Transcript Chapter 1 An Overview of Managerial Finance

The Idea of a Christian College
Arthur Holmes
Chapter 5:
Integrating faith and learning
Integration vs interaction
 Starting point: “the Christian college is
distinctive in that the Christian faith
can touch the entire range of life and
learning to which a liberal education
exposes students” (p. 45)
 Integration—the ideal, but not reality
 Interaction—the reality
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Faith and Learning
 “Faith affects learning far more deeply
than learning affects faith” (p. 46)
 4 approaches to the integration of faith
and learning:
 1.
 2.
 3.
 4.
The
The
The
The
attitudinal approach
ethical approach
foundational approach
worldview approach
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Integration: The Attitudinal Approach
 One’s attitude is the initial and vital
point of contact with the Christian faith
 “A positive, inquiring attitude and a
persistent discipline of time and ability
express the value” that Christians find
in learning because of their theology
and Christian commitment (p. 47)
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Integration: The Attitudinal Approach
 The perspective: All truth is God’s truth, all beauty
God’s beauty . . .
 The motivation: “the Christian faith is the sworn
enemy of all intellectual dishonesty and shoddiness”
(p. 48)
 The understanding: “education is a Christian
vocation [and]. . . must be an act of love, of
worship, of stewardship, a wholehearted response to
God” (p. 49)
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What is a liberal arts education today?
 “A broad, general education that ranges
across the natural sciences, the social
sciences, and the humanities” (p. 26)
 The liberal arts are the arts “appropriate to
persons as persons, rather than to the
specific function of a worker or a professional
or even a scholar” (p. 27)
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Integration: The Ethical Approach
 There is no value-neutral education
 There is no value-neutral science
 Language itself is value-laden
 The ethical approach demands one
explore the relationship between facts
and values—the “middle-level
concepts”
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Integration: The Ethical Approach
 3 questions necessary to integrate Christian
principles into ethical discussion:
 1. What are the facts, the causes, and the
consequences? (requires science)
 2. What middle-level concepts are involved?
(requires theology and philosophy)
 3. What policy or action is called for? (requires
ethics)
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Integration: The Foundational
Approach
 3 foundational disciplines
 Mathematics
 Philosophy
 Theology
 We have to have the foundational knowledge
on which to build and with which to interact.
 Interdisciplinary courses and dialogue are
vital to the foundational approach.
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Integration: The Worldview Approach
 Intellectual polytheism (Arnold Nash)
 What happens when we concentrate on
the parts rather than the whole and come
away with a fragmented view of life that
lacks overall meaning (p. 57)
 The university becomes a multiversity
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Integration: The Worldview Approach
 The characteristics of a worldview:
 Holistic/integrational
 Exploratory
 Pluralistic
 Confessional and perspectival
 Worldview versus theology
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Chapter 7:
College as Community
In Loco Parentis
 The idea that the college has parental
authority and responsibility toward its
students
 Modern concept: the college
community
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The dangers of the college community:
 Excessive individualism
 Intellectual hermit = liberal arts are irrelevant
 Historical hermit = the past is unrelated to real
life
 Ethical hermit = devaluation of universal and
lasting values in favor of doing “one’s own thing”
 Excessive administrative control
 Don’t allow for individual differences compatible
with the common purpose of the community
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The Basis of Community
 False idea: Love creates community
 Reality:
 Love is a moral virtue, not a warm feeling
 Love is an inner moral attitude and
commitment
 Community creates feelings of love
 Community is created by values and
purposes and a common task
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The Basis of Community
 The unifying task: education
 What the community isn’t:
 A local church
 An athletic or social club
 A service agency
 A vocational training school
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A Climate of Faith and Learning
 Plato: can virtue be taught?
 Answer: yes. Virtue is a form of knowledge and
can be taught like anything else.
 Christian view: virtue is not just an idea; it is
an attitude, something intrinsic
 Teachers: should be Christian, be
enthusiastic, be careful scholars, integrate
faith and learning
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God versus studies – which comes
first?
 This is the wrong question.
 “If education is God’s present calling to
students, then no question arises about
whether God or studies comes first, for
God is to be honored in and through
studies. Compartmentalization has no
place on the Christian campus” (p. 84)
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Chapter 9:
The Marks of
an Educated Christian
The Marks of an educated Christian
 1. A Spiritual person:
 An unreserved commitment to God and his
purposes for us in this world
 2. A moral person:
 Qualities of character like love, fairness, courage,
integrity, and commitment to justice
 3. An intellectual person:
 Breadth of understanding, openness to new
ideas, intellectual honesty, etc.
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The Marks of an educated Christian
 4. An active, responsible person:
 Responsible action in all areas of life:
conscientious, helpful, decisive, self-disciplined,
persistent, involved, intentionally an agent for
change
 5. A self-aware, self-evaluative person:
 An honest appraisal of one’s strengths and
weaknesses; no false modesty; no
overconfidence; a willingness to work on the
weaknesses and to use the strengths
 Knowing what has to be learned, knowing where
to learn it, and being able to learn from others
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Are you an educated Christian?
 1. Are you working conscientiously to become an
educated person?
 2. Do you see your education as your current
vocational calling?
 3. Are you working conscientiously to integrate faith
and learning and to avoid compartmentalizing the
areas of your life?
 4. Are you preparing yourself to be a good steward
in all areas of your life?
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Coming up . . .
Next Class: Exam 2
Stott Your Mind Matters (all)
Exam 2
Holmes – chs 1-5, 7, 9
W&M – be prepared to compare/contrast with
Holmes
Stott -- basic points
November 1: PLP due
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