Two. Christian Education Equips Us to Be Free

Why discrimination is a good thing

^‘Then said Jesus to those…which believed on him…know the truth, and the truth shall make you free’

- John 8:31

Have you noticed these past few years how many new independent primary and secondary schools with a Christian ethos are being set up? There seems to be agreement among Christians around the world that the time has come to pull out of existing provision and establish alternative Christian schooling. In fact, I am involved in a Church effort to set up one such school myself. This movement to establish new schools is evidence that Christians no longer feel that the schooling currently available in our western societies is serving the needs of Christian families. There is a desire for better more appropriate education for our children.

However, what is less obvious is what the new Christian schools should look like. Discussions need to be had about what constitutes a Christian education. Should we just look back to a time when mainstream schools were faith based and do again what our ancestors did in the past? Indeed a study is required to uncover what models of education they used in the past, and an analysis is worth making to see if these past approaches are the best option for our context today. Do our modern societies require a different approach? What is the best pedagogical approach for Christian schools to take today?

These are important questions that we need to explore, and of course they are too big to answer in one essay. An extensive and multifaceted study is warranted to help us think about these questions. Nevertheless, I hope here to make a start and offer a small contribution towards this discussion. I will start to lay some foundations for thinking about Christian education and I will make the following claim: that properly Christian schools are inherently Socratic – because they are formed in line with the Platonic notion of freedom.

(a) What is a Christian school? Quite simply a Christian school is a school that educates a child in line with the Christian word view. So the question we need to ask is (b) what are the basic precepts of the Christian world view which will prescribe the school’s character. Specifically, as educators, we are interested in how Christianity qualifies ‘the anthropological’ and the ‘ontological’ question.

What are the anthropological and ontological questions?

‘Anthropological’ means to talk about the anthropo, which is just the Greek word for person. It is the study of what it means to be a person. ‘Ontological’ means to talk about onta, which is just the Greek word for creatures (or beings). Roughly speaking it is the study of ‘what exists’.

In the field of education the anthropological question asks: who is the child? What basic characteristics of the child's humanity need to be realised for the child to exist and develop in an authentic and healthy way. In other words, what sort of being is the child and what does it mean for them to flourish. What sort of adult person is it therefore ideal for the child to become. What does it mean to mature in a healthy way?

The ontological question asks: what is the reality to which the child must relate to? Answering this question leads us to understand what demands are made on the person of our student that we need to help them to respond to.

The anthropological question is inextricably tied to the ontological question. Who we are, and what is our proper role in the world are questions that need to be answered together.

These two questions are (as far as I can fathom) the two most basic questions in educational thought. How we answer these defines how we think about every other aspect of education. In this sense we agree with Paolo Freire (1996:16) that education is never neutral. That is to say: our pedagogical practices (a) assume our underlying understanding of the person, their value, and their role in the world, and (b) in turn our practices invariably act to affirm these 'anthropological' and 'political' assumptions that we hold.

This is just a fancy way of saying that: we treat our students the way that we believe is best for them, we educate them in the ways that we think they learn best, and we teach them stuff that we believe to be true. People disagree about what constitutes the most appropriate educational practices, because we disagree about what people are, what the purpose of life is, and what is true.

Axioms of the Christian worldview

I will now list some axioms of the Christian worldview that answer the anthropological and the ontological questions relevant to education. I will do so - as faithfully as I am able – from within the patristic Christian tradition, in line with Orthodox Christian theology.

In brief, our Christian theology tells us that:

1. We have an intrinsic nature.

2. This nature is good.

3. We have it, God gave it to us, and at the same time we need to apply ourselves to realise our nature. It is there as the ideal potential and purpose of our being, but we need to strive to manifest it. The human is perfected by manifesting the image and likeness of God that is in them.

4. God gave us freedom and we ought to use this freedom to achieve perfection.

5. Men and human societies are fallen. We have lost our human perfection but with God’s help we can labour to recover it.

6. This is where human happiness lies. This is the ultimate human achievement, the purpose of our life. Each person was created for this ultimate joy.

7. This act of recovering God’s image and likeness within ourselves is very important. The choices each person makes in this life will have eternal consequences.

8. Wisdom, intentionality and purpose are required to live our life well/to achieve the true aims of our life.

9. God loves and cares for each person.

God created each person in His own image and likeness (Genesis 1:26). The simplest thing we can learn from this is that we have an image and a likeness. This way of being, or let’s call it our nature, is good (Genesis 1:31). Indeed, it is divinely good. It is valuable¹.

