No, C.S. Lewis was not a pastor
Inside HigherEd has a fascinating essay -- and call for discussion -- by Professor Timothy Larsen. It's about the intolerance and ignorance in some institutions of higher learning:
I had lunch this summer with a prospective graduate student at the evangelical college where I teach. I will call him John because that happens to be his name. John has done well academically at a public university. Nevertheless, as often happens, he said that he was looking forward to coming to a Christian university, and then launched into a story of religious discrimination.
John had been a straight-A student until he enrolled in English writing. The assignment was an “opinion” piece and the required theme was “traditional marriage.” John is a Southern Baptist and he felt it was his duty to give his honest opinion and explain how it was grounded in his faith. The professor was annoyed that John claimed the support of the Bible for his views, scribbling in the margin, “Which Bible would that be?” On the very same page, John’s phrase, “Christians who read the Bible,” provoked the same retort, “Would that be the Aramaic Bible, the Greek Bible, or the Hebrew Bible?” (What could the point of this be? Did the professor want John to imagine that while the Greek text might support his view of traditional marriage, the Aramaic version did not?) The paper was rejected as a “sermon,” and given an F, with the words, “I reject your dogmatism,” written at the bottom by way of explanation.
Thereafter, John could never get better than a C for papers without any marked errors or corrections. When he asked for a reason why yet another grade was so poor he was told that it was inappropriate to quote C. S. Lewis in work for an English class because he was “a pastor.” (Lewis, of course, was actually an English professor at Cambridge University. Perhaps it was wrong to quote Lewis simply because he had said something recognizably Christian.) Eventually John complained to the department chair, who said curtly that he could do nothing until the course was over. John took this to mean that the chair would do nothing and just accepted the bad grade.
But the best part is the comments section, where most folks manage to completely prove Larsen's point about the hostility toward Christians in academia.
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Feb '10
Re: No, C.S. Lewis was not a pastor
If it's not obvious and if it hasn't been said already, the Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic "Bibles" are all part of the Christian Bible, and (at least according to Christian theology) there are no significant doctrinal incompatibilities between them. Without getting into the minutiae of Christian doctrine, they are considered parts or stages of the revelation of God throughout history. As you said, his ignorance shows-- he apparently thinks the three are separate and contradictory.
Jun '10
Re: No, C.S. Lewis was not a pastor
A traditional Christian (one who reads the Bible, and still believes words mean things) will survive mainstream higher education best with a Don't Ask Don't Tell strategy. Just pretend you're a spy behind enemy lines. You sort of are.
Jun '10
Re: No, C.S. Lewis was not a pastor
As a Christian in academia, I can say from firsthand experience that this is very true.
Have you heard of the case of Dr. Kenneth Howell at the University of Illinois? Dr. Howell was initially fired for teaching Natural Moral Law in a class called, "Introduction to Catholicism". Catholic teaching states that homosexual acts (note: not individuals themselves but their acts) violate the Natural Moral Law. After a huge grassroots uprising thanks to alumni and students at the Newman Center, the University did a double-take and offered to re-hire Dr. Howell for a fraction of his salary. Basically, the University would've been taken to school (so to speak) in court and would've lost millions of dollars in donations so they decided to re-hire Dr. Howell. It's relatively obvious that this was not an ideological correction because Dr. Howell's academic freedom and constitutional rights were violated, but rather one of finance and public relations.
A partial victory for Catholics in academia, I deem it. But the intentions and bigotry of academia toward Christianity is in plain view and was put on display in Champaign Urbana.
Aug '10
Re: No, C.S. Lewis was not a pastor
etoiled - And we should cloak our beliefs, smile through the degradation and fail in our obligation to acknowledge our Savior before "man" because...???
May '10
Re: No, C.S. Lewis was not a pastor
I scanned the article hoping to find that Professor Larsen had used the same words as you, "intolerance and ignorance," as these are the exact terms to describe the problem. Alas, the professor is too circumspect, or perhaps too polite to confront his readers in academe with the truth.
Imagine an instructor who requests opinions on traditional marriage but refuses reference to traditional sources. Actually, this is easy to imagine, because this sort of bigotry is easy to find. Indeed Lewis experienced some of it himself decades ago.
The student would have done well to use quotes from the Koran to support his point on traditional marriage, which would have put the professor in a bit of a bind, eh?
Jun '10
Re: No, C.S. Lewis was not a pastor
It's time for a neologism. Smug: verb 1. To have one's ideas summarily rejected because the source is deemed unworthy by academic or political elites. Example: John was smugged by his professor because he based his argument on the Christian Bible. Smugging: noun 2. An act of public ridicule based the perception that someone is low born or inferior. Example: Sarah Palin was subjected to a public smugging by the press based on her backwoods accent and folksy manner.
Jun '10
Re: No, C.S. Lewis was not a pastor
Because life is short. And good generals don't fight over every hill. They fight battles when it's important to win, and believe that winning is possible. You don't gain anything with a suicide mission.
Jun '10
Re: No, C.S. Lewis was not a pastor
Christ-followers will rarely - in any age - receive the acceptance or tolerance of those opposed to the person of Jesus Christ. Whether "DADT" is a reasonable approach may depend on the specific circumstances of the moment.
