Give Me That Old-Time Religion...Without the "Old-Time Religion" Part
by Steve Watters on 09/17/2007 at 11:34 AM
Anthony Kronman is a professor of Law at Yale who sees both a longing for meaning among today's students and a failure by schools to provide it. Writing in the Boston Globe over the weekend, he observed:
In a shift of historic importance, America's colleges and universities have largely abandoned the idea that life's most important question is an appropriate subject for the classroom. In doing so, they have betrayed their students by depriving them of the chance to explore it in an organized way, before they are caught up in their careers and preoccupied with the urgent business of living itself.
Later Kronman explains how America's institutions of higher learning were often founded with a Biblical context for meaning, but then jettisoned that context over the years. So does Kronman recommend bringing that context back? No. Instead, he writes:
Our culture may be spiritually impoverished, but what it needs is not more religion. What it needs is an alternative to religion, for colleges and universities to become again the places they once were -- spiritually serious but non-dogmatic, concerned with the soul but agnostic about God.
Reading the article, I was amazed by how Kronman could be so objective about the search for meaning among students and yet so harsh about students finding that meaning through faith in God. The following passage was another example of how Kronman wanted schools to have the spiritual energy of that old time religion without having, well...that old-time religion:
Most importantly, perhaps, the great upsurge of religious fundamentalism outside our colleges and universities is a sign of the growing appetite for spiritual direction. These movements can be a source of danger and division, and intellectuals may mock and despise them, but teachers also ought to see in them the energy that will drive the restoration of the question of life's meaning -- and, with that, of the humanities themselves - to a central place in our colleges and universities. The fundamentalists have the wrong answers, but they've got the right questions. We need to learn to ask them again in school.
If you're a student, do you see this on your campus? Do you see evidence of student's seeking meaning? Do you also see professor's trying to provide meaning while also being hostile to religious faith?
HT: Al Mohler
1. Jacob said the following at 12:26 PM on Sep 17
In college, my peers and I were focused in on tying our studies back into life's fundamental questions. Our professors not only encouraged this, but would often bring Christianity to the forefront, as it was not only important to us, but to them as well. But of course, Hillsdale College is a very unique place.
The search for "spirituality" is interesting. Just look at the Postmodern trends and you'll see that spirituality is very important to young people today. The problem is, where are they getting their spirituality? The answer, sadly, is that it's from mushy, pluralistic sources like Oprah, or watered down "preachers" like Osteen.
The good news is that this gives Christians all the more opportunity to start conversations with people and proclaim Christ crucified.
2. Ben said the following at 12:30 PM on Sep 17
This is just secular humanism. Kronman sounds as if he wants to explore meaning in life from an exploration of humanities. Humanities is the study of what man has done and can do. He is just arguing for students to find meaning in the "greatness of men". An empty, vain pursuit at best that will never satisfy that search for meaning.
3. nikki said the following at 2:29 PM on Sep 17
I think the quest for spirituality is an important one. And I think it's GOOD! People are misguided now just as they always have been, but clearly there is a renewed interest in spiritual matters. From my experince with people who don't claim to be christians, Christianity is seen more as a high-collar religion and less as a form of spirituality. I read a little about that in Don Miller's book Blue Like Jazz. He uses the term "christian spirituality" so that people are forced to think about what it actually means to be a Christian. It is a highly spiritual experience in addition to other things. I think churches would do well to be aware of the spirituality trend and "capitalize on it" to further the gospel. Really, all it is is kids who don't know what life's all about. But now, they are hungrier than ever for truth that reaches all the way down to their soul, and I hate to say it but most peoples' experiences with the religious kind of christianity don't do that.
4. Anne said the following at 11:15 PM on Sep 17
What is "spirituality"? For kicks and giggles I'd be interested in knowing how that word is being defined. It must be a noun if it is something that can be searched for, but a name for what? A way of life? A state of mind?
A phrase I hear on my somewhat liberal christian campus:
"I'm a very spiritual person." or "I think it is important to be spiritual" or sometimes, "I don't really belive in God, but it is important to be spiritual."
What does that mean?! What does "christian spirituality" mean? These words are used in so many different ways I don't even understand what we are talking about anymore.
