Teaching Theology is a challenging job (perhaps the most challenging of all the disciplines). During my years, I have become familiar with many of the duties that teaching entails, such as creating lesson plans, moderating discussions, assigning papers/projects/presentations, and last, but not least, issuing grades. In addition, there are the interactions with students and parents in order to address specific concerns. Although I experience a deep sense of purpose and accomplishment within the field of Theology, I find that it can lead to a series of struggles if one simply ‘teaches’ it.
The goal of a Theology teacher is two-fold. Certainly, we want our students to go to college, as any teacher should (both those inside and outside of a Catholic school would agree). However, our second goal, which is actually the more important one, is to get all of them to heaven. It is safe to say that we will be judged on how well we accomplished the later, rather than the former.
Many recall the Three R’s of education: Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic. However, in Theology it sometimes seems that there are four R’s: Reading, Retaining, Regurgitating, and Removing. It gets worse when students expect a high grade in religion, because after all, ‘Jesus loves them’. This reality becomes more present as the years continue and creates a sense of concern on the part of the teacher. Our secular society will not correct these individuals when they err on matters of Church teaching. We will!
I remember my first year of teaching, when a colleague (who had observed me throughout this inaugural year) revealed that she did not envy my subject area. She expressed that it would be too difficult knowing that she would be responsible for the faith-life of a teenage student; that one mistake could throw everything off. I thought to myself, “No pressure!”
Teaching Theology is wonderful, but living, and inspiring others to do so, is the real blessing. This is what captivates the students and they must always witness it. They need to experience the passion, which lies within the faith. Theology is unlike any other subject and this fact can weigh a teacher down from time to time, especially because you know you are going against practically everything the world is telling them to embrace.
Not many students will argue with their science teachers over the ‘Periodic Table of Elements’, or their history teachers over historical events; or even their foreign language teachers when learning vocabulary terms. This is not the case when it comes to Sacred Scripture, Scared Tradition, and Papal Encyclicals. One does not have to fear knowing that a mathematical equation may go against a student’s personally held values or convictions as will discussing ‘Theology of The Body’. One has to be careful when discussing such delicate issues as marriage, human sexuality, contraception, artificial conception, abortion and a host of others. (Even mentioning the ‘all male priesthood’ could cause uproar.)
Theology teachers must always stand ready for the unexpected, while at the same time, be respectful to students, and sensitive to their personal experiences. In the end however, the teachings of the Church much be revered; and her magisterium, honored. We must live as loyal disciples of our founder, Jesus Christ, regardless of the consequences. Finally, we must always live out, within our personal lives, what we teach our students. They know hypocrisy when they see it.
Another reason why we must do more than ‘teach’ Theology is that students must be encouraged and motivated to seek a relationship with God throughout life; not just up to the final exam. Students are not expected to seek such a supernatural relationship with Shakespeare as they read, ‘Macbeth’, or with Thomas Jefferson when they read the Declaration of Independence. Those who teach Theology, however, do call their students to seek a unique sense of unity with Our Lord as they study His Word and discuss His Church. We have a mission, which is unprecedented in any other area of academia.
To accomplish this mission, we have to recognize the world that awaits our youth after they receive their diploma from a Catholic institution. We may be able to accept the fact that students may never pursue the same courses of study after graduation, even the ones they excelled in. We can also understand that many high school graduates will elect to never participate in many of the activities they were involved in over their past four years. However, we cannot accept the idea that this mentality could potentially seep into the practice of their faith.
Significant numbers of students who attended Catholic high school will fall away from the Church shortly after graduation by no longer attending Mass, and by refusing to follow many of the Church’s teachings. Many will enter a college system that thrives on indoctrination. Yet, despite these ‘adjustments’, they will still consider themselves to be Catholic, just as they will be considered alumnae of their respective high schools. Theology teachers can lose sleep over these unfortunate realities, wondering if they made a difference in the faith-life of each student.
For these reasons, Theology teachers must do more than they just ‘teach’. All teachers perform extraordinary work, but when it comes to Theology, the stakes are much greater. We are in a battle for souls. Another fellow colleague of mine said it best when he observed that ‘disciples’ must be created before ‘scholars’. We must engage students in the faith beyond the textbook curriculum, and not just teach to the test. Facts are important, and quizzes and tests have their proper place. However, getting them to live this material in their walk with Christ is paramount; even it cannot be properly assessed for a grade. We know that if they never learn to apply it, it will soon be ‘removed’ once it has been ‘regurgitated’ onto that final exam. However, if they can, it will remain vibrant and will spread to others. Theology cannot be just another subject on the way to obtaining a diploma.
The Catholic identity of a student is at the forefront of all Catholic education and this goal permeates through every Catholic school. Yet, it finds its sustainability within the Theology department, where the Holy Spirit’s ‘animating force’ must be fundamentally rooted. Within these efforts, students will become drawn further into an experience of the ‘Almighty God’, and no longer be enamored by the lure of settling for an ‘almighty A’.
12 thoughts on “Theology: To Teach or Not To Teach”
Thanks, great info 🙂
This young generation must learn theology. Great article guy. I would definitely share this article with my students
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It gets worse when students expect a high grade in religion, because after all, ‘Jesus loves them’.
So the study of theology is just “religion class.” Really? Then again, I remember coming across a combox discussion where somebody claimed both that they were free to pick and choose what they believe and call Catholic, and yet marrying in the Church was nonetheless that important to them. They also claimed to have taken “more religion classes than the Pope,” just because they’d “been to Catholic school all their life.” It was uttered in flippant jest, but the arrogance was nonetheless breathtaking. Mind you, Joseph Ratzinger once pointed out that theology isn’t just for scholars– it’s for everyone, as “faith seeking understanding” would suggest. But it’s actually the fact that theology is “faith seeking understanding” that would point to why it is also an academic discipline. What does it mean to believe? These aren’t just theological questions. They also have philosophical implications.
As for the student who claims: “I can’t believe that you’d give me a low grade, ‘cuz Jesus loves me!” I would then ask that student what they mean by “Jesus.” Indeed: Who do you say that I AM?
Theology teachers must always stand ready for the unexpected, while at the same time, be respectful to students, and sensitive to their personal experiences. In the end however, the teachings of the Church must be revered; and her magisterium, honored.
Yes. Both the student and the Magisterium should be given a fair shake.
Yet, despite these ‘adjustments’, they will still consider themselves to be Catholic, just as they will be considered alumnae of their respective high schools.
That’s an interesting analogy, especially given how much so many American suburban parishes treat the receiving of the Sacraments like some sort of “Catholic graduation.” One can freely choose to reject the Catholic faith; God, after all, does not force. But to “graduate from Catholicism” makes as much sense as presuming to go “beyond Jesus.”
The important thing is that teachers of theology plant seeds. It is ultimately God Who causes the growth. If God will not save us without our permission and cooperation, how do we expect to make disciples of those who will not submit themselves to any discipline? The word “disciplines” often gets a bad rap, except that at university, one doesn’t study a “subject.” One studies a discipline. There’s an implication of formation there.
Another fellow colleague of mine said it best when he observed that ‘disciples’ must be created before ‘scholars’.
BINGO. The two really are related. Not for nothing does Hans Urs Von Balthasar refer to a “kneeling theology”– in other words, he sees that prayer is integral to understanding: Catholics also pray and are Catholic with everything they got– mind, heart, soul, strength. Moreover, St. Thomas Aquinas had the same simple faith in God as a truly pious Catholic grandmother with little formal education: accepting abundance and profundity requires receptivity. Individuals will approach the Catholic tradition in different ways, given that everyone is given different strengths. But that tradition is still the same, regardless of approach, and is big enough to meet them where they are, because either Jesus is Who He says He is, or He isn’t, and either Catholicism can address the fullness of the human person, or it can’t. …and students won’t be able to see that bigness if they treat theology merely as “religion class.” They can’t just memorize stuff to pass an exam; they also have to join the dots.
Fr. James V. Schall, SJ once said something that has stuck with me since I first heard it: “an education is often about whether a person has his or her soul in order. Those whose souls are not in order will not see great things.”
Dear WSquared-Many thanks for all this-great way to start the week. Your two long ocmments above should be posted as a separatge article. If you are not, you should be a teacher, in the way of the “magister” of the time of St Thomas Aquinas. Muchas gracias. Guy McClung, San Antonio
Thanks for the kind words, Guy.
In all reality, I have taught, and I hope to do so again. I also hope to teach better. One passage about teaching that sticks with me and always challenges me is dialogue between Richard Rich and Thomas More from Robert Bolt’s A Man For All Seasons:
More: You would be a good teacher.
Rich: A teacher! But who would know?
More: Your students and God. Not a bad public, that.
Frank Sheed once said that we graduate from Catholic school with “a pile of Catholicism,” and we don’t join the dots– in other words, we’re given all this “Catholic stuff,” or we memorize it, but joining the dots means to see the relationships between the factual stuff. It also means applied reasoning on how and why they relate to God.
Especially with young people, how can you teach them “comparative theology” without leading them to reject dogma and the magisterium? For that matter, I heard a pastor once tell the congregation that some scholars were studying what happened at Sodom and Gomorrah, and they were postulating that all that happened there were sins against hospitablity to strangers. What most heard was that it was no longer a sin to voluntarily engage in homosexual sex.
” Especially with young people, how can you teach them “comparative theology” without leading them to reject dogma and the magisterium? ”
The story of Buddha is a great example to answer your question. He was the son of a noble and sheltered from all knowledge of how ordinary people lived, suffered and died. When he left the confines of his sanctuary and ventured into the real world he was totally aghast at what he had been protected from. He sat under a tree and said to God that he was not going to move from it until he knew the answer to suffering and death. He waited a long time before God said to him ” Desire.” He then left and started a religion that is much older than Christianity with almost as many adherents. If you don’t teach this branch of world theology with respect it will be thought of as a secret
the church is trying to keep – and will only provoke questions about what the church has to hide. This goes for all other religions as well. Some will be satisfied with explanation
and remain faithful, others will remain faithful and incorporate that theology into their own and others will fall away to chase shadows. In the end, everyone is enriched and eternal truths are brought to light. Does that make sense, Guy ?
Another analogy is the classic movie ‘Miracle on 34th St” Two rival stores who can’t
stand each other and viciously compete finally change their policy when Santa Claus
starts mercantile ecumenism to the betterment of all.
One might teach them comparative theology by emphasizing that the implications of any claim to be given “the fullness of the Truth” IS the ability to see truth in other traditions: in other words, the Catholic faith can genuinely respect other faith traditions and cultures without compromising itself and losing its own identity and integrity. The paradox, however, is that one is enabled to see that big when one allows Catholicism to be itself.
Students should be firmly grounded in their own faith tradition first, especially given that the poorly catechized don’t know it as well as they think they do. “Respecting other cultures” is also no excuse for not similarly respecting the Catholic faith, because genuine respect of other traditions means understanding those traditions on their own terms, and not reducing things to some sort of sentimentalist consumerist smorgasbord, as is often the case. The substance and crux of Catholic Christianity is Jesus Christ– and Who He is. Of necessity, the Catholic faith will assimilate what it can while holding at bay what it cannot. Does anyone honestly think that a Yeshiva, for example, would not first ground its students in Jewish tradition? Why is it so hard for Catholics to understand that a Catholic identity laid as a foundation actually has something to do with being Catholic?
If we want our students and our children to be disciples, they should first know Whom they follow.
Here’s where putting Christ at the center will in fact be crucial. All truth is God’s truth: there is no logos without the Logos. Truth has to be intelligible, after all, if we are to recognize it as such. We should also emphasize the bigness and capaciousness of orthodoxy, and its ability to think outside of the box, because the Cross necessarily breaks out, extending itself in all four directions without losing its shape (thank Chesterton for that observation). As I’ve said many times on here in other discussions, we do orthodoxy a disservice when we fail to realize that it’s about the Church telling us Who Christ is, and what follows from that, and not the Church “telling us what to do.” I’ve noticed that self-professed “liberal” and “conservative” Catholics fall down on this one all the time, because whether they like or hate the prospect, “the Church telling us what to do” is what they both expect: they expect encyclicals and the like to be operation manuals, and don’t realize that there’s a whole range of right behavior when it comes to obeying the Magisterium, just as there’s a whole range of wrong behavior. Look at just about any and every discussion of family size here and elsewhere in Catholic circles