Anti-Intellectualism
Jesus praised God for hiding his message “from the wise and intelligent” and revealing it to the uneducated or those with minds he likened to an infant’s or small child’s. And he said it is not those possessing the mind of an adult but only those with child-like ones that will enter heaven.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, the most influential Christian of his time, thought the pursuit of knowledge was “vile” unless “sanctified by a holy mission” and St. Augustine described “curiosity” as a “disease.” He said, “it is this which drives us to discover the secrets of nature, these secrets which are beyond our understanding, which can avail us nothing and which man should not wish to learn.” Imagine if Plato, Galileo, Pasteur, Darwin, Edison, Einstein and all the countless men and women who have conquered diseases and improved our lives with their thoughts, discoveries, and inventions would have embraced such an anti-intellectual position! Arthur Schopenhauer said it well, “All religions promise a reward for excellences of the will or heart, but none for excellences of the head or understanding.” And H.L. Mencken said, “Not by accident does Genesis III make the father of knowledge a serpent—slimy, sneaking and abominable. Since the earliest days the church as an organization has thrown itself violently against every effort to liberate the body and mind of man. It has been, at all times and everywhere, the habitual and incorrigible defender of bad governments, bad laws, bad social theories, bad institutions. It was, for centuries, an apologist for slavery, as it was an apologist for the divine right of kings.”
Lk 10:21, Mt 18:3
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19 comments:
Anti-intellectualism is a problem but it is not caused by Christianity.
Some of the brightest most intellectual people the world has known have been Christians.
Justin Martyr
Athanasius
Augustine
Anselm
Aquinas
Luther
Calvin
Jonathan Edwards
Francis Schaeffer
C.S. Lewis
It is significant that the early pioneers in modern science were men of deep Christian faith. Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, and Newton.
These are just a few mind you, but there are many. Sure you can find an ad hominem argument against these guys but you can with every human being. I would venture to say the intellectual level you and I have obtained doesn't even begin to touch these guys.
You are totally misunderstanding chapter one of 1 Corinthians. The contrast between foolishness and wisdom centers on Christ's cross (the gospel). Paul says so in verse 18 (the one you chose to not include).
All he is saying is that some consider Christ and his cross foolish. Paul is not saying don't learn, don't read, don't get an education.
Paul is in no way addressing what people believe about demons, mental illness, the roundness of the earth, geocentricity, or slaughter of the enemy. Where is that in 1 Corinthians?
Schopenhauer must not be acquainted with what Jesus considered the greatest commandment in the Bible is to love God with heart, soul, and MIND (Matthew 22:37). Christians are commanded in the Bible to develop the mind through intellectual pursuits. It's a common misunderstanding in our day that Christianity only values the heart or emotions.
I don’t suggest for a moment that great thinkers have also been Christians. My beef, as always, is with the words in the bible.
Paul said women should not be educated, should not even dare speak in a church gathering.
It is a testament to the human mind and spirit that people like Copernicus and Galileo persisted in their quest for truth despite the protestations of the Christian church.
Of course I can pull quotes from all those people on your list that make them look incredibly foolish and in some instances diabolical but what would be the point. Again, I am arguing about what is written in the bible and you divert the focus to people.
Finally, you said “Christians are commanded in the Bible to develop the mind through intellectual pursuits. ” Really? What is that verse?
You offer this:
“Jesus considered the greatest commandment in the Bible is to love God with heart, soul, and MIND”. That says nothing about being free to question everything, to possibly discover there is no god. It is a “command” to conform thinking-it constricts thinking.
"As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silence in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate, as even the law says. If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church."
1 Co 14:34
"For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman but woman for man." 1 Co 11:8
"Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord." Eph 5:22
The bible commands half the human race to not think for themselves, to not dare question the authority of the male—not the King of the universe and his earthly spokesman, nor the King of the country nor the King of the castle.
Again, what you quoted from the Bible you are misunderstanding. Paul's contrast of wisdom and folly is about the gospel, not about learning or being educated.
Being free to question everything? The doesn't say to question nor does it say not to question. It's simply commands one to love God will the mind.
Nowhere in the passages you quoted does the Bible command women to not think for themselves.
You are reading into the passage a meaning that is not there to support your own presuppositions.
Are you trying to establish that the Bible is an anti-intellectual book?
Paul, is of course parroting the line in Isaiah about the LORD making “the wisdom of ...wise men...perish and hiding the “understanding of ...prudent men”. But you make a good point and i stand corrected that Paul in that particular instance Paul was using that line to talk about something specific not necessarily wisdom in general.
Free thought is fearless thought and no one can think freely if they are afraid a sky god or his earthly spokesmen will burn them in this life for voicing heretical ideas. Of course, one of those great minds on your list, John Calvin, had one of the greatest thinkers of the time burned to death for a mere difference in opinion. And how can anyone feel free to question the validity of the bible if they think doing so will land them in a lake of fire?
One of the fundamental messages of the bible is do not lean on your own understanding but upon the Word of the LORD.
This is anti-intellectualism.
Didn't you once say all of our perceptions are flawed to some degree?
You would agree that humans being shouldn't rely on their own personal understandings of things right?
Socrates once said that the beginning of true knowledge is to first admit your own ignorance.
Proverbs 3:5-6 is hardly a fundamental message of scripture. I would think you'd be in agreement with the primary message of this passage. Lean not on your own understanding.
Why would you not use a word like "quoting" rather than "parroting"?
