How Christians ought to read
Response to: Guest Post — “De-Centering Whiteness” Pedagogy and the Both/And of the Image of God — Christian Scholar’s Review (christianscholars.com)
In an article in the Christian Scholar’s Review, Professor Heather Peterson presents an argument for the fair treatment of works by the observation that all the authors are inherently through creation, image bearers of God. She applies this thought to not only the resistance of modern critical theorists from young Christian scholars but also to the current trend of criticism towards Shakespeare, a classical playwright, on account of his character which we find to be disagreeable in our modern times. Although it is important for young minds to grapple with ideas that are foreign to their perceived world, it is paramount to remember that there are differences in schools of thought and that our mere inclusion in a universal human race does not mean that we share a similar value system with all authors. Christian scholars should rightly be critical of modern ideas and remember that they are called to conform themselves to the truths of the word, while at the same time to articulate the Christian position well, they must come to a critical understanding of other views especially those of foundational authors who have done much to shape the world around us.
First on the topic of the universal brotherhood of man, it must be pointed out that although the bible does use language of being image bearers of God, it does not imply an inherent goodness. It is true that man was created to be like God and reflect his righteousness, however applying this passage without further understanding of scripture is at best a presentation of idealism and at worst a large misrepresentation of the human condition. For we know that after the creation of man, man fell allowing sin to corrupt our world. Throughout the remainder of scripture, we often find instances of God referring to people as children of our sin, sometimes even to apply to the people of God where he calls Israelites the children of a whoring nation. Romans 1 gives us this warning “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth”. He goes on to say that they “Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” Here Paul is telling us that our base condition is not an inheritance of truth and goodness but an inheritance of falsehood and folly.
Furthermore, by encouraging young minds to seek to embrace and “resonate” with something in every text, they may overextend themselves to conform to ideas we know through scripture to be false. When Solomon says, “guard your heart for everything you are flows from it”, he is encouraging his readers to be mindful of the influence we allow in our lives. These words of wisdom can be applied to the texts we read. Robert DiYanni goes into this exact thought, albeit not original to him, in his book You Are What You Read. Given that Peterson teaches modern theorists, in an upper level class, it could be an appropriate setting for presenting these challenges to young minds. None of the authors in her reading list were born before the 20th century, and although she claims to be teaching source texts, one could argue that the theories of James Berlin were merely modern applications of Carl Marx’s thoughts in his philosophical work, Das Capital. This although starkly against American ideals could be argued is much more worthy of study given its greater impact on the course of human history. Since these are approached in a senior level course, it appears appropriate that they are all intended to challenge the cultural mindset of the conservative Christian scholars she teaches. However, the same word of warning should be issued to the students that if they are to study modern thought, they ought rightly to be critical of the theories of people who greatly differ in their view of God and reject the orthodox positions of the church. Yet at the same time to be scholar and engage in the academic arena of critical thought it is important to build the ability to understand the positions of others and bring it into perspective by the light of the gospel.
Finally, Peterson urges her colleagues not to throw out classic literature simply because of the changing agendas of our modern time, no matter how righteous we may be in our distain for these writings. It is worth noting that this is a bold and noble plea in times where thought is often erased from history. However again it is not due to a universal brotherhood by which we should make this plea, but rather that taking such rash actions against classical works will have a great effect on academia. If academia were to change the curriculum of literature programs every time a new thought or idea challenges or calls out the faults of previous authors, then there would be no common experience in education from one generation to another. The culture would hop between works like a frog leaps between the lily pads. Also, if we were to examine the lives of all the works of antiquity and determine whether they match our “modern” standards of ethics then we would likely find no works of literature left to teach because each one was written in his own flawed way. Augustine himself who is considered the most foundational author in western Christian thought admitted himself to the siren call of orgies and sexuality of his day. As it is written “None is righteous, no not one”. So instead let’s make this plea on the basis that these works of art so long held precious have been influential in shaping our modern society through the ages. As Christian scholars let’s study these works with similar cautiousness but yet with a desire to understand the thoughts that they contain. One example would be the works of Plato, who shaped the Greek world and was the reason for a lot of the early church ecumenical councils which needed to understand and resolve common heresies that arose from Christianity existing alongside an extremely platonic world. It wasn’t until Justinian abolished the Platonic university in Athens after about a millennium of its influence that the school was finally abolished. It could easily be argued that Justinian was the first to promote the cancel culture, yet we find still the importance of studying Plato because of its profound influence on western civilization.
It is then not the foundational truth that we are all brothers by God that we ought to frame our academic pursuit as Christians. Instead build on the foundation that all have fallen short, and that wisdom is only found from God. A wise Christian reader therefore does not simply assimilate everything which is given to him, but selectively pursues the works which will edify and challenge him in appropriate measure, ever striving echo the cry of the psalmist: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer”.
