THE RECORD Online

Spring 2000

Defining the Liberal Arts: An Education That Goes Beyond

Greenville College is a Christian liberal arts college. We have heard it many times and said it ourselves over and over, but do we really know what that means? Of the nearly 3,700 institutions of higher learning in the U.S. today, perhaps fewer than 200 actually remain committed to liberal arts. In this current landscape where competition has driven all but 17 percent of American young people into public colleges and universities, it is imperative that we private liberal arts colleges understand clearly who we are.

There have been innumerable attempts to define the liberal arts and even the Christian liberal arts. Ours is a high calling that requires a sharp focus on mission. Without that clear vision, we will surely lose the excitement and enthusiasm that come from recognizing the distinctiveness of that calling.

Today I want to sketch in broad strokes the outlines of a vision for liberal arts, and particularly Christian liberal arts, as an education that goes beyond.

Two Historic Traditions
From ancient Athens to the present day two major traditions have each claimed to be at the heart of the liberal arts. One we may call contemplative and the other behavioral. The contemplative tradition is philosophical. It affirms the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, and emphasizes the use of critical thinking and reason (ratio). To oversimplify, it says the point of education is to become a certain kind of person.

On the other hand, the behavioral tradition is rhetorical. Knowledge is public (oratio) and valuable because it is useful, particularly in shaping a better society through the service of educated citizens. To oversimplify again, the behavioral tradition says the point of education is to behave in a certain kind of way.

The Problem
The problem with these two traditions is that for millennia they have been seen as mutually exclusive. There has been sharp antagonism between those who see knowledge as a tool to serve and those who value knowledge for its own sake. One is viewed as mere training while the other is accused of dreamy irrelevance.

Much higher education today avoids liberal arts altogether because students seem intent on obtaining an education with a specific job in mind. Even liberal arts education in the behavioral tradition is viewed with suspicion. Parents especially see it as impractical and ask how it can actually prepare their daughter or son to make a contribution to society. These suspicions remain despite the fact that even a practical education today must be quite different from what it has been in the past. Today’s graduates will change careers on average six times in their lifetime, so they will require skills which can be transferred from one career to another and a wholistic approach to problem solving. These are both central elements of liberal arts in the behavioral tradition. The challenge for those who wish to pursue the contemplative tradition is just that much worse! So the task of educating parents and students to the distinctive benefits of either tradition in the liberal arts is monumental.

When we call ourselves a liberal arts college, our choice of which tradition we follow—behavioral or contemplative—makes a difference. Some will say we must follow both. But the imperative to understand clearly who we are, driven by limited resources and extensive competition, forces us to make difficult choices. Can we really do both at the same time?

I believe the answer is yes. We must envision, articulate, and adopt a distinctively Christian form of the liberal arts which embraces both these historic traditions and in an exciting way goes beyond. A foundation and a framework for an education that goes beyond both the contemplative and behavioral traditions can be found in basic Biblical principles.

A Foundation
The contemplative tradition elevates thought (ratio) and the behavioral exalts deed (oratio). At the heart of the gospel is the fact that the “Logos became flesh and dwelt among us.” Christ himself is the Logos. “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). There can be no more powerful claim than this, that what is thought becomes deed; that what is mind becomes action. The very concept of Logos captures them both. It goes beyond both. Nowhere else in creation are thought and deed identical, and that is “good news” both eternally and educationally. So the foundation of Christian faith provides the foundation for an exciting and distinctive liberal arts education.

We see this in even greater detail in the Epistles. In the contemplative tradition, Christian liberal arts naturally make becoming a certain kind of person the point of education, because our goal as believers is to become like Christ: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5). In the behavioral tradition, however, it is also natural for Christian liberal arts to make the point of education to behave in a certain way. Our goal as believers is to follow Christ, to live and act the way he did: “For me to live is Christ” and “Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only.”

Once again, Biblical principles provide a foundation to reconcile and thereby go beyond the purposes of both liberal arts traditions, contemplative and behavioral.

Dr. V. James Mannoia, Jr. receives the presidential medallion from board
member Rev. Herb Coates, symbolizing the transition to new leadership.

