Objectives Thus Far

It's only day one, but here's what we have so far. Let's continue to morph these, refine them, add to them, subtract from them, IN THE BLOG (ahem, *Ryan*, ahem), and also in our meetings over the next few weeks. I don't know exactly how to state these just yet, so I'll leave them in "raw" form:

1. Bible content and skills.
2. Theological content and skills.
3. Spiritual growth (develop an ethical vision, cultivate character, or some such).
4. Address global and cultural issues theologically.

We need to state 1 and 2 better, which may not take long. We also need to work on the wording for the other two. Number 3, well-stated, will capture a robust, variegated, and multi-faceted vision for the development of Christian charater and practices.

Number 4 may be subsumed under number 2, but that's as far as we got.

"Ethics" and the Bible Minor

Perhaps we should chat a bit about "ethics" as it relates to the Bible minor. While it tends to get used in a narrower sense, there is that older usage, which refers to a comprehensive theological understanding of the world and of the Christian role in it (e.g., Bonhoeffer's Ethik), it almost becomes a theology of culture. The advantage of this more comprehensive understanding is that it draws together both personal and public (social) ethics. I am reminded of McClendon's trilogy on theology: Ethics, Doctrine, Witness.

I wrote this in response to Ryan's email, which follows:

"We think of SpiFo and Integration as radically different subjects;Spifo: how to be Christian personally (privately); Integration (how to be Christian publically). What I'm saying by using the word "ethics" is that these are tightly related to one another. We need to see these two courses especially as integrated with one another!"

Desiring the Kingdom

Agreed. Thanks for the good discussion.

That said, I have a couple reservations about our dependence on Smith. Smith is writing from Calvin, a CRC school. (The CRC, as Shawn has noted, has been known to describe itself as the "brains" of the Body of Christ.) In that overintellectualized context, Smith offers a welcome corrective. But this is not our context! Our tradition has studiously avoided being overly intellectual! So, when we complain about going "back" to being primarily intellectual, I think we have made the following mistake: we think that at some point in our history we were like Calvin, and that our fill-in-the-blank notes and boring lectures were intellectual. Not so! We need more rigorous engagement of our students' minds. It may be that Noll's Scandal of the Evangelical Mind is still more apt for our context than Smith.

Moreover, take the following comment from the CT review: "It's meant to be a discussion that's descriptively thick, as in 'rich,' and in places it is. But often, it's thick like a milkshake: difficult to swallow and a little too sweet. Smith's hopefulness can come off as a touch pious and earnest; at times one is left wondering how reliable his sense is of our condition, circumstance, and prospect." We have tried and true resources in the Christian tradition for training the mind and heart. The whole discussion of human beings as primarily lovers is Augustinian through and through. Let's not suppose that a book fresh off the press should shape everything we do in the Bible Minor--we can't yet be sure he has given us the right tools for the job. Let's learn from him, but let's not depend on Smith's book to determine the contours of the Bible Minor. And if we are looking for further inspiration, let's return to Augustine.

By the way, Smith rightly emphasizes the role of practices, but, probably due to his context at Calvin, he wrongly deemphasizes the role of ideas and concepts. After all, reading this book, which presses an idea of education, is motivating action.

rp

Bible Minor Graduate Portrait

Our desire is for every graduate to know and love God and to be equipped for a life of vigorious, reflective, and thoughtful Christian discipleship. The Minor in Biblical & Theological Studies contributes significantly to this.

1. We want graduates to have a mastery of basic theological skills, including vocabulary, categories, and concepts.
2. We want students to have a mastery of basic biblical knowledge that is academically rigorous.
3. We want students to have a mastery of basic skills in biblical interpretation.
4. We want students to have the ability to think about life theologically, critically, and integratively. We want our graduates to have the wisdom to identify, and the desire to pursue redemptive action in the world.
5. We want graduates to understand and appreciate their Christian heritage and identify in relation to other historic and contemporary traditions.
6. We want graduates to understand and value the mission and identity of the church in the world, and to participate actively in a local church.
7. We want our graduates to have a theologically informed love for God and to have the skills to continually have their imaginations transformed by thoughtful engagement with Scripture. We want them to express their love for God through joyful commitment to their families, churches, and both local and global communities.

Seminaries, Bible Minor & True Integration

Not sure how applicable the following questions are to our situation at CU, but The Christian Century (as seen in Jesus Creed) has asked some penetrating questions about seminary curriculum today . . . and I wonder if they can offer some more fodder for our discusions about the Bible Minor.

If church leaders had the chance to fashion a seminary from scratch, what would it look like? Would it have its own campus? Would it be tied to a denomination or be fully ecumenical? Would the classical academic subjects be taught and, if so, how would that learning be correlated with the work of forming spiritual leaders and training them in the practice of ministry? Would greater emphasis be placed on supervised ministry? Might the entire curriculum be based on an apprenticeship model of learning?

....

Seminaries and their constituencies should use this moment to consider new pedagogical models as well. Take, for example, the longstanding disconnect between the practical fields of ministry and the academic disciplines of Bible, theology, ethics and church history. Curricular discussions have focused on how to help students integrate the practical and theoretical aspects of study, but most efforts end up maintaining the division and placing the burden of integration on the students more than on than the curriculum and the faculty. Is it time to organize courses around the life and mission of the church?

Systematic Theology Post from Ryan

Here's John Webster's take on the task of Systematic Theology and its importance--it is an effort at theological prolegomena. Great stuff.

 

Let me note three things in particular:

 

1) Theology should be conceived of in terms of contemplative intelligence rather than apologetics.

 

2) "A definition of theology and its various tasks thus rests upon teaching about God and the human good; and the deepest disagreements about the nature of theology comonly arise, not simply from divergent conceptions of scientia, but from differing understandings of God and the creatures of God."

 

3) "The Holy Trinity is the ontological principle (pricipium essendi) of Christian theology; its external or objective cognitive principle (principium cognoscendi externum) is the Word of God presented through the embassy of the prophets and apostles; its internal or subjective cognitive principle (principium cognoscendi internum is the redeemed intelligence of the saints."

 

Therefore, along with teaching the ontological principle (the Trinity) on the basis of the objective cognitive principle (Word of God) we need to ask how to help our students develop a redeemed intelligence (the subjective cognitive principle) in order to develop theological wisdom.

Graduate Portrait

Our desire is for every graduate to know and love God and to be equipped for a life of vigorous, reflective, and thoughtful Christian discipleship. The Minor in Biblical & Theological Studies contributes significantly to this, and our aim is that the ideal Cedarville graduate benefits from the Minor as follows:

1. We want graduates to understand and appreciate their Christian heritage in relation to other Christian traditions--both historic and contemporary--and with reference to our global situation.
2. We want graduates to understand and value the missional character of the Christian church, to commit to and to participate actively in a local church. Graduates will have a vision for service to both their church and their community.
3. We want graduates to have a mastery of basic theological vocabulary, theological categories, and concepts.
4. We want students to have a mastery of basic Scriptural knowledge that is academically rigorous and appropriate for a minor education.
5. We want students to have a mastery of basic skills in Bible interpretation.
6. We want students to have the ability to think about life theologically, critically, and integratively. We want our graduate to be able to think theologically about all aspects of life (vocation, relationships, church involvement, etc.) and have the wisdom and discernment to able to identify Christian action that is appropriate in any and every life situation.