logos redux

St. Peter famously observed that St. Paul’s writings contained many things “that are hard to understand.” Yet twenty centuries of Christians (ordinary people and clergy) have nevertheless assumed the right and responsibility of interpreting Paul for themselves, without Paul’s help. God expects us to act as though we, the audience, have access to Paul’s meaning, even though we are not Paul himself. The same is true of less authoritative figures, like politicians and public speakers…

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“I am convinced that most of the young men are taught against too narrow a backdrop, and [are still fighting the old battles of the Reformation]. But in reality this is no longer where we are, either in theory or in practice. Actually the battle is being fought against the backdrop of all the religions of the world which have apostatized from the true religion since the foundation of the world…”

Francis Schaeffer, letter dated sometime 1956-1958

“My political opinions lean more and more to Anarchy (philosophically understood, meaning abolition of control not whiskered men with bombs)—or to ‘unconstitutional Monarchy.’ I would arrest anybody who uses the word State (in any sense other than the inanimate realm of England and its inhabitants, a thing that has neither power, rights not mind); and after a chance of recantation, execute them if they remained obstinate! If we could get back to personal names, it would do a lot of good. Government is an abstract noun meaning the art and process of governing and it should be an offence to write it with a capital G or so as to refer to people. If people were in the habit of referring to ‘King George’s council, Winston and his gang,’ it would go a long way to clearing thought, and reducing the frightful landslide into Theyocacy. Anyway the proper study of Man is anything but Man; and the most improper job of any man, even saints… is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity. The mediaevals were only too right in taking nolo episcopari as the best reason a man could give to others for making him a bishop.”

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, 63-64

Via Mark Horne, hornes.org/mark

“I want you and all your subjects to be baptized. If you refuse, I will have you killed on the spot. And I swear that I will ravage every island with fire and steel.”

Years ago I spoke with Ecuadorian evangelical theologian and author René Padilla about these stories of growth. He said, “Ah, Guillermo, we must ask our church-growth friends two questions: What is church? What is growth?” In other words, mere numerical growth is not sufficient to measure the biblical chruch. Latin American church growth fascinates the number-hunters of North America who see size as the prime measure of growth. Some emphasize the need only for homogenous churches, but the reality of Latin America is that sociological and anthropological categories cannot become our guidelines. Many churches are large, but they are perhaps obese, not healthy. As one church leader told me this year, “We have more births than midwives in our country.”

This is pretty good. (Although I would probably represent the “religious fanaticism” he distances himself from. I’ve listed a few of the better quotes below. Some of them come from the author’s conversation with a stranger, filled out with his real answers below.

Mrs. GSP: Do you use a curriculum?
Me: Oh, sure! Absolutely.
Real answer: Give me a break! These kids are 5 years old. What curriculum was involved when you were in kindergarten? As I recall, it was mainly scissors and paste. My wife will talk as long as you want her to about the fact that there’s no real evidence to back up the recent move toward “academic,” full-day kindergarten, and plenty of evidence that young children need more unstructured playtime than most of them get. The real purpose of all this formal schooling is to get the kids out of the house and train them to stand in line and follow instructions while mommy and daddy get back to their ultra-important lives as economic production units. If you break down the impressive-sounding, bureaucratically adumbrated federal list of kindergarten standards, a whole lot of it amounts to learning to count from 1 to 20, learning the alphabet and the months of the year, and learning to tell time…

Mrs. GSP: What do you do about socialization?
Me: Oh, we’ve got a nice support network. They have a circle of friends. They do lots of classes and activities. They go to birthday parties and stuff.
Real answer: My public answer is OK, as far as it goes. But hang on a minute, lady: What do you mean by “socialization”? In a legendary Internet screed called “The Bitter Homeschooler’s Wish List,” Deborah Markus answers this question by observing, “If you’re talking to me and my kids, that means that we do in fact go outside now and then to visit the other human beings on the planet.” Ordinary schools tend to socialize children by way of enclosed, age-homogeneous pods, while home schooling tends to socialize children through a wide range of interactions with older kids, younger kids and adults, as well as peers. It’s not up to me to decide which is better, and I’m pretty sure both methods have their pros and cons. We like the sound of option B, at least for now…

At the time of the 1970 census, there were a reported 15,000 home-schoolers in the entire United States, nearly all of them presumed to be members of religious minorities who objected to the contents or method of public education. By 2007, the Department of Education estimated that there were 1.5 million home-schooled children in the country…

As for the “why” question: We’re not ready to surrender our kids, and ourselves, to a 10-month-a-year, all-day institution whose primary goal, at least at this age, seems to be teaching kids how to function within a 10-month-a-year, all-day institution. Our kids are learning plenty — not exactly the same things other kindergarteners learn, I suppose, but plenty. They’re making friends and having fun. They can go to the beach on gorgeous fall afternoons, or hit zoos and museums on crisp winter mornings, when other kids are sitting at desks doing worksheets about the letter B. Hell, I wish I could do it.