Holy Ignorance | Kerkgenootschap der Zevende-dags Adventisten

In recent years a trend has emerged in politics, in society, and in the church. More and more people have rejected intellectualism, and are turning towards fundamentalism. This is a trend that has seeped deep beneath the skin of our church, threatening to undermine our educational initiatives and institutions. I see this as a big problem.

Text by Dr Tihomir Lazić

This trend has two starting points that are almost direct opposites. On the one hand, many people seem to think that Adventist education only has one goal: to support what our pioneers believed, and to help us understand and carry on the norms and traditions we have inherited. Any departure from this way of looking at the past is seen as apostasy, undermining the truths of our faith. If this is our starting point, it is very important that Adventist institutions and authorised staff pass on the correct knowledge.

Students are then trained to repeat the ‘right’ answers, which have already been predetermined. Every now and then they are also asked to find better words to describe existing perspectives. Students are not encouraged to think for themselves, or to come up with creative and constructive solutions to new problems. They are taught to be obedient, and to agree with the opinions of those who came before them.

Radical Democracy

On the other hand, we see a movement that rejects all authority and tradition. This group thinks that learning should be radically democratic. In this case there is no need to listen to other people—you alone decide what you think about God, yourself, and the world. This vision of education undermines the value of experts, because everyone is an expert in whatever they want. Just Google what you want to know and choose the opinions that best overlap with your own predetermined views. Every preference and opinion is equally valid, and formal education is denounced as useless.

With an open spirit, we can be original thinkers—thinkers in God’s image.

Both visions of Adventist education make the human mind passive, and turn us into lazy thinkers. Never in all of history have we had so much information at our fingertips, and never have we been so unable to critically evaluate it, or to apply it creatively. Our traditional ideas about learning lead to sheep-like conformity and sameness, but this radically democratic approach also leads to ignorant, narrow, uncritical, and utterly subjective thinking patterns.

Both of these anti-intellectual impulses are slowly leading us into a fundamentalist, post-fact world, in which facts are opinions and opinions are facts. In this world people are ever more vulnerable to manipulation and power games.

Looking for New Ideals in Education

As we observe this global contempt of learning, we are faced with some crucial questions: As Adventists, how should we react? Should we ignore it? Should we fight it? Should we flee to the hills? Is it best to just go with the flow, or should we try to have a constructive conversation? Do we take it as an opportunity to deepen and strengthen Adventist education? Perhaps we can see this anti-intellectualism as a warning bell. Perhaps we are missing something essential in the way we train our members.

While I was studying for my PhD at Oxford University several years ago, I had to participate in an educational seminar. In this seminar we talked about different theories of learning, and various strategies for helping the human mind reach its full potential. We learnt that there are three major approaches to education.

Trends in Education

In the first approach the focus is on information-gathering. This method of education values students that can remember and reproduce large amounts of information. Students who can do these things well are seen as the best and most capable, and their education is focused on gaining factual knowledge—an extremely detailed accumulation of dates, places, people, and events. The more rare and obscure the knowledge you can reproduce, the more educated you are. In exams students are expected to reproduce the teacher’s words, which are the source of all knowledge.

In the second approach, educational institutions prioritise the ability to analyse and apply knowledge. Students must do more than repeat the knowledge of their teachers: they must also be able to analyse sources. They need to be aware of the philosophical assumptions that underlie certain information, and are trained to apply this knowledge in a variety of different situations. ‘The point is not to give the student a fish, but to teach them how to fish for themselves’, you will often hear these people say. The teacher becomes a partner in conversation, or a facilitator who does not necessarily have all the answers, but who can offer the student the tools they need to access knowledge on their own.

The third approach sees the value in the second, but wants to take it a step further. This approach values innovation, and trains students to forge their own paths and develop new knowledge. The road to innovation is the road less travelled in today’s education, and with good reason. It is by far the most difficult. It takes years and years to train someone to think outside the box, but the original thinkers this approach produces are well worth the effort.

