Faith, Learning and Christian Higher Education Author Millis, Brian David Published 2005 Thesis Type Thesis (Professional Doctorate) School School of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning DOI https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/1192 Copyright Statement The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise. Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/366985 Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au FAITH, LEARNING AND CHRISTIAN HIGHER EDUCATION by Brian David Millis B.A.(Qld), BEd (CHC), MEdAdmin (UNE) School of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning Faculty of Education Griffith University Queensland, Australia Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Education October 2004 ii Statement of originality This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself. Brian David Millis 4 October 2004 iii Faith, Learning and Christian Higher Education Abstract Responding to the absence of readily available models in Australia for thinking about Christian higher education, this thesis investigates what might constitute its foundational principles and distinctive character. The thesis considers the Western Christian tradition, the history of the university, and the contemporary experience of Christian higher education in the United States to identify models for thinking about Christian higher education. It is argued that a central issue to be addressed in developing a distinctively Christian approach to scholarship is the relationship of faith and reason, an issue to which the Christian tradition offers a range of approaches. The question of faith and reason has a wider cultural significance since, it is argued, Western culture is fundamentally constituted by the relationship of Jerusalem and Athens, in which the inherent tensions do not obscure an ultimate commitment to the unity of truth. In contemporary debates over Christian higher education, the concept of faith-learning integration is a central issue. Given the variety of definitions and models proposed, the thesis considers the approaches which have been adopted in the Christian tradition. The approaches of Philo and the Church Fathers to classical learning are considered, with extended attention given to the “faith seeking understanding” model attributed to iv St Augustine. Drawing upon Neoplatonism, Augustine’s theory of illumination explained why true knowledge was dependent upon divine revelation. Augustine’s approach also held that “all truth is God’s truth”, and justified the appropriation of classical learning as analogous to the Hebrews “spoiling Egypt” at the time of the Exodus. The Augustinian approach offers significant insight into the role of the will and the affections in knowing, and justifies belief as a reliance upon authority. While Augustine’s is not the only model that might validly be termed “Christian”, and is not without its problems, it is a model which still has much to offer to Christian higher education today. The Augustinian approach has a profound historical significance since it established the epistemological framework for western Christendom throughout the middle ages. In responding to the criticism that the term “Christian university” is an oxymoron, the thesis also considers aspects of the history of the medieval and Reformation universities, seeking to establish the extent to which it is possible for the university to be regarded as a Christian institution. It is argued that the university did not arise out of the rediscovery of Aristotelian philosophy, and that it is indeed possible to regard the university as a Christian institution for much of its history. The possibility of a Christian university today is thus not inconsistent with the history and institutional character of the university. The contributions to thinking about faith and learning and Christian higher education of Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and John Henry Newman are also discussed. One of the critical tasks of Christian higher education generally, and of a Christian university specifically, is the synthesis or integration of faith and learning, of v which both Augustine and Thomas Aquinas were exemplars. It is argued however that, while the Thomistic approach can validly be termed “Christian”, it has been more successfully pursued in Catholic institutions than in their Protestant counterparts in which a central authority to regulate the boundaries of the domains of faith and reason is absent. A critical issue for Christian higher education today is that of secularising pressures, and thus the recent history of the secularisation of Christian higher education institutions in the United States is also considered. It is argued that the secularisation of these institutions was due particularly to the view of faith and learning which they had adopted. The study concludes that the “worldview” approach advocated by Abraham Kuyper offers an approach to scholarship which is both resistant to secularisation, and consistent with the Christian tradition, particularly as expressed by Augustine and Calvin. vi FAITH , LEARNING AND CHRISTIAN HIGHER EDUCATION Table of Contents 1. Introduction 1 2. Definitional Questions 21 3. Early Christianity and the Classical Heritage 38 4. Augustine 48 5. The University and the Aristotelian Synthesis 80 6. Thomas Aquinas 111 7. The University and the Reformation 124 8. The Modern Idea of a Christian University 137 9. Christian Higher Education in the USA 148 10. Conclusions and Reflections 159 References 181 vii Writings of St Augustine Latin titles and English equivalents For the convenience of the reader, English translations are used for the titles of Augustine’s works in citations in this thesis. English rendering of the Latin titles generally follow Bourke (1974). A simplified format for paragraph numbering has also been employed throughout the thesis. Against the Academics Contra Academicos Answers to Eighty-three Different De diversis Quaestionibus LXXXIII Questions City of God De civitate Dei Confessions Confessiones Epistle of John to the Parthians In Epistolam Joannis ad Parthos Expositions of the Psalms Enarrationes in Psalmos Letters Epistolae Literal Commentary on Genesis De Genesi ad litteram On Christian Doctrine De doctrina Christiana On the Ideas De Ideis On Order De Ordine On the Freedom of the Will De libero arbitrio On the Gospel of John In Joannis Evangelium On the Predestination of the Saints De praedestinatione Sanctorum On the Spirit and the Letter De spiritu et littera On the Teacher De Magistro On the Trinity De Trinitate On the Value of Believing De utilitate credendi On True Religion De vera religione Retractations Retractationes Sermons Sermones Soliloquies Soliloquia The most readily available collection of Augustine’s works is to be found in the First Series of Philip Schaff (ed.) (1884, reprinted 1979), A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church. 1 Chapter 1 Introduction This thesis investigates ideas of Christian higher education, and their roots in the Western Christian tradition. The issue of Christian higher education in Australia can be seen in the context of Christian education more generally. Christian education has been experiencing rapid growth in Australia over the past twenty-five years at primary and secondary levels (vide Long 1996), and the Christian schools sector now consists of more than two hundred and fifty schools educating more than 77,000 students (Crimmins 2004). This growth is beginning to be reflected in higher education as well, particularly as a consequence of the need for teacher education programs which reflect the distinctives of Christian education, and serve needs of the Christian schools sector for initial teacher education and for professional development. Discussion of the growth of Christian education is complicated by questions of terminology. The term “Christian education” logically refers to any educational philosophy or practice that reflects Christian theology or principles, broadly defined. But the term can also be a convenient shorthand expression of a more specific meaning for evangelical Protestants, amongst whom there often exists a shared understanding of a Christian vision of education that transcends denominational labels and divisions. Thus the term “Christian schools” is commonly used to identify a relatively recent development in Australian education, namely the multiplication and growth of low-fee 2 non-government schools, attached to evangelical Protestant churches or governed by groups of Christian parents, and sharing a conviction of the authority of Scripture. This thesis will use the term “Christian education” for convenience and simplicity, and whether it is being used in a broad sense or in a more specifically Protestant sense will generally be evident from the context. Turning now to the profile of Christian higher education in Australia, it is apparent that the Catholic commitment to school education has translated into a significant presence in higher education, with the amalgamation of the Catholic teachers’ colleges into the multi-state, multi-campus Australian Catholic University following the Dawkins reforms to Australian higher education in 1988-89. Other significant developments in Catholic higher education in Australia include the establishment