Sunday, 12 July 2009
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Check Your Brains at the Church Door: Is Christianity Anti-Intellectual?
I can still remember the one sentence that has turned me off to Christianity the most.It was my senior year of college, and I was at a dinner with the other senior members of the evangelical campus ministry of which I served on the leadership team. We were at the house of one of our most prominent donors, and over dessert, we were going around the table and sharing our plans for post-college.
As my teammates revealed their plans for medical school or business careers, my head started to spin with anxiety. After graduation, I was off to attend an Ivy League divinity school to study the Bible. Surely seminary was looked highly upon by these evangelical Christians, but only conservative ones. How would they react to my heading to the Northeast for an education from scholars who weren't quite convinced of all the same ideas they were?
Finally, my time to speak came. I took a deep breath and hazarded: "I'm going to seminary. I applied to Emory, Princeton and Yale."
The table fell silent. Finally, the wife of the donor couple fixed me with a steely glare and spoke the words, so etched in my memory:
"Well, may those schools not destroy you."
The awkward silence continued until someone re-steered the conversation, but the couple ignored me, the biblical black sheep, for the rest of the night. Her caustic words hung in my mind, suspended like a tapioca pearl, and they still haunt me to this day, even now that I've finished my "destructive" education.
This couple disapproved of my desire to learn at a secular institution, and several others were concerned about me: how was I going to keep my faith among all those 'liberals'? What if they said the Bible wasn't true? Was I sure I wanted to subject myself to this strange unorthodoxy?
And it's precisely this attitude that I find troubling, i.e. that education is a bad thing. Don't learn too much, so it goes, don't expose yourself to too many critical viewpoints, or you'll become brainwashed into unbelief. God wants you to be obedient, and you can only do that by being overly cautious about what you hear, see and learn. If a book says some scripture might be metaphorical, put it down and pick up something by Tim LaHaye. If your pastor says being gay is OK, flee and find a more orthodox church. Don't watch that documentary about how the world might actually be millions of years old.
Kevin Roose, a Brown University student who spent a semester at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University to observe the culture, says in his book The Unlikely Disciple that the school's squashing of alternative viewpoints and iron-fisted control over faculty are the reason it will "continue to wallow in academic mediocrity." For example, young earth creationism, biblical inerrancy and conservative politics are taught exclusively in the classroom, with no time given to evolutionary science even as a system for critique. Instead of teaching their students to explore, deconstruct and accept doubt as healthy, Roose says, Liberty does a detriment to a liberal arts education by insisting on championing a unilateral political and spiritual agenda.
If Christians believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, then liberal theology and liberal hermeneutics shouldn't be so frightening. What's the harm in learning about alternative opinions? If your faith can be shaken by a few nay-sayers, perhaps you're not realizing the true power of the reality of God. Education is not the enemy. We shouldn't avoid books by Enlightenment philosophers and lofty Ivy League scholars because they might say something we disagree with. Rather, we should peruse these authors and evaluate their ideas with our own acumen.
Do you think Christians are anti-intellectual?
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- From: jmisener@thepopsite
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Comments (107)
Some are, some aren't. There are anti-intellectuals of all belief systems (or lack thereof). I know a decent amount of atheists that won't listen to anything that shows that evolution might be wrong or discount anything that shows the possibility that God is real. Most people don't want to hear ideas that counter their own, whether it has to do with religion, politics, education, etc.
I read Roose's book and I fundamentally agree, even as I graduated from a similar Christian liberal arts university. (Not too similar, though. Nobody ever taught creation science or scriptural inerrancy.)
I think the evangelical culture has a strong anti-intellectual bent. I don't think it's necessarily emblematic of Christian practice in general.
what's even funnier is really how much the general Evangelical populace just doesn't have the intellectual backing... and not just that... but how much we don't know and when presented with what seems like intellectual proof in liberal theology or liberal ideals, we get scared... but liberal theology is based off a lie, and not a good lie at that... but we get scared because we don't fully know what we know...
i don't think it's anti-intellectual... it's more of an imbalance between merging the intellect and the heart... Loving God with heart and MIND is what Jesus called us to.. and so I think we need to know what that means...
@Liquid_Pain_523@xanga - I think I agree with your point but want to add another perspective... a little off topic perhaps...
As I have had countless religous-type debates, I have come to the conclusion that one can spend time studying religion, or studying science. As one of the latter (from Darwin's branch of science), I have concluded that in a 30 minute conversation, I cannot express all of the perspective I have gained from my years upon years of dedicated study to science. I can't debate things like radioactive dating, fossil record, etc with some Christian who has read like 3 pages on the internet about these topics -- there is simply no way I can get all of my knowledge out there to someone who has not studied it.