5. Liz said the following at 11:36 PM on Sep 17
I think there is a deeper search for something true happening among my fellow students a university. Many however have had disappointing and often horrible experiences with the church as an institution or those who say they are followers of Christ but for whatever reason, do not seem to be obeying his commands to love the enemies etc. Students are willing and open to discussing possible meanings but are scared of following anything that appears to be mindless religious actions. They don't want religion in the sense of yet another moral code, they want the truth. University was historically a place where Christianity faced off with other philosophers who questioned it. I believe a well-thought out, not simplistic, philosophy of Christianity can certainly hold up in face of honest intellectual bombardment. It will ultimately come down to a personal decision on their part, whether what Christ says is true. It is also, I believe, slightly naive to suppose that the majority of the world is going to want to discuss only Christianity. We know perhaps that the truth lies in Christ or is Christ, but not many do that. What the professor is proposing appears to be a search for truth as guided by philosophical and logical traditions. Such traditions are deeply rooted in Christianity too, but are not limited to this faith. No one wants to be told to follow blindly a set of rules or religions and "Christianity" can often appear that way or be that way despite the good intentions of those spreading the gospel. Changes in lifestyle and morality may come later, as one learns to follow Christ and chooses to honour God. Students today are not looking for a formula to run their lives, nor are they asking for a neat set of principles. They--we--are hungry for something deeper and without the smell of hypocrisy or legalism. Yes many professors are scornful of religious faith, but I think one of the reasons it bothers them (apart from its conflict with their own beliefs) is that religion can very quickly appear or be superficial and un-thought out--intelletually dishonest. When faith in Christ limits what we see and how we think, they see it as ridiculous. The best professors accept that there are many faiths within the class and are able to challenge the logic clearly and seemingly unbiased. Yes of course people seek meaning without God. For many, that is their human nature or the natural outcome of their worldview. Perhaps the danger lies if only one point of view is presented and students are taught again and again to think only a certain way, eg. that only humanists make sense. But intellectual challenges to the principles behind Christianity have been there since Jesus himself. We as Christians need to take the challenges presented in class, consider them and reject or accept them on the basis of their intellectual merit as well. We need to become thinkers and doers. For the Christian in the classroom, the presentation of an alternate view point may be and can be also frightening. That is where we as believers need to provide resources that allow students to see the intellectual solidity of following Christ. Some hostility is blatently reactionary, based on personal bias. Some is more founded in a particular philosophy. Searching for spirituality and examining all of them fairly on their intellectual basis is a valid search. In today's world, Christianity does not have the monopoly it once did. But the truth within it has and will stand the test of time. What might be lost is some of our preconceived notions and the constructed falacies we as faulty humans have built up around the core. There are no pat answers, but there is Truth and it will stand.
6. Kyle said the following at 2:33 PM on Sep 18
This is an interesting conversation for me, being a student at Yale. I definitely get a sense of people seeking some deeper truth, whether in the context of Christianity or another avenue. It seems to me that there is a pendulum swinging between legalism and lawlessness. Yes, it is self-defeating to believe that a series of rules will lead to truth and happiness, but it is just as troublesome to believe that within oneself lies the capacity to find truth independently, with nothing and no one to guide that search. It is the paradox of open mindedness that allows one to pursue an undefined, amorphous spirituality while denying there is a power above us that brings us closer to a saving grace and a meaningful existence. People seem to want a life meaning that puts them solely in the driver's seat, believing that faith in God means abandoning your brain. While we are called to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, it doesn't mean we are not to struggle with our understanding of God's purpose for us in this present world. A person who follows blindly could scarcely call himself a purposeful disciple of Jesus Christ. We have a duty to be present and prepared to engage people in ways that challenge the mind to grapple with the weight of the unknown. We may not see a resurgence of old-time religion, but I pray we'll experience new life through the all-time truth.
7. Jill said the following at 10:03 AM on Sep 19
Um, don't you think if "the great upsurge of religious fundamentalism outside our colleges and universities is a sign of the growing appetite for spiritual direction", that maybe the fundamentalists really do have the right answers?!
And could it be that "These movements can be a source of danger and division" because it encourages students and faculty alike to actually disagree with and pursue other forms of doctrine and belief than the ironclad liberal philosphy of college? aka, it causes people to think for themselves, which the liberals in college so loudly wail and scream about?
SO Kronman basically observes people being drawn to the God he knows but won't admit exists, and blows a lot of smoke and hot air about it without really making a useful point.