But I cannot avoid the following, which speaks to the issue:
"But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander." (1 Peter 3:15-16)
May '10
Re: No, C.S. Lewis was not a pastor
It is pretty clear that this prof didn't know anything whatever about the parchment and fragments sources of the different translations, not to mention history (e.g., Lewis' employment by that noble and superior university that towers above Oxford...).
My guess is that he believes the only reliable exegesis was done by John Boswell.
May '10
Re: No, C.S. Lewis was not a pastor
I'm shocked, shocked, shocked to hear about intolerance at institutions of so-called higher learning.
But what really surprises me is the ignorance of the lecturer regarding Lewis. Doesn't sound like he's ever read anything by the man... not even the Narnia Chronicles, it seems. And in this internet age, it can't be that hard to "google" information, surely.
Excuses, excuses, excuses.
May '10
Re: No, C.S. Lewis was not a pastor
Interesting you should say that because Lewis uses that analogy somewhere in his writings.
When I was at Uni, surrounded by Marxists and Feminists of all stripes, I never felt that I had to hide my beliefs and I didn't. And I got through it somehow...
'Twas the grace of God... I believe.
Aug '10
Re: No, C.S. Lewis was not a pastor
Because life is short. And good generals don't fight over every hill. They fight battles when it's important to win, and believe that winning is possible. You don't gain anything with a suicide mission.
Thank you for your response, Etoiled. You and I agree - "Life is short" - but diverge as to our response. In my view, because life is short, there is no more important battle than I describe. To your other point, we are all on a suicide mission my esteemed friend. The only question is where that mission takes us.
May '10
Re: No, C.S. Lewis was not a pastor
I don't know guys. I want to read the paper itself. If the class is secular and the institution secular then a paper based on faith that fails to persuade someone that does not share that faith may in fact be deserving of an "F" without any anti-Christian bias whatsoever. Sometimes an "F" is just an "F."
Re: No, C.S. Lewis was not a pastor
Long ago, in a college far far away, I took a survey of religions class. As a bonus question on the final, the teacher asked, "Has this class made you more tolerant of other religions?" I wrote that the question appeared to be based on the assumption that I was insufficiently tolerant before taking the class. This was a pretty bold assumption, given that the teacher didn't know me from Adam's house cat, knew nothing of my faith or background. Under the circumstances, I wrote, the question itself was based on faulty assumptions and showed a distinct lack of tolerance.
Somehow, I got a good grade. I think it was clerical error.
Jul '10
Re: No, C.S. Lewis was not a pastor
Not surprised ,considering where the real bias and intolerance took place. This is why some of the top Christian Apologists (Ravi Zacharias and William Lane Craig to name two) have open public debates at Colleges and Universities. We are in , or at least entering into, a Post-Christian culture - as an example: St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church near Ground Zero was destroyed on 9/11 and has run into roadblock after roadblock with NYC officials in wanting to rebuild. While the site for the Mega-Mosque gets unanimous approval.
Interesting to note that the church was told that the dome of the new building could not rise higher than the trade center memorial; I wonder if they'll put the same restrictions on any Mega-Mosque minarets.
May '10
Re: No, C.S. Lewis was not a pastor
This Weekly Standard piece by Fred Barnes is a great tale of friendly engagement with journalists and others who have a stunning ignorance of basic religious tenets and who have absolutely no excuse for not knowing more. Enjoy.
Jul '10
Re: No, C.S. Lewis was not a pastor
There is no doubt that there exists a deep antireligious bias in the modern academy. I worry about this less for what it means to our protagonist than what it means for the academy. Part of being an accomplished adult is learning to thrive despite adversity, Having to face that and overcome it is a crucial growth experience.
But a cultural bias - and it is cultural rather than religious - that so narrowly constrains our insitutions of learning is crippling to their missions. That is a tragedy.
Re: No, C.S. Lewis was not a pastor
The writer of the essay said that he read the paper and it had weaknesses, but in no way deserving of an F. He had other examples, too.
May '10
Re: No, C.S. Lewis was not a pastor
When is an "F" an "F"?
I'd be interested to know if John was given a criteria sheet. If he wasn't, I think his situation is a good argument for having one. It would give some appearance of objective grading and reduce the charge of egregious bias.
It sounds like there's more wrong with Higher Education than just intolerance and ignorance.
May '10
Re: No, C.S. Lewis was not a pastor
etoiledunord
Because life is short. And good generals don't fight over every hill. They fight battles when it's important to win, and believe that winning is possible. You don't gain anything with a suicide mission. · Aug 3 at 1:38pm
If conservatives and Christians want to make inroads at secular colleges--and we should--then this isn't a good enough answer. No, I don't think you have to fight every battle, but you don't have to cede all of secular academia to folks who think all of our ideas and ideals are repulsive.
I try not to be a jerk about it (and my wife is a teacher--any time I go to a school function, it would be easy to be a jerk), but I don't make apologies for my religion or my politics. I demand that people show me the same respect that they would show folks of other faiths and political bents.
That said, sometimes I see people claim discrimination when, honestly, they just failed to perform. As the author of that piece said: the universities need to start taking the accusations seriously and discover whether they are true.