This is something that we are because God created us so, and yet, it is something that we need to sustain. God has given us a manual on how to keep His creation functioning at its best, as intended. He has given us instructions - invaluable information, about how this machine that he created operates. These are God’s commandments given by God in the old testament and further ‘explained’ to us in the New testament in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5).

Perfection is hardwired into our being, but we need to realise this perfection freely through the behaviours we choose and the habits we form. This is why the Lord completes his sermon on the mount by saying: ‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect’ (Matthew 5:48). The first part of Christ’s sermon, the beatitudes, tells us what human perfection is so that we may achieve it, and at the end, God tells us to be perfect. This is not rhetorical form on God’s part. Christ gives us an instruction to become perfect because it is something we can do and need to actively do. He calls us to realise this potential because (a) we have this potential written in us and (b) we have been given freedom to achieve this through our actions.

We are brought to our other point: God gave us freedom. I do not know the full extent of our freedom. Genesis 1:26 suggests that we have some authority over the natural world. Our study of physics testifies to this: that the material world responds to the human observer (or actor). Many of our observations in philosophy about how reality works (phenomenology is an example) also try to describe that reality somehow responds to our human interaction. I am not able to delineate the extent of the ‘human freedom’ that is written into the way we are made, however, for our present purposes, what we are told clearly in the bible is that people have ‘moral freedom’. We have the capacity to define, by our choices, the degree to which we are good and beautiful akin to our Creator – or alternatively the degree to which we distort the divine image on which we are modelled.

With God's grace this 'impossible' task of achieving a God like perfection is possible for each and every human being who desires it and seeks it. As the apostle Matthew tells us: "...seek, and you will find...". If you think about it, anyone in their right mind would be overwhelmed. Becoming ‘perfect like our father in heaven is perfect’, restoring God’s image and likeness in ourselves, is no easy task! We would be correct even to say that this is an impossible task. Yet Christianity makes this high-calling. What is impossible with men is possible with God.

Our humble condition does not prevent us from achieving our potential perfection but we need to strive towards it. Notice what the apostle Paul says: ‘Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the first’, and ‘for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.’

From this we conclude that the high-calling of achieving perfection (that is: realising to the ultimate degree our God given image and likeness that is inherent in our being) is for everyone. Each person, though we have moved away from this perfection, can restore God’s image and likeness in us through our free choices. By re-orienting our being towards the good – towards God.

We can see from the very first point that a Christian education would be built around the ‘Platonic notion’ of freedom as opposed to the ‘modern notion’. For Christian educators this means that schooling we provide should build up the child’s ability to practice the virtues, and to establish themselves on the path to achieve their divine calling. The content of the education takes this purpose into account. The content we choose to use would ideally inspire children to be virtuous; it would ignite a fire in them to aim for the divine; it would lead them to look outside themselves, beyond their own desires, and up towards a noble aim in life.

In general men and human societies have fallen away from the perfection of our God's given image². Much of how we are, how we live, our cultures and societal practices are ‘fallen’. This is just theological language that means we are less than the ideal. The Greek word for sin is ἁμαρτάνω and it means to miss the mark, to fall short of your aim.

Our act in this life is to reorient ourselves towards God and become capable once more of sharing in His Life eternally³. The Greek word for repentance is μετάνοια and it simply means to change your mind – to turn away from your mistakes and to reorient yourself towards what is good. Towards what is good for you (achieving the perfection you are capable of) and towards what is Good. Towards God (Mark 10:18).

This high calling requires intentionality, wisdom and effort. We are to '...work out your own salvation in fear and trembling...' (Phillipians 2:12). To achieve it, perhaps obviously, we need to aim at it and strive for it. Again, we need to apply our freedom if we are to achieve our fulfilment.

What I have said so far could also be phrased so: Human happiness depends on our relationship with God. We become complete, perfect, as we uncover God’s likeness and image in us, as we become more akin to God. We draw closer to Him as we become like him. As the apostle John explains (I John 2), we ought to imitate Christ. We exist in a relationship of love with God when we follow His ordinances (John 14:15).

Furthermore, achieving our goal to imitate Christ is infinitely important because: our existence continues eternally after our conception (Matthew 6:35-40). God has intended for each of us to continue to live eternally in communion with Him in a blessed state (rejoicing in God's kingdom)⁴. Human flourishing is an eternal act where we exist in communion with God⁵.

Finally, our theology holds that God loves and cares for each person. 'For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life'⁶.

The points I have noted here will seem basic and obvious to many. I have not said anything novel here. But as we go on to evaluate educational theories in subsequent papers it will become clear that these basic suppositions have far reaching consequences. For now, let me make only a general observation.

The Christian life is a joyful striving towards God – and against anything that would separate us from God. Christian life has a direction – onwards and upwards. A Christian does not find fulfilment by looking inwards on themselves, but outwards and upwards at what is greater than the self, and which gives the self its meaning. Christian education directs the minds eye outwards.

The human will has a vital role to play in life, but we are not counted as free merely by doing what we want. The will is something that needs to be directed by us and subordinated to a greater truth. We say to God ‘Thy will be done’, just as Jesus once said: ‘not my will be done but Thine’. A Christian education would cultivate self-discipline to enable the person to act freely and not be dragged along by their sheer will. Our volition is not our master but our servant.

Reality is not subjective. It is not the result of our own thoughts and feelings. Rather, reality is dialogical. It is a communion between us and a greater truth. To quote a poem by Rebecca Zeniou:

‘to have your face turned towards God

and your heart raised on high

and your hands towards other people

is the only way to stand up straight.’

One can see that there is a natural alignment between Christian educational thought and the ‘Platonic’ analysis. A Christian education would see itself as needing to contribute to the ultimate aim of human life – of orienting the heart and mind towards what is valuable, good and true. Freedom has several meanings in Christian theology but one of its meanings goes something like this: a state of being where your soul is able to soar upwards towards God who is ultimately good. A Christian education has as a purpose to give learners foundations for making good choices in their life. We are not teaching children to choose what they feel like, but to choose what will most profit them.

Another way to say the point I am making above is that: Christian schools need to teach proper discrimination.

Discrimination has become a big bad word these days, but it is a good word. We need to teach our kids to discriminate. Let me explain what I mean by this. The word discrimination has two meanings. According to the New Oxford American Dictionary:

1. The unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of ethnicity, age, sex or disability.

We can all agree that it is bad to be prejudiced in this first sense – we can all agree that it is unfair to be unfair, and no one wants to harm other people (that’s what prejudicial means…). The second meaning however is a good one:

2. Recognition and understanding of the difference between one thing and another: discrimination between right and wrong: young children have difficulties in making fine discriminations.

• the ability to judge what is of high quality; good judgement or taste: those who could afford to buy showed little taste or discrimination.

• Psychology the ability to distinguish between different stimuli

One cannot think without discriminating. In fact, if you want to be exact, one cannot even see what is in front of them without discriminating. Certainly, one cannot assess the value of things and make profitable choices between options without discriminating. Wisdom is all about discriminating the true meaning and value of things.

Contemporary trends are all about (a) taking discrimination out of learning and (b) using education to wash discrimination out of society. The big mistake often being made however is that they conflate the two meanings of the word. We all agree that the first meaning is bad, and our emotion results in us rejecting much of what is good and essential about discrimination. A proper education is certainly one that gives learners the tools to discriminate properly.

I want to say two things here. The first is that discrimination has two distinct meanings and let us not forget that. Let’s not get so over-excited about being anti-discriminatory that we lose our ability to appreciate the importance of discrimination. Here is the definition of discrimination given in the glossary of The Philokalia (probably the most authoritative text in eastern Christianity after the bible):

‘DISCRIMINATION (διάκρισις): a spiritual gift permitting one to discriminate between the types of thought that enter into one’s mind, to assess them accurately and to treat them accordingly. Through this gift one gains ‘discernment of spirits’ – that is, the ability to distinguish between the thoughts or visions inspired by God and the suggestions or fantasies coming from the devil. It is a kind of eye or lantern of the soul by which man finds his way along the spiritual path without falling into extremes; thus it includes the idea of discretion.’

Sounds pretty important does it not? Discrimination (discernment) is a crucially important skill in the life of a Christian. When your life has an aim and a direction, you need to be able to assess which actions and choices are leading you in the direction you want to go. When sin is a failure to achieve your aim; and personal disasters are the acts that move you away from God - then you need to be able distinguish which actions will benefit you.

I dare say, the art of living well can be described as the ability to discriminate (to choose wisely). A lot is at stake therefore when we speak about discrimination, and we should not be so imprecise about our language as to just pretend that all discrimination is bad. This is the first thing I want to draw attention to: that there are two meanings to the word, and these cannot be conflated.

The second thing I want to say however is that often the problem is not linguistic. We notice in many contemporary references to discrimination that the boundaries between the two meanings are not kept and discrimination in the second sense of the word is considered as bad as the first sense. Many people think that we have no right to consider that certain lifestyles and choices are harmful to humans. They say that if we esteem certain actions to be inappropriate, then we are being ‘intolerant and bigoted’.

I have said above that Christian education needs to give learners the tools they need to make proper discriminations. This is the same as saying that education needs to lead to wisdom so that learners can navigate their own life, distinguish between what will benefit them and what will harm them, so that they can make profitable choices in life and thus build up a healthy future for themselves (and for their communities while they are at it). So that they can fulfil the purpose of life – which is to find the pearl of great price. And when they find it they need to recognise it, so that they can sell all of their other possessions to acquire this one thing that is needful. Given how important this is for Christian education let me end by commenting then on this confusion.

We can see in contemporary discourse that people are confused about the ethics of discrimination. This is because they consider that ‘discriminating against’ (judging) an action that a person engages in is the same thing as ‘discriminating against’ (judging) the person. The two are different though. Christians do not discriminate against people. Christ told us clearly that we are not to judge other people. At the same time we are told clearly that we are to evaluate actions and choose well. Our choices matter eternally because they shape who we will be.

I think this confusion arises because of a precursory confusion about identity. Christians, as I have said above, believe that our identity, our nature and our infinite value come from our creation. They come from the fact that God made us and loves us. Each person has intrinsic value merely because they exist. Nothing we do, neither good (our virtues) nor bad (our sins) changes our human worth. Our choices will make our life blessed or cursed, but they will not diminish our value. This is why Christians are called to love every person, every sinner and even those who would have been their personal enemies.

Christians are not interested in ‘identity’ in two senses. We are not unduly impressed by the ‘identities’ that people give themselves through their choices and how they present themselves to the world – for we know that under our socio-cultural personas we all share a common human hypostasis. And this humanity is the more important aspect of ourselves. Secondly, this humanity is not affected by what characteristics we happen to have by birth such as our skin colour, our ethnic background, our sex or our general attractiveness or intelligence. These are accidental if you like to our humanity. A Christian education then would be characterised by a focus on human excellence irrespective of other casual or accidental characteristics.

When one does not acknowledge the God given dignity of each person then they may be left to depend on more incidental characteristics. Our chosen identity (made up by our life-choices) or the ‘identity’ we are born into such as our ethnicity, our sex or our economic class - becomes all important. It needs to be valued when we cannot see a value that transcends it. Our modern western societies think of man as being made up by this and that element of their identity that they have chosen, or they were born with, and which is supposed to define them. As Christians we say: No. A person is created by God and he is loved by Him eternally. Our behaviours, our ideas and our beliefs and other incidental characteristics do not define us essentially. The way we present ourselves is a ‘casual characteristic’ that can change, will change and ought to change. This changing is called learning. The person and their value however are eternal. God loves the eternal person - not some flimsy, patchily composed, or accidental ‘identity’.

I don’t have to agree with everything you do to love you. Indeed, if I love you, I will experience it as a tragedy when you choose things that are harming you and are distracting you from eternal joy and perfection. Christians weep for the evil they see in the world. Knowing the unimaginable greatness that people are capable of, they see clearly the devastating tragedy that sin constitutes. A Christian understands that the purpose of knowledge is to develop a truthful worldview. Because truth is useful – it sets you free. It enables you to make the choices that will profit you – the choices that will open the way for you to achieve the purpose of life. Therefore, the Christian can say together with king Solomon:

‘Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,
but whoever hates correction is stupid.’

Bibliography

St. Basil the Great (2005) On the Human Condition, St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, New York

Freire, P. (1996) Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Penguin Books, London

Archimandrite Sophrony (1974) Wisdom From Mount Athos, The Writings of Staretz Silouan 1866-1938, translated from the Russian by Edmonds, R., St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, New York

Archimandrite Vasileios (1984) Hymn of Entry, Liturgy and Life in the Orthodox Church, St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, New York

Archimandrite Zacharias (2017) The Eternal Today, Journeying with the Church in the Light of the Feasts, Stavropegic Monastery of St. John the Baptist, Essex, England

Saint Theophan the Recluse, Turning the Heart to God, translated from the Russian by Kaisch, K. and Zhiltson, I., Concilliar Press, California

1. For a deeper discussion of this see St. Basil the Great (2005: 32)

2. See Lewis (1952: 48)

3. See Archimandrite Vasileios (1984: 118)

4. See Saint Theophan the Recluse (2001: xxxix)

5. See Archimandrite Zacharias (2017: 129)

6. See Archimandrite Sophrony (1974: 24)