian school and that education is more than acquiring a degree. Christian Education means the nurture of every person from the crib to the grave in the admonition and the fear of the Lord. There cannot be any area of knowledge that is beyond the concern of faith. This vision should provide direction to all our educational endeavors. Everyone of us has its part in the educational mission of the Church both by word and by personal example. The Old and the New Testaments command its ministers to instruct each member in the truth that illumines and transforms all life. A narrow concern with personal salvation neglects the nature of Christian vocation. As with any other major issue, education might seem to be too big a giant for our modest contribution to make any difference. But this is not true. A new reformation involves every Christian in every sphere of influence. From the child going to school to the scholar delivering a lecture all educational work needs to be done in the spirit of Christian vocation as a service to our King. Education needs to be
concerned with the formation of character.
The Rev. Benjamin Bernier is
Adjunct Lecturer in Christian Education and
Philosophy. |
