Integrating Faith and Learning: A Complex Task
The integration of faith and learning is a complex task that has been debated by scholars for centuries. At its core, it involves combining the principles of Christianity with academic disciplines to create a holistic approach to education. However, this task is not without its challenges.
Different Approaches to Integration
Several authors have attempted to provide guides for faculty on how to integrate faith and learning. Mark Cosgrove and Harry Lee Poe use different labels for these approaches, but they share some commonalities. One approach views faith and learning as complementary sources of truth that run parallel to each other but do not truly influence one another. This approach typically emerges in the classroom through the use of biblical analogies and metaphors.
Another approach, described by Poe as “over-under,” views faith as a predetermined understanding of what kind of knowledge is possible based on a particular reading of Scripture. However, this approach can be problematic due to the wide variety of influences on the individual scholar’s interpretive grid.
A More Rigorous Approach
Cosgrove and Poe agree that a more rigorous approach to integration is necessary. This approach, labeled “critical engagement” and “foundational authority,” respectively, allows scholars to ask ethical, philosophical, and theological questions. It uses the integrative task as a filter to evaluate the content of the academic discipline and can change how the scholar thinks.
William Hasker’s Categorization
William Hasker categorizes approaches to integration differently. He focuses on whether the scholar primarily finds agreement or tension between faith and learning. Scholars who take a compatibilist approach see no real tension between their faith and academic disciplines. Those who take a transformationist approach find the relationship between faith and learning more problematic and seek to transform the content into one with a Christian orientation.
Reconstructionist Approach
Hasker’s reconstructionist approach involves completely re-creating the academic discipline from a Christian foundation. This approach uses entirely different methodologies and points of inquiry. While Hasker sees value in all three approaches, he urges integrationists to honestly examine the relationship between Christian faith and academic content.
Epistemology and Hermeneutics
Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen identifies two typical approaches among Christian scholars. The objectivist view relies on the belief that one can progressively uncover the truths embedded in the world created and sustained by God. The perspectival approach insists that all scholars engage in academic work with an inherent bias based on their prior experiences and influences.
The Importance of Humility
Christian scholars must demonstrate a deep humility before a sovereign God before they can learn anything. This humility is essential for recognizing the limitations of human knowledge and the need for divine guidance.
A Worldview Approach
A worldview approach to integration draws from the nineteenth-century Dutch reformer Abraham Kuyper. This approach emphasizes the doctrine of God’s sovereignty over the entire world and insists on the perspective or subjectivity of the Christian scholar.
Key Questions for Integration
To integrate faith and learning effectively, scholars must ask key questions. What view of humankind does this academic discipline assume? How then does that either conform to or conflict with a biblical perspective? What view of God is underpinning this academic content? By asking these questions, scholars can create a more holistic approach to education that combines the principles of Christianity with academic disciplines.
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