The Church of Jesus Christ

The last thing I would want to do on this blog is impugn my brothers and sisters with whom I worship God each week, whether in my local congregation or in the Church Universal; this post is not to be taken as criticism of them or anyone except those that deny the rightful place of education and learning in the Church. What I hope to do with this post, and subsequent posts, is to provide a Scriptural foundation against anti-intellectualism.

Rick M. Nañez, in an interview earlier this year said,

Anti-intellectualism keeps us from affecting our institutions and their various departments with solid Christian thinking. It hinders our ability to think in terms of worldview, that is, to understand the hundreds of otherwise fragmented areas of life in a coherent way. If we are suspicious of the intellect, we are hamstrung when it comes to providing well-thought-out answers to difficult questions from critics and skeptics. Anti-intellectualism can also lead to dangerous forms of mysticism and a type of superstitious faith.

I believe that anti-intellectualism tends to lead Christians into relatively superficial spiritual lives, at least, in comparison to the impact they could make if they engaged in “thinking on purpose” for the glory of God. Also, mediocrity in the “life of the mind” leads the Christian subculture to criticize, fear, and condemn the secular institutions that their anti-intellectual, evangelical, and Pentecostal parents and grandparents abandoned the generations before.

He points to the root cause as,

Though Pentecostalism has built within it some elements that make its adherents more susceptible to anti-intellectualism, I think that evangelicals struggle with the problem almost as much as we do. We have common roots in the pragmatic, revivalistic, and romantic era of America in the 18th century, so both our nation as well as our nation’s homegrown movements tend to battle with the temptation to pit doing against thinking, and spirit against mind.

Anti-intellectualism leads to a faulty foundation for the Church, based solely on tradition – tradition that is generally only a generation or two old. Many point to modern science, such as evolution and even biblical translation as causes of this anti-intellectualism; however, these sciences must be explored and whenever possible, embraced. We can look at evolutionary science and discovery in it’s lack of answers the need for faith, pointing us to the words of Moses as the answer. We can take geology and find mud seams in the oldest mountains in the world and wonder at the timeline of these scientists, and again, point to Moses. Further, we can look to the advances biblical languages, culture, and customs and create a truer translation of the very Word of God instead of holding blindly to a 16th century translation. And in studying the very Word of God, we can hear the words of Peter and Paul, John and James, as they tell us their theology and their stories of our Lord Christ. In studying the biblical languages and the surrounding environment, we can be in the audience as Christ teaches the parables.

This anti-intellectualism is based in misunderstood passages in found in the bible, such as the one listed below.

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
(Act 4:13 KJVA)

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.
(Act 4:13 NKJV)

θεωρουντες δε την του πετρου παρρησιαν και ιωαννου και καταλαβομενοι οτι ανθρωποι αγραμματοι εισιν και ιδιωται εθαυμαζον επεγινωσκον τε αυτους οτι συν τω ιησου ησαν (Act 4:13 TR)

This is a much used verse to rail against education of ministers in the Church, or to dismiss education outright; however, upon closer examination of this verse, in context of the entire passage, we will see that the ‘ignorance’ of the fishermen was not due to lack of education, but failure to observe Jewish Religious education and the traditions that were enforced by it.

To note, παῤῥησία (parrhēsia), does not mean courage as in boldness, but directly relates to how one speaks to a higher authority. To put it in terms that every American would understand, it is the freedom of speech – freedom to say what we want without fear of reprisal.

Unlearned (ἀγράμματος agrammatos) is literally, unlettered. With special reference to Rabbinic culture, which was absent in Peter’s short sermon. It should be noted here that while Peter’s epistles are not without theological insight, John’s Gospel is filled with hard theology, such as the use of Logos. In his Apocalypse, nearly every phrase is coded so that solid listeners could understand where as truly unlearned could not.

Literacy, of the lack thereof, has been shown to be very low, and usually restricted to those classes that needed it. Crossan (Jesus and the Kingdom, in Jesus at 2000, ed Marcus J. Borg, p.53) cites anonymous “experts on literacy in the ancient world,” as placing literacy in the area at the time at around three percent. However, the NET bible translators tells us, Uneducated does not mean “illiterate,” that is, unable to read or write. Among Jews in NT times there was almost universal literacy, especially as the result of widespread synagogue schools. The term refers to the fact that Peter and John had no formal rabbinic training and thus, in the view of their accusers, were not qualified to expound the law or teach publicly. How odd is it then that we have both Peter and John who both wrote books, and not only then, but James and Jude.

This does not mean that Peter and John were unlearned, but only unlearned in the area of Jewish Rabbinical Tradition.

Ignorant (ἰδιώτης idiōtēs) has a general sense of being a private person. Originally, one in a private station, as opposed to one in office or in public affairs. The idea is that the person does not have professional knowledge, something that the Rabbis easily said about the Apostles. (see below) In 2nd Corinthians 11:6 Paul uses to refer to himself as one unskilled in public speaking. Paul, who was perhaps the most educated writer, save Moses, surely could not be called ignorant.

It should be noted at least John and James, the sons of Zebedee who was no mere fisherman but an owner of an enterprise large enough to employ not only his sons but others as well, were friends of the High Priest, John 18:15.

College Press NT Commentary:

The nature of John’s relationship to the high priest has been the subject of considerable speculation among scholars for many years. On the one hand it seems incredible that a Galilean fisherman would be an intimate with one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in Palestine. But, on the other hand, there is evidence that Zebedee, John’s father, had a considerable fishing business (see Mar_1:19-20). If John is the unnamed disciple of Joh_1:35, there is the suggestion that he was financially capable of leaving home and following first John the Baptist and then Jesus himself. Such a person may have been a frequent visitor to Jerusalem, and if his prosperous family had made substantial gifts to the temple, it is not impossible that the young John had worked his way into the friendship circles of the high priest’s family

If the father of the Apostles John was this wealthy, then it is more than possible that he was well-educated, although again it may have not been in the Rabbinical Tradition, the same Tradition that Christ taught against. Note, He never taught against learning, but the Tradition that developed absent of God.

Anti-intellectualism is very broad in its focus. If, on the other hand, intellectualism was tempered with the Spirit of God, as it was with Peter and Paul, then it would be serve to build a firm foundation. We must not eschew learning, else we find ourselves standing against a Paul or a John.

Tags: apostles, bible, Christianity, church, educated clergy, fundamentalism, God, greek, intellectualism, Jesus Christ, John, judaism, literacy, peter, rabbi, rabbinical, sanhedrin, unlearned