Integrative Essay

“Calvin understood that God created human beings to hunt and gather truth, and that, as a matter of fact the capacity for doing so amounts to one feature of the image of God in them.” (Plantinga preface x). What Plantinga is speaking of here is learning—about getting an education as citizens of God’s kingdom. Through our Developing the Christian Mind class this interim, I really learned a lot about learning. In class, we considered the works of both C.S. Lewis and Cornelius Plantinga, but I also found myself blessed to be taught by the examples of both Professors Paulo and Adrianna Ribiero, who showed me why it is important that I learn.
To truly understand how and why we learn, it is first important to realize the change that has overcome learning since we were created. Plantinga begins his book, and rightly so, with the creation of all things in the beginning. We are creatures made to learn, and we seek after knowledge. Lewis stated in Our English Syllabus that “knowledge is the natural food of the mind” and that we humans “thirst for knowledge” (84). It was created in us to crave knowledge and understanding. Prof Adrianna stated that we must learn so that we can better “love God with all our mind and strength” (in reference to Matthew 22:37). This means learning in such a way that glorifies God and shows my love for Him through how I learn.
Plantinga also points out that man was given “dominion, not in the sense of conquest” (Plantinga 31) over creation. Rather, our dominion is one of stewardship, in which we take care of the creation around us. This also involves the development of creation, expanding it to its fullest capacities. To do this, it is important to really understand all aspects of creation and really explore the inner workings of creation. Lewis himself stated in his work Our English Syllabus that “a perfect study of anything requires a knowledge of everything” (Lewis 90). Lewis taught me that everything in creation is infinitely connected, and that we cannot perfectly understand one part of creation without understanding everything else as well. It is vital, therefore, to learn as much as we can about the world around us so that we can serve as better stewards in our time here.
Something happened to this creation that we are striving to learn about, however. More specifically, the fall happened. That which was “very good” in the beginning is now distorted and fallen, including our own minds. We are no longer able to learn to the same capacity as we once did. Our “thirst for knowledge” is not so that we can learn more about God and glorify Him through creation, but rather one of personal gain. Our learning is affected by the fall in ways that we cannot ignore or dismiss.
The story, however, does not end there. The fall is not the end. Rather, we can find our hope in the redemption found through Jesus Christ. This redemption must be applied even to the fallen act of learning and gaining knowledge. To be fully one with Christ in this redemption, we have to “die to ourselves” in every aspect of our lives. This means denying the “thirst for knowledge” that exists for only personal gain. We have to strive instead to die to our “old man of sin” and through the grace of God, learn for the glory of God. Lewis states that “admitting that we cannot study it whole, but determined to neglect outlying provinces and remote connections rather than to break up the central unity” (Our English Syllabus 90). Here, Lewis taught me to realize that although I have no hope of ever fully understanding any one subject or aspect in creation because of my fallen mind, I should not just give up. I have instead learn as much as I can about how everything and see the connections between them, even when that means only learning small parts of each.
After reading the Our English Syllabus in class, I realized how much I have to value my liberal arts education. When I came to Calvin, I did not put very much emphasis on my liberal arts courses, but instead, I focused on only those required for my major. I was not too keen on English 101, because I decided it was not necessary for me. I thought, “I am a pre-nursing student, why do I care about English? I’ll never use it.” It was with this fallen mindset that I went to English class every day last semester. After reading Lewis’s work, I look back on this attitude and I am ashamed. I realize I was not redeeming my learning, as Plantinga said we should. I had succumbed to the depraved mindset that core classes were not important for my learning any more, and so I put little effort into the class and got little learning out of it. Lewis and the discussions in my DCM class enlightened me to the fact that all subjects are important, because they are all connected in such a way that they teach us about each other. I realize in hindsight how wrong this really was. If I could only go back and change the way I approached English, I know that I could have gotten so much more benefit out of it. I cannot change the past, but now I can go forward into the future with this new knowledge and change my attitude on all other core classes.
But what is my end in all of this? I know that I will never come close to knowing all there is too know, so why bother? Is it not more important to focus on the spiritual battle we are facing, and deal with our eternal state? After all, this life seemingly lasts but a moment. The answer that I have found lies in the importance of my vocation here on earth. God has brought me to this moment and has called me to learn within it. Lewis brings out our need for learning in his essay Learning in Wartime. I blogged the following in response to what Lewis wrote:
“When I read this sermon, I immediately thought about the Thessalonians. Paul admonishes them in the second letter because they are in a sense forsaking their life on earth. Some of them had quit their jobs because they were convinced the Lord’s return was imminent. With the prospect of something that was higher in importance, they had forgotten that they lived in the here and now. Those Thessalonians had forgotten about the calling and life that God had seen fit to give them here on earth, and had wasted that time in the name of religion. We must be careful that we do not follow in their footsteps, and ignoring the time and life we have been given here.”
I struggle with finding a balance between remembering that this is not my eternal home and remembering that I do live in the here and now. Learning is a good thing. It is a God glorifying thing, when used in the right way. Although this life is ultimately not as important as my eternal state, this does not mean what I do here and now does not matter. I cannot be as the Thessalonians, dismissing the time I have been given here on earth while I wait for heavenly glory. Instead, I have use the time I have been given to carry out the vocation God willed for me. At this point in my life, I believe that this calling is dominated by the need to continue my education here at Calvin College.
I was very blessed this past interim when I took the DCM C.S. Lewis class. I was blessed both by the material that was used and by the strong faith that both of my Professors exuded. Paulo and Adrianna are two really beautiful people who really embodied the fact that we must “love the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength.” They really showed how much I can learn from others, whether that was through the reading selections or the class discussions they started. More importantly, however, was that fact that they taught me how to learn humbly and how to better learn to the glory of God. Their love for Christ first and foremost, but also for each other and for learning really spoke to me more than anything that we read or discussed. It showed me that there is never a point when we can fall too deeply in love with Christ, and therefore, there is never a point where we have learned too much about Him. It was very obvious that they both had a hunger for knowledge, one which was infectious. Lewis states that “an appetite for these things exists in the human mind, and God makes not appetite in vain.” I have an appetite for knowledge, one that after my DMC class, I am able better able to sate to the glory of God.


Works Cited:
Lewis, C.S. Learning in Wartime. January 2010.
Lewis, C. S. Our English Syllabus. January 2010.
Plantinga, Cornelius Jr. Engaging God’s World: A Reformed Vision of Faith, Learning,
and Living. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002.