For fairness, the religious viewpoint can say the same thing in most cases. I certainly have not dedicated my life to the study of God and the bible -- so how could I understand your lifetime experiences and perspective?
THAT is why we call eachother anti-intellectual.The question is, if we both had the same experiences/data, would we reach the same conclusion?
That anti-intellectual bent always strikes me as being actions of a cult. That always bothered me, if Christianity is nothing more than a cult then why would anyone care to choose it as a religion? If God can't stand up to some scrutiny and contrary viewpoints then he isn't the God we read about in the bible.
Who do you think God would be more pleased with - the one who surrounds himself only with godliness, flees from worldly people and loves Him in cultish isolation? Or the one who goes into the world, lives among the worldly and loves Him, showing that love to those who don't know it?
So often (in my experience, anyway) these people who look down on you for straying from conservatism are the ones who also say, "What would Jesus do?" expecting you to be the good little white sheep and come back to the flock.
But what DID Jesus do? Certainly not hole himself up in a temple until he was dragged out and crucified. Heck no! He was a rebel! He taught things and did things that were contrary to what religious leaders believed to be God's will and yet who WAS Jesus? The son of God and God Himself.
Know yourself. Know your strengths, weaknesses and morals. Follow the path God lays before you and remember He's laying it before YOU, not before the other "godlies" who are looking down their noses at you for pursuing a path that is different from theirs.
Remember the parable of the servants with the talents? God likes those who take risks for Him.
While I will agree that a lot of Christians don't know why they believe, that doesn't make what they believe wrong. If I want to spot a counterfeit dollar, I will study a dollar that is the "real deal". If I want to understand the claims of historical science, I will study the word of the Creator of everything including science.
The problem with extremely liberal seminaries isn't necessarily that you'll lose your faith. It's not that you'll hear opposing viewpoints. It's that when you have very different fundamental presuppositions about the nature of God and scripture, you're simply not going to get much material that will beneficial to the church later on. Sure, you'll learn a lot about textual criticism and theories far from mainstream evangelical Christianity, but I think we need to be wise about the people and institutions we choose to train us - especially theologically. Do If we endure a few years of teaching while sitting under many professors who teach things opposed to scripture, what do we expect to gain?
I'm not so sure that the concerns were about allowing yourself to be challenged intellectually. I think it's a good thing to read and learn about views that are different than our own. But I'm not sure it's wise to place ourselves in a religious setting where most the professors and books we read are opposed to what we know about Christ as the gospel.It's one thing to attend lectures and read books by people who we disagree with. It's quite another to invest 2-4 years, thousands of hours, and tens of thousands of dollars to sit under the teaching of people who undermine the credibility of scripture and what it teaches about God.
For those of you who have read what I've written in the past on revelife and my blog, you know that I enjoy dialoguing and learning from all sorts of people. I went to a large public university and took a large number of philosophy classes in which my beliefs were very different from my professors and fellow students. I wholeheartedly endorse learning about opposing views. I've attended two seminaries, and have almost finished my MA in Intercultural Studies. I just don't think seminary is best used as a time of preparation to minister the gospel, not to learn about things that we know are contrary to it.
@ohione85@xanga -
I think you've hit on a good point here. Like most subjects, nobody can come close to becoming an expert after only reading a single article or book, even assuming what they read has all their facts and logic straight. When people say, "I've done my research", I don't think they realize just how much stuff is out there that they don't know. It's like you need a degree in the subject just to realize your limitations. For me, it took at least a B.S. if not an M.S. in physics just to realize how much stuff I don't know in that subject. Then I see 9/11 conspiracy theorists talking as if they're experts in physics and structural engineering, explaining exactly how and building can and cannot fall. Come to find out, these people often have had no more than freshman level physics (if that), and all of their "research" has come from a handful of websites that's told them what they want to hear.
On so many issues in life, we're basically forced to be at the hands of the experts. That's not to say we can't read up what we can, and try to give ourselves to understanding a subject. Given that, it may not be too hard to at least point out some "bad ideas", but as far as having all the answers, we don't know nearly as much as we think we do.
i think the problem is that Christians expect their theology to be validated by studying whatever subject they choose, and they can't handle it if it's not. if they want to have their faith reinforced at all times, they should stick to religious institutions that presuppose the existence of their god. but they shouldn't complain when they attend a secular institution and hear things contrary to Christian teachings. as for opposing viewpoints... they're only worth examining in a classroom setting if they don't require a particular faith to accept.
