President Jonathan Raymond has a blog. In October, he wrote a post outlining points about the need for, “UNITY in the UNI-versity,” concluding by stating, “The Christian university strives to achieve a unity which makes possible the achievements of its mission in fulfilling its ends.” In other words, Trinity Western University’s mission – to develop “godly” Christian leaders – cannot be achieved unless TWU departments, schools and faculties unite. The process here involves: Vision of Mission + Unification = Godly Christian leaders.
My argument here is that there is a conflict between the means and the ends. In that, despite my disagreement with the ambiguities in TWU’s mission as well as the Responsibilities of Membership, I do agree that there is an intense need for UNITY within the UNI-versity.
This is why: I know of far too many students who have become either cynical, depressed, apathetic, agnostic or atheist during their education here at TWU. Myself included. This is not to say any of these positions are wrong: agnosticism, I believe, is the most realistic arena to ask big existential questions – but they certainly do not follow TWU’s initial mission. While these “ends” cannot all be attributed to the school, I think in large part it is due to the “means” by which much of our education is presented.
The problem is an overwhelming, yet perhaps unintended, negative dialectic, specifically within the humanities department. Students are presented with the wrongs of the present status-quo (i.e. modernity), advised against the relativities that come with navigating alternatives (i.e. postmodernity), and all the while are having all their preconceptions slashed with very little reconstruction on behalf of the professors.
From the beginning of our time at TWU, we are immediately confronted with the unchallenged questions of modernism. In IDIS we learn to question modernist capabilities that science and technology can enable humans to progress towards a better world, and that because of modern disillusionment we now face environmental destruction, growing poverty, nuclear threat, economic problems and social disorder.
We are told the only way for “faithful Christian students” to overcome the collapse of modernity into postmodernity, without resorting to pluralism or relativism, is by understanding the impacts of modern humanism and where it is taking us, by deepening our discernment for faithful embodiment of the Gospel and by praying against the spirit of apostasy. We are advised what not to be, what we shouldn’t be, and meanwhile to hold on to what is true: the Gospel.
And yet how do we remain faithful to what is “true,” when all that we have known to be “true” is being radically shattered? In my last three years, I have been taught that most of the biblical narratives are mythical and not literal, that gender is a social construct and not biologically determined, that meaning is entirely subjective, that institutions should minimally be trusted, that Westerners are prone to narrow worldviews, and the list goes on and on.
It is not that I disagree with these teachings, it is that the means by which students are presented the information – the constant deconstruction which frequently lacks contextual grounding – leaves students on an existential hamster wheel, unable to grasp the sublime.
Here lies the paradox of a liberal arts education: students learn to become less dogmatic, more tolerant, open-minded, loving and engaged in life’s quest for truth, yet because we are stuck in theoretical malaise without real world solutions, we easily become disheartened and cynical.
This, I believe, can be counteracted in at least three ways. First, students should be persistent in their quest for meaning, constantly grappling with the issues even when it gets rough. Second, professors need to provide a philosophy of hope. If you are deconstructing the past, then at least provide an alternative hermeneutic. If you are just as uncertain, then let’s work collaboratively to help modernity deal with its problems before we resort to postmodernity. Third, TWU should “unify” the departments as President Raymond suggests, especially by using the sciences to bring new insight to the humanities.
There are other ways to inquire into what it means to be human, and there should be cooperative exploration of both the study of the natural world and of human activity, thought and behaviour. This requires more than just six credits as part of our core requirements. This unified quest of the student, the professor and the university will allow graduates to be more healthy, grounded and well-equipped “godly” Christian leaders, to move past the reading, writing and dialoguing about the problems in our world, and to move forward towards taking on the responsibility of changing it.
