BECOMING WHOLE and and HOLY PERSONS a View of Christian
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BECOMING WHOLE AND AND HOLY PERSONS A View of Christian Liberal Arts Education at Bethel University Stanley D. Anderson Bethel University Saint Paul, Minnesota 2012 The gifts he [Christ] gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love. Ephesians 4:11-16, NRSV The Scripture portions contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, by the Division of Education of the National Council of Churches in the U. S. A. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The views presented in this book are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the policies of the Bethel administration or faculty. TO THE READER I came to write these chapters on Bethel College almost by accident. I was given a sabbatical leave for the spring term of 2000 to write an introductory book on ethics. At the same time, I was serving on the steering committee for the accreditation review of the College by North Central Association. I was asked by Dean Richard Sherry to write two essays for the review, one on how liberal arts was understood at Bethel and the other on how Bethel viewed itself as being Christian. The idea then emerged that these essays could be expanded into a book about Bethel that could help students, faculty members, parents, alumni, and trustees to gain a better sense of what the liberal arts programs at Bethel University are all about. It was only after these chapters were written that Naomi Ludeman- Smith, Director of Freshman Seminar, decided to use them for this course, so some of them have been required reading for new students at Bethel since the fall of 2000. The nature of the book reflects my own academic bent as a philosopher who is intrigued with the ways that ideas and institutions are carried and modified through history. The book is very much about the history of Bethel, but it is not, strictly speaking, a history of Bethel College. Rather, it is a book about the influential people, significant events, and driving ideas that helped shape Bethel University into the institution that it is today. Bethel is very different today from what it was 44 years ago when I arrived, or even 10 years ago, but what it is today has been affected by its roots. The past does not determine the present, but it limits and informs it. We cannot really understand what Bethel is today without knowing something about its history and the ideas that have informed it. Since these chapters are more about the present than about the past, they must be constantly re-written because the present is always becoming the past. Administrative leaders and faculty have retired, and new ones are hired. Many who influenced Bethel in the past have died. So in the summer of 2004, and again in the summer of 2005, the chapters were revised to reflect changes at Bethel since 2000. In 2112, a chapter on the maturing person was added to describe the kind of person that Bethel has as an ideal for its students faculty and the chapter on Bethel as a Christian community was revised to reflect the views of new leaders in the Office of Christian Ministries and the Office of Student Life. Much of Bethel’s academic life is found in its academic departments and their programs. Many of these departments have matured and are doing outstanding work in their programs, writing and research. Reviewing what is being accomplished in 27 departments has proved more than can be handled in this book, so that will need to be done in other ways. But why should I be the one to interpret Bethel and write such a book? First, I have been on the faculty at Bethel for 44 years, including four years on the Snelling Avenue campus, which is two thirds of the time that the senior college has existed. Second, my area of research interest is in American higher education. I have read many books and articles on the subject, so I am able to understand Bethel in its larger historical and educational context. Third, I have served on mission task groups, and curriculum and long-range planning committees where many ideas about Bethel were discussed and documents written. The ideas presented in this book thus represent the lore that has developed within Bethel in its history more than my own individual ideas. At the same time, it is impossible for any set of documents or any person to capture fully what a dynamic institution such as Bethel University is all about. Bethel University consists of Bethel Seminary, the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), and the College of Adult and Professional Studies and Graduate School(CAPS/GS). I have chosen to write only about the College of Arts and Sciences and CAP/GS because this is what I know about. Even though the Seminary and College formed one institution, their programs and faculty have developed separately. Writing these chapters has been a great learning experience for me, and I hope that reading them will be a great learning experience for you as well. Stanley D. Anderson Professor of Philosophy Emeritus Bethel University Saint Paul, Minnesota August 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 -- BETHEL BACKGROUNDS 1 CHAPTER 2 -- FROM COLLEGE TO UNIVERSITY 19 CHAPTER 3 -- A CHRISTIAN LEARNING COMMUNITY 43 CHAPTER 4 -- A LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE 61 CHAPTER 5 -- THE MATURING PERSON 79 CHAPTER 6 -- FAITH AND LEARNING 103 CHAPTER 6 -- ACADEMIC FREEDOM 119 CHAPTER 7 -- A CHRISTIAN’S VOCATION 135 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 157 1 From Stanley D. Anderson, Becoming Whole and Holy Persons: A View of 1 Christian Liberal Arts Education at Bethel University (St. Paul: Bethel University, 2011). CHAPTER 1 BETHEL BACKGROUNDS Introduction When I was a junior in college, I lived in a rooming house with five other men. This was the second year that we resided together, and four of us had lived together on the same floor in the freshman dorm—so we thought we knew each other quite well. During spring vacation, we piled into my 1958 Chevy and headed east, stopping at the homes of three of us along the way. It was then that I discovered that you really do not know people until you know something about their background— the place where they grew up, what their parents are like, who their siblings and friends are, and how they relate to them. This was illustrated in a small way by my roommate, who was from suburban Philadelphia. His mother’s ailments were a major reason why he chose to major in biology, and later to earn his doctorate and become a professor of biology at a Christian college in New York. Every morning he used to make his bed and then with a great flurry fold his comforter so that it looked something like a butterfly. I could not understand why he did this until I got to his home and discovered that his mother had folded a quilt and put it at the foot of his bed in the very same way. What is true of individuals is also true of institutions. Over a period of time, they develop a culture—traditions, values, and ways of doing things. Many of these persist even though people who constitute the institutions come and go. The major reason for studying history is to understand ourselves and our institutions as well as other people and their institutions. Knowledge of the origins and history of Bethel College will enable one to have a much better understanding of why it is the way it is today. The Origins of the Baptist General Conference Pietism Bethel University is a church–related institution. This is not unusual because most liberal arts colleges in the United States are or have been church–related. For many of them, however, this means little more than a connection to their past history, but Bethel is different. Bethel has a close connection to the Baptist General Conference, now named “Converge Worldwide,” that continues until the present 2 time. The denomination consists of approximately 900 churches with 140,000 members spread throughout the United States and Canada, but primarily in Minnesota, the mid–west, and the west coast, and partner churches planted through missions in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. The origins of the Baptist General Conference go back to a pietistic revival in Sweden in the last half of the nineteenth century that also brought into being what are now the Evangelical Covenant Church and the Evangelical Free Church. Those who became Baptists were of necessity more radical because their stance on adult baptism was more at odds with the state church. The Lutheran Church of Sweden was truly a state church, being legally subordinate to the king, who appointed all of the bishops.