John,
What book of St. Augustine's are you quoting in your original post. Since you've twisted Paul's meaning by taking it out of context, I'd like to see what comes before and after in your selection of Augustine.
"Paul, is of course parroting the line in Isaiah about the LORD making “the wisdom of ...wise men...perish and hiding the “understanding of ...prudent men”. But you make a good point and i stand corrected that Paul in that particular instance Paul was using that line to talk about something specific not necessarily wisdom in general."
You might want to edit your first post so that people are not misguided by something you have written. I would think someone concerned about intellect would want to be fair to the primary sources being quoted.
Wouldn't you say misrepresenting or quoting out of context in order to support your own presupposition is anti-intellectual tactic?
homesick,
First of all I would like to apologize for getting a bit snippy in some of my responses. I get a little frustrated at times and let that get the better of me.
To your questions...
yes I maintain all our perceptions are flawed to some degree. We cannot possibly take in all information about reality and process it all perfectly. I like Socrates quote very much-totally agree. But contrary to what you think I believe leaning on our own (collectively speaking-humanity’s understanding) to understand reality. It is not perfect but it is the best we can do. To lean on an ancient holy book is using authority for truth rather than truth for authority.
And yes, I should have used “quoting” instead of “parroting,” my bad.
homesick you said, “Wouldn't you say misrepresenting or quoting out of context in order to support your own presupposition is anti-intellectual tactic?”
I totally agree. how nice to finally have such agreement! Few things in an argument bother me more than taking an idea out of context and I will gladly rewrite the original post. And thanks for the bible lesson, always happy to see things more accurately.
as to your inquiry about the St Augustine quote:
It is from “Confessions” --here is more:
There is another form of temptation, even more fraught with danger. This is the disease of curiosity. . . . It is this which drives us on to try to discover the secrets of nature, those secrets which are beyond our understanding, which can avail us nothing and which men should not wish to learn. . . . In this immense forest, full of pitfalls and perils, I have drawn myself back, and pulled myself away from these thorns. In the midst of all these things which float unceasingly around me in everyday life, I am never surprised at any of them, and never captivated by my genuine desire to study them. . . . I no longer dream of the stars.”
The same contextual problems exist with the way you handle Luke 10:21, and Matthew 18:3.
You say these passages are teaching anti-intellectualism but if you read them in context, it's easy to see that this is simply not the case.
hi Sooner,
First do you mind if I address you by your real name from now on?
I readily admit that i am no scholar. My understanding of scripture is that of the basic layman. What i take from those passages is a clear denigration of the wise, of the educated. And a clear glorification of the simple-minded. It says to me, do not think too much, do not reason like an educated adult or you will not go to heaven. Tickets to heaven will only be handed to the the simple-minded, the uneducated, the trusting child-like who “believe”. Those who are educated, who use reason as an adult would, who critically analyze things rather than simply acepting them on child-like faith will be given a shove into the fiery furnace .
This theme of great reward for simple obedience and great punishment for disobedience ( thinking for oneself) runs throughout the bible from beginning to end. Judaism, Christianity and Islam are all systems of control utilizing fear and guilt.
Now as I said, I have just a layman’s understanding of the bible. You are the expert. I would love for you to break these passages down for me and show me how I am totally misunderstanding them.
I have to admit that this discussion triggers me. I get that "creeped out" feeling when I think about the intellectual oppression that I experienced growing up christian. I was never encouraged to ask questions; I had no clue how to be a critical thinker. When I graduated from high school, my parents offered to pay for bible college, but not university. Propaganda was more important than learning how to think! I had to go to university with student loans (and by that time, a single mother) and it was very difficult. But I resisted bible school and I am eternally grateful.
This discussion, and the quotes, almost give me traumatic flashbacks. It sickens me that parents are allowed to feed this destructive garbage to their children. And religious institutions are tax exempt to boot.
On the contrary, my son was not raised religious at all, except for religious instruction he received from his grandparents. He was raised with the values of love, acceptance, and positive feedback. He is now a well-adjusted 22 year old, with none of the same baggage that I carry. In fact, he does not understand why religious is such a touchy subject for me!
I know I tend to ramble and move from topic to topic. This blog is, for me, like thinking aloud. It's very healing and I appreciate John's readers humouring me!
Janet,
My argument is that intellectual development and the perpetuation of Christian theism are not mutually exclusive.
There are a number of educational institutions that are guilty of intellectual oppression. The NCSE is guilty of intellectual oppression. There are non-Christians families guilty of the same.
You said, "It sickens me that parents are allowed to feed this destructive garbage to their children." This type of verbiage is quite alarming to me. It's creepy and extremely disturbing. All parents at some level teach their kids presuppositions.
If parents were not "allowed" to teach their kids what you perceive to be garbage, who would see to it that it doesn't happen and what would be the consequences for those who continued to teach this perceived garbage?
Homesick, I don't agree with you (surprise!!!). I find propoganda "creepy". I taught my son to think critically; not to accept things on blind faith; and to trust himself. Parents are never perfect, and all people are biased in some way. But to deliberately brainwash children in a particular religion is, I believe, tantamount to child abuse. It does not prepare a child for life at all. It teaches a child to be "obedient", but not powerful or challenging. It teaches children to ignore their own "still small voice" that questions the absurdities in the bible. It stifles curiosity; in place of freedom, it promotes fear (you better be a christian or you will be left behind). To me, that type of instruction is "creepy". And the worse thing of all, it teaches that we can be sure of things that we CANNOT be sure of; and to distrust science and reason.
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