Evangelical "anti-intellectualism" is a reaction. I can think of one person, here on Xanga, who is not an atheist. He is not a bad person, but he is indescribably pompous in his manner and holds himself up as far more intelligent than all Christians simply because they are Christians. There are people who comment here who have the same tendencies, though maybe not as severe (see the comment right above mine, or any of that person's comments in general). People react in kind...whether it is what Jesus would want them to do or not. Some Christians are reacting to the snobbery shown by so-called "intellectuals" toward Christians. It is understandable.
Anyone who believes Jonah and the Whale must have checked their brain at the door a long ago. They would probably believe jack and the beanstalk was real too if someone stuck it in the bible.
The bible study I sometimes go to is very anti-intellectual. They make mention of it pretty frequently. One of the reasons I was kicked out of my church [the one the bible study is a part of. I'm still welcome at the study, though.] was because I chose to read a book during the music part of the service. I was told the church has no place for intellect. [Seriously.] It's really sad.
@Pcgecko85@xanga - there are plenty of stories in modern day america where people get swallowed by marine animals and later get fished out. why is that so hard to believe? of all the miraculous stuff in the bible why are you doubting something that actually happens occasionally without God intervening?
@squanto_07@xanga - oh really, can you link me a news story? maybe from bbc
@scrambledmegzntoast@hardestlevel - i don't think i'm more intelligent than a Christian simply because they are Christian. but i DO believe that one's faith shouldn't dictate one's knowledge. i know more about the Bible and Christian history than most Christians i associate with... and when i was Christian, i studied other religions in-depth just because i wanted to understand them. you shouldn't have to believe in something in order to learn about it.
two summers ago, i took a class called Jesus in the Movies. it was taught by a fairly hardcore Christian who discussed Jesus' existence from a secular position (and had absolutely no problem with it). rather, he focused on what is generally considered true by most Biblical scholars. two or three students in the class were offended because he did not include his belief in Jesus as the Son of God as part of the curriculum, or refer to Jesus as "claiming" to be the Messiah. they also walked out when we watched Life of Brian.
his response? if that's all it takes for you to be offended, your faith isn't very strong. and to me, the students' behavior is a classic example of Christian anti-intellectualism.
that being said... as an agnostic, i do look down upon Christians who are passionate about their faith, but know very little about said faith.
@squanto_07@xanga - care to cite any of these stories?
@too_pretty_to_die@xanga - i think the problem is that Christians
expect their theology to be validated by studying whatever subject they
choose, and they can't handle it if it's not.
You make statements like that all the time. It's condemning...all Christians are not smart enough to reconcile their faith with other subjects. That is the plain meaning of your words.
@scrambledmegzntoast@hardestlevel -
"You make statements like that all the time.
It's condemning...all Christians are not smart enough to reconcile
their faith with other subjects. That is the plain meaning of your
words."
where in that phrase did i say Christians weren't smart enough to do anything? intelligence has nothing to do with it. the lack of intelligence comes from a Christian's choice not to reconcile... it's not what causes it.
@too_pretty_to_die@xanga - All Christians? That is where the ignorance is...it is the broad generalizations.
@Pcgecko85@xanga - As I recall, it says "God prepared a fish" this is a miraculous event. If there is no God, yes it would be foolish to believe it or any other miracle in the Bible. If there really is a God, then that being could of course accomplish this.
I wouldn't say Christianity is anti-learning, but conservative viewpoints do contradict what science theorizes and/or has proved. It's just a matter of belief. I defiantly agree more on scientific viewpoints and take a lot of the Bible metaphorically rather than literally, but I know there are those out there who take the Bible word for word.
I agree with theopilous166 and will just say that I have met many promising young men go off to learn and come back from it nothing like the people they were before. I am not saying that someone couldn't go to such an institution and come out unscathed, but one has to have a very, very, very strong foundation before trying to do something like that. Most people unfortunately do not have a foundation that strong. You would be learning things all the time with no time to research the other side, the conservative side of the story. The result is you tend to assimilate all that teaching over time with less and less questioning. Also there's the tendency when everyone around you believes the same thing, we tend to also believe those things. There's just so many pitfalls on so many levels I don't think it's a good idea. If someone really wants to know the Liberal position, do it on your own time and review all the same stuff on your own so you have the time to work out both sides of whatever you are looking at.... you won't be able to do that in school, there simply isn't time. The defense of these issues can get very complex and take a lot of time to go through. I don't think these people didn't want you to learn and it appears you made your choice when you became offended at it. They may have been upset at your choice but only because ultimately they were concerned about you.