A Framework
Christian faith offers us a framework as well. What kind of people and what kind of behavior do Christian liberal arts produce? Plato’s contemplative vision called for educated people to become the kind of people who know the truth. But for Christians to know the Truth is much more than an intellectual state of mind. It is to enter into relationship with the person of Jesus Christ. And that inevitably means we will become more like Him. To become like Christ, to have His mind, is to empty ourselves as He did and to become a person of humble character. To me the surest evidence that we have been liberally educated in the Christian liberal arts tradition is when we have become people who are passionate but humble. I call this critical commitment.

Our culture is replete with persons who are dogmatists—either dogmatically liberal or dogmatically conservative. They see things in overly simplistic terms with no room for discussion. Their obsessive fear of the “slippery slopes” (which, like it or not, pervade life) keep them from honest engagement with the most important issues around them and engender a judgmentalism which keeps them from growing themselves. But our culture is also replete with sceptics. They have deconstructed and subjectivized all “truth” as relative, leaving each to “do what is right in his or her own eyes” with only the “will to power” left in control.

Dogmatic thinking sees only one perspective, excluding all others. Sceptical thinking sees many perspectives, including everything, excluding nothing. Because our call is to have Christ’s mind, Christian liberal arts must go beyond both.. We must become passionately committed while at the same time humbly and self-reflectively open. It is Oliver Wendell Holmes’ “simplicity beyond complexity.” It is Paul Ricoeur’s “second naivete.”

All four living presidents of GC attended the installation. From left: W. Richard Stephens (1977-93), V. James Mannoia, Jr. (1999- ), Orley R. Herron (1970-77), and Robert E. Smith (1993-98).

Cicero’s behavioral vision called for educated people to act in service to their society. But for Christians to serve the Lord is to serve a community far greater than that of mere shared interest. To follow Christ means to follow His example of obedience, even to death, to serve self-sacrificially beyond the boundaries of our own community. To follow Him, to behave as He did, we must be equipped differently. To me it is further evidence we have been educated in the Christian liberal arts tradition if we behave with both skill and a global perspective. I call this integration.

Christian liberal arts must go beyond just a generalized compassion for the world that fails to address its real problems with any particular skill. While well intended, if Christians are not equipped with the best tools, our contribution in service is limited. “Holy shoddy is still shoddy.” A student’s years of Christian liberal arts education may include times of actual service, but more importantly, those years should be times when they focus on acquiring the skills to serve. Christ himself prepared for more than 30 years before He began His ministry.

But Christian liberal arts must also go beyond the narrow specialization often found in other institutions that fails to be relevant to the real problems of the world. These are the problems with which people on the street and people in the pew struggle every day: violence in society, care for the aging, substance abuse, gender roles in the church, development in the two-thirds world. By focusing attention on such problems, a Christian liberal arts education almost automatically goes beyond what is done elsewhere. That is because those problems always require attention to multiple disciplines, not just one. They require consideration of theoretical as well as practical matters, and inevitably force us to take values into account.

So our Christian faith provides not only a foundation for going beyond both the contemplative and the behavioral traditions in the liberal arts, it provides a framework as well. It goes beyond both Plato and Cicero. A Christian’s call to follow the model of Christ in service and to become like Christ who is the Truth, gives Christian liberal arts education an exciting and distinctive purpose. It is a matter of service and character.

Paul says it best. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind [character], that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:1-2).

Our Historic Tradition
Greenville College is particularly well suited to the task of providing this distinctive education that goes beyond. The rich roots of our tradition find soil in the words of John Wesley himself: “It is a fundamental principle with us that to renounce reason is to renounce religion; that religion and reason go hand in hand.” Out of his training at Oxford University, Wesley affirmed this integration of faith with education: “My intention is to make [both unlearned and learned men] to think, and assist them in thinking. This is the way to understand God: ‘Meditate thereon day and night.”

B.T. Roberts, founder of the Free Methodist Church, agreed: “Education and religion should not be separated.” It is little wonder our small denomination has been known for over 130 years for its unusually strong commitment to liberal arts education. Our tradition, from Wesley forward, has been to advocate both the educated mind and the spiritually warmed heart, a life of contemplative inner holiness and a passion for outward action in service of social justice.

