A friend made the following comment in regards to my previous post on rethinking tertiary education:

“I’m glad that you are thinking about the Tertiary sector. What I’m finding is that one university doesn’t really work for me and that I’m currently involved with at least two and probably more like three or four. There should be more flexibility in the system and the ability to access more than one uni and more than one department. The model currently is that they operate like medieval fiefdoms, protecting their own interests and unlikely to change in the near future. A network of spiritual guides who talk with a student about how their study relates to their God-given life purpose?”

In my devotional Bible Reading this morning I was drawn to the following passage: “Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love” (II John 3). And, in his book, A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith, Robert L. Reymond (1998) writes: “… when one moves beyond the borders of Chalcedon he has decided to choose a heresy.”

At many points in history, the local church minister was the most educated person in the community.  This is not so, in many cases, these days.  There has been a radical turn against academic excellence in many parts of the church.  This has resulted in poor thinking concerning God and His Word.  Heresies abound from all kinds of pulpits because the leaders of God’s people are not thoroughly educated men, in many cases.

As Christians we are to know the Father and also we are to know the Father’s only begotten Son.  Our knowledge of the Triune God, including the Person of the Holy Spirit, will affect every part of our lives.  An error in our knowledge of God will lead to distortions in every area of life. The Bible says, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”  Our thoughts of the most profound Person in the universe are the most basic life-changing thoughts that we can have.  Right thoughts of the Triune God shape civilizations and determine the course of history.  Wrong thoughts of the Triune God cause everything to go very badly.

This is why it is important that we re-think university attendance.  University should be a place of spiritual journey, where young men (especially) can be pointed to right thinking on the bigger issues of life.  And such thinking must be rooted in a knowledge of God as He has revealed Himself in the pages of the Bible.

De-insitutionalized tertiary education will enable young people to find “a network of spiritual guides who talk with a student about how their study relates to the God-given live purpose” (as proposed by my friend).

Any thoughts?

References

Reymond, R. L. (1998). A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith.