Hamline University
I recently ran across an admissions pamphlet from nearby Hamline University. I was struck by so many things that make it clear how favorably our University compares to theirs.
Without even looking at their materials there is evidence that our University is better. Hamline is in the same class of universities as ours and the secular, liberal media ranks Hamline higher than our University. So that’s one in our favor.
But their materials make it clear that there are fundamental differences between our approaches to education. On the cover of their pamphlets in the largest font is the phrase “CHANGE AHEAD…” Then in smaller font below, you read phrases like “YOUR MIND”, “YOUR EXPECTATIONS”, “YOUR LIFE”, etc. This all goes along with the secular theories I have already blogged about concerning what learning is. Secularist say that learning is related to changing one’s mind in some way.
The Bubble
Not so here at our University. In our material, we also mention “change” prominently. We say “Take the Next Step: Change Your World”. No two philosophies of learning could be more different. They want people to change their minds. We Christians want to change the world to make it conform to what we know to be the truth, to what we know to be right, to what we know.
This brings me to “The Bubble” that our students often talk about. We have, in fact, changed our world. We have done so, for the sake of the children, by creating “The Bubble”: a world in which only the truth is heard; a world in which those who don’t believe are not allowed; a world in which the lies of the outside are never heard. Yes, we have completely changed our world!
Duane Litfin talks about this in Chapter 6 of his book Conceiving the Christian College. We Christians can and must say to the world, “Thus saith the Lord.” And the world must must must conform to our desires when we do.
But at Hamline, it is just the opposite. They want their students to look at the world outside “The Bubble”. They want their students to change their minds (I’m not making this up) when logic or evidence oppose the truth that they learned in Sunday school. Seriously, they practically say on their admission materials that they want this.
Our Seminary: no mind-changing allowed
Our Seminary is a beautiful illustration of the proper approach to education. Before enrolling in our Seminary, every prospective student must sign our statement of faith that specifies what they must believe before entering. This goes along with Duane Litfin’s points about having the right presuppositions in order to maintain a balanced epistemology. Furthermore, a condition of graduation from our Seminary is that students must sign the same statement of faith again. This is to make sure they haven’t done any of what the secularists call “learning” but we call “intellectual capriciousness”. (I borrow that phrase from my theological hero here at our University.)
My posts usually have a moral and this one is no exception. If you want your children to change their minds at the whim of logic and evidence, send them to Hamline. If you want your children to live in a world that has been changed so that such logic and evidence is never presented and they only see the truths they learned in Sunday school, send them to our University.
I say that, actually, with some reservation. As I have mentioned before, there are some even here at our University who intentionally expose their students to questions. I have some doubt about our new president’s desire to root such people out the Duane Litfin way.
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