The president's relatives came to show their support. First Lady Ellen
Mannoia is on the far right, seated next to daughter Eva Marie.

In 1928, under the theme of educating the whole student, Dr. Leslie Marston, our fourth president, focused educational reform on three points. These included 1) change of personality, 2) liberalization of the mind, and most illustrative of the point I wish to make today, 3) a combination of spiritual development and Christian service.

Dr. H.J. Long, Greenville’s fifth president, in his inauguration address sixty-three years ago, identified nine characteristics as “Marks of a Christian College.” One of these was the development of Christian character, underscoring what I have called the contemplative tradition of the liberal arts. He also included the cultivation of sacrificial service, underscoring what I have called the behavioral tradition. My call today for an attitude of critical commitment echoes his from over half a century ago when he exhorted our community to be characterized by open-mindedness. He said, “It is inconceivable that in a really Christian college anyone should keep a closed mind, whether in the realm of religion, philosophy, or science. This necessarily means there will continually be a seeking after the whole truth. If so, neither dogmatic liberalism, nor dogmatic conservatism will be given countenance. There must be a fundamental loyalty to truth regardless of where it leads.” To my mind Dr. Long was calling for an education that went beyond.

The installation may have been the president's big day, but he
didn't forget his mother's birthday.

Only a few years ago, Dr. W. Richard Stephens, our eighth president and seated with us today, wrote of “Education for Love,” and called our community to deepen our love for the unique Christian liberal arts of this college. He said, “It must be driven by its historic ideals of mind and heart and action,” echoing once again Greenville’s longstanding commitment to both the contemplative and the behavioral liberal arts traditions.

Perhaps more clearly than any other, our founding president, Wilson T. Hogue said “Education for character will be our motto.” That assures me that despite cultural pressures towards behavior…even the noble behavior of service…Greenville College has long been even more strongly committed to the values of becoming.

Since my arrival [in January 1999], many of you have heard me say I believe Greenville College is committed to providing a Christ-centered education in the “liberating arts” for both character and service. I believe a Christ-centered approach to the liberal arts is uniquely suited to embrace and go beyond both the contemplative and behavioral liberal arts traditions. What an exciting vision for distinctive calling this can be for us today.

Following the installation service, afternoon seminars like this one
led by Dr. Hugh Siefken focused on "Real-World Issues."

Today and Tomorrow
What shall we then do? In closing, let me offer three hopes for Greenville College.

The first has to do with programs. I hope we will become more and more deliberate about identifying which programs most effectively promote the development of students who are committed but open-minded, passionate but humble, tough-minded but tenderhearted. I hope we will be unafraid to challenge them to grow in character. We must recognize that growth always involves stretching, a loss of control, a feeling of inadequacy, and even pain. Let us not be afraid. Let us challenge our students while also nurturing them. God help us.

My second hope has to do with people. It is my hope that each of us who plays a role at Greenville College will be excited by the privilege we have to undertake what few other educators are equipped to do. Every day we face the limitations of our own personal and institutional resources. Our job is tougher than that of employees at institutions uninterested in character. Our job is also tougher than that of employees at institutions committed to academics without concern for preparation to serve. But as we comprehend the powerful potential we have to shape the lives of our students, both to become persons of Christ-like character and for worldwide service, we will be inspired by the uniqueness of our task. God help us.

My final hope is that we will be a praying community. Over the past months the prayers for me and for my wife have been overwhelming. From the smallest faculty daughter who reported to me while trick-or-treating that she prays for me twice a day, to the former trustee who 70 years ago planted the trees outside Joy House who also reported last week that he prays for me daily, we have seen how Greenville prays. Let us never underestimate the power of prayer.

With President Long I confess to whistling out of fear. With President Stephens I confess to praying, “Lord help me not to do anything today that would mess up this fine college You have created.” With Moses himself, I confess, “Who am I that I should do this work?” My sense of inadequacy overwhelms me. But my hope arises from His promise, “I will be with you” And from His promise that “He who began a good work at Greenville College will see it to completion in the day of Jesus Christ.”

Greenville College’s best days are still ahead. So I pledge to you only that with God as my helper we will seek His face in prayer. If God be for us, who can be against us?

Last updated: May 18, 2000