Some Thoughts on Faith and Teaching
Two statements made by prominent theologians near the turn of the 20th century fairly accurately reflect the views that I hold (and am still developing) with respect to the relationship of faith to the teaching profession. As I have come to adopt more consciously Reformed convictions in the past several years, sentiments such as these have been an increasingly important guiding influence.
"Moreover, the man who devotes himself to science cannot split himself into halves and separate his faith from his knowledge; even in his scientific investigations he remains man, - not a purely intellectual being, but a man with a heart, with affections and emotions, with feeling and will."
Herman Bavinck, Stone Lectures at Princeton,1908
"There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: 'Mine!'"
Abraham Kuyper, at his inauguration as President of the Free University of the Netherlands1898
The quotation from Bavinck begins to answer the question, "How is one's faith related to his teaching?" His words remind us that our task in academics is not something that we can perform as compartmentalized beings. Rather, people bring not only their practical gifts and talents to their work, but inevitably their religious faith or spiritual commitments, knowingly or unknowingly, to the table as well. Such foundational principles necessarily inform, shape and give meaning to what they do and the way they do it. To claim, as is common in the secular (and even Christian) community, that one’s faith must be shelved in the pursuit of academic goals is at best problematic. This error inevitably affects negatively both the ends and the means of the educational process. We should not only recognize but champion the fact that our faith informs and guides us in our academic pursuits - our minds should be, as Cornelius Van Til argued, "religiously engaged as much as they are academically interested."
An essential part of our task, then, is to encourage students to pursue knowledge and understanding from the sound basis of a Biblical worldview, i.e. in the light of God's revelation of Himself in His Word. The well-known quotation from Kuyper lays the groundwork upon which a Reformed worldview is constructed. As Kuyper contends, we have the responsibility to submit all things, including the teaching of science and engineering, to Christ’s rightful authority. In doing so, we may rest assured that our Lord will be glorified even in the seemingly mundane art of teaching.