This post was written by Matt Bazemore on September 27, 2006
Dr. John Coe in his paper, “The Seven Deadly Disconnects of Seminary Training: Theological and Spiritual Formation Reflections on a Transformation Model,� states that there are two contrasting models of seminary education. The first model he calls the Academic-Professional Model. This model has the goal of training men and women in theological knowledge and ministerial skills. According to Coe, the majority of evangelical seminary training follows this vein.
Secular universities have the same focus of training men and women with knowledge and professional skills. The absence of moral instruction within the classroom demonstrates this focus. From the 1870’s to the 1930’s as American Universities shifted to research institutions, morality, as taught in the classroom, shifted as well. It now resides outside of the classroom and takes the form of such things as school spirit (see The Making of the Modern University by Julie A. Reuben). Hence the whole person in the academic enterprise is neglected.
A second line of evidence for this is seen in the mindset of students. When attending college I bemoaned the fact that I was required to take liberal arts courses. (I now wish I had taken them more seriously) It was not unusual to hear students ask, “Why do I have to take this? It doesn’t benefit my major at all.� These attitudes reflect the influence of the current university model over the students’ understanding of the telos of their education: the priority of gaining skills and knowledge for the highest paying job without concern for their character.
A Christian reflecting upon this model of education can readily see that it fails to address the whole person. The mind is not an entity that can be disconnected from the emotions, will, or spirit (my view being the spirit is a faculty of the soul, like the mind). What follows from this is the question, “If this model is inadequate, then how can I shape the courses I teach to begin addressing the whole person?� Perhaps a first step would be to ask ourselves if we have disconnected our minds from the rest of our own person in our pursuit of knowledge.
In my next entry, I’ll discuss a second model of higher education that my point us to a better way.
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