Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Gregory of Nazianzus and the Serious Business of Education

Gregory of Nazianzus and the Serious Business of Education

Last updated on: February 15, 2018 at 6:28 am by John Mark N. Reynolds

Gregory of Nazianzus and the Serious Business of Education 2018-02-14T18:47:54-04:00 John Mark N. Reynolds

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Thinking well is hard work, and easy answers from quick Google searches can cause us to forget this. If we are wise, we’ll remember that we cannot dismiss or even correctly discuss an idea we do not understand.

To give a simple example: I have met people who “know” the modal version of the ontological argument is wrong, but have no knowledge or training in modal logic. They could not, if asked, even read the philosophical argument. Having had it translated for them, they think they can find errors and so opine freely.

Philosophy is a vast discipline and even those of us with training in the field do not have training in every area!

One would think that areas of study such as medicine would be less controversial, but this is not so. One reads discussions related to biological terms such as “sex” in which the writer has not made the effort to understand how medical doctors use the term. The same happens with superficial attacks on complicated scientific ideas such as “evolution” or “global warming.”

Experts are not always right. Groupthink is possible. Outside skeptics play an important role and must be welcomed—this is serious business. However, those who critique an expert opinion must first show that they have done the work to understand that opinion.

Don’t Confuse Joy and Entertainment

When I pick up a great book for class (say, Pride and Prejudice), I begin by giving the author permission to change me. I do not come, at first, to judge the book or apply my own opinions to it—that happens later. What is Jane Austen saying? What is she trying to teach me? This is serious stuff, always potentially life-changing!

Serious things are joyful and we must always take our own ideas lightly. When discussing texts like Plato’s Republic, where my background is strong*,* I might engage a critic pretty boldly. When a person with deeper experience challenges my views, however, my first reaction should be deference.

I love films; I even helped start a college-level film program. Still, I know less about film than many of my friends and acquaintances. When a respected colleague challenges my interpretation of a film, I must begin in joyful deference to his or her opinions.

There is a danger in education when we confuse serious things done joyfully with entertainment. Education is serious business and not to be taken lightly. It is not designed to be fun.

Gregory of Nazianzus Got it Right

Theology is the study of divine things. How much more seriously should I take such discussions! I am not a theologian, and it has always been important to me to find trained theologians and listen to them. Why? One might get some other area of knowledge wrong and face sad consequences in this life. This is bad enough, but poor theology can have consequences in the world to come.*

Gregory of Nazianzus warns us:

Who should listen to discussions on theology? Those for whom it is a serious undertaking, not just another subject like any other for entertaining small talk, after the races, the theater, songs, food, and sex: for there are people who chatter on theology and clever deployment of arguments as one of their amusements.

There is a place for small talk, for fun, but theological discourse is not that place. We dare not play games when we do theology, any more than when forming a philosophy of life or dealing with nuclear materials. We need care and expertise.

Gregory of Nazianzus hastens to say that doing the work of theology is not the same as meditating on God. We can and should do this all the time!

One does not need to know Greek to love God, but one should know Greek to exegete the New Testament. Doing theology at the wrong time or in the wrong way is as unseemly as “tears at a drinking party!”

Take Your Time

Education is not a game—nor is it hurried. There is no dialectic that produces quick experts, no trick or single ideological pattern that answers all questions without the need for further thought. A true dialectician is not hasty, nor does he think he easily masters anything.

When it comes to God, the highest, hardest, holiest thing, about which we know the least, we must be especially modest and circumspect. Gregory adds,

But of God himself the knowledge we shall have in this life will be little, though soon after it will perhaps be more perfect in the same Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

————————-

*We have to first decide theological study has content and what that content is. Philosophers of religion and theologians discuss this issue carefully. In this little essay, I am assuming that theology has content through divine revelation and our experience of the Divine especially in the person of Jesus Christ and His Church.

**Gregory of Nazianzus in Oration 27 in On God and Christ St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press. (Translated by Frederick Williams)

Rachel Motte edited this post and composed the title and sub-headings.

Previous Post

February 14, 2018

Friendship of February 14

Next Post

February 16, 2018 Knowing without Fully Knowing

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Apologetics Art Culture Education On Books On Education Philosophy Politics Pop Culture Spiritual Reflections Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 July 2025 June 2025 September 2024 July 2024 June 2024 December 2023 June 2023 September 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How long did the judges rule before kings?

Select your answer to see how you score.

400 years 300 years 200 years Approximately 350 years

Books by This Author John Mark Reynolds

See All Titles »