Three Phases

Some people say that these three approaches are actually the three phases in higher education. In your Bachelor’s you mostly learn facts, in your Master’s you focus on critical analysis and application, and in a PhD you learn to be innovative and develop new knowledge. I don’t believe that these three roads are three sequential phases. I think that we need to train people in all three simultaneously. They should be should be encouraged at all levels of education, and certainly in our Sabbath Schools. This is the only way to escape the profile that Adventists often fall into: highly educated people who can’t think for themselves, and who rely on others to do their thinking for them. People who cannot find the right answers when they come into contact with new questions, or the right direction when they find themselves alone in a new situation.

A New Opportunity

I believe that original thinkers are what Adventist education needs—from Sabbath School all the way through university. This highest level of education is exactly what Ellen White fought for her entire life. She had a great deal of criticism about the education in her time, arguing that ‘our ideas of education take too narrow and too low a range’, and that there is ‘need of a broader scope, a higher aim’ (Education, p. 1). She warned her readers with the following words:

‘Every human being, created in the image of God, is endowed with a power akin to that of the Creator—individuality, power to think and to do. The men in whom this power is developed are the men who bear responsibilities, who are leaders in enterprise, and who influence character. It is the work of true education to develop this power, to train the youth to be thinkers, and not mere reflectors of other men’s thought’ (Education, p. 17).

Education needs to do more than just point to what other people have said and written. We need to train people to be original, responsible thinkers, who can look at the world with fresh eyes and see endless opportunity. It is only with open eyes and a gentle spirit that we can understand the depth and beauty of God’s work, and the mysteries of his revelations. Only in this spirit can we build on and strengthen our faith.

Present Truth

This educational ideal is also necessary if we want to hold on to the dynamic understanding of truth that the earliest Adventists had. According to our pioneers, the true remnant is a community of pilgrims who are always on the move—always on the way to a more complete truth, and constantly growing in their knowledge of God. Their path ‘is like the light of the dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day’ (Proverbs 4:18).

For this very reason Ellen White often reminded the church of the new spiritual opportunities arising from the richness of God’s Word. ‘We have seen only the glimmering of divine glory and of the infinitude of knowledge and wisdom; we have, as it were, been working on the surface of the mine, when rich golden ore is beneath the surface, to reward the one who will dig for it. The shaft must be sunk deeper and yet deeper in the mine, and the results will be glorious treasure. Through a correct faith, divine knowledge will become human knowledge’ (Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 104).

Constant Change

Ellen White believed no one should ever come to the conclusion that ‘there is no more truth to be revealed. The diligent, prayerful seeker for truth will find precious rays of light yet to shine forth from the word of God. Many gems are yet scattered that are to be gathered together to become the property of the remnant people of God’ (Counsels on Sabbath School, p. 34).

That’s why the first Adventists thought it was important to remain open to greater knowledge of God’s truth. God had already brought them closer to this truth, step by step, and the church needed to be willing to ‘exchange a thousand errors for one truth’, as J. N. Andrews once said. The church must be ready for constant change, so that it can continue to embrace the Present Truth.

Being Open to God

If Adventist education really aims to help members in their continual search for deeper understanding, we need to intentionally create systems that open minds. We need to nurture a spirit that is open to new revelations from God. When God sends us new light, we must be ready to receive it, and to deal with the unexplored realities it presents.

That is why it is so important that we engage with people who have a very different view of the world, of theology, and of Christianity. In all my years of study, I have always found that there is no better way to understand yourself or your faith than to discuss it with someone who challenges you. Entering into a dialogue with someone who shows you your own prejudices and assumptions always encourages you to think in a fresh new way.

Of course, this route is challenging and sometimes risky. It’s one that should be walked carefully, and always with God. It is also a road that must be taken if we want to develop a spirit open to new light. Without this openness we will not grow in our knowledge of God. With an open spirit we are also better equipped to deal with the dangers of ‘holy ignorance’ and fundamentalism. These dangers are on the rise in our post-truth world.

With an open spirit, we can be original thinkers—thinkers in God’s image. Original thinkers do more than reflect other people’s faith, and can understand the many depths of God’s revelation. Original thinkers stand strong in their faith, ever-ready to follow new light to God.

Dr Tihomir Lazić is a Lecturer in Systematic Theology at Newbold College (UK). He is also responsible for Public Campus Ministries at the Trans-European Division (TED). This article is a translation from that in Advent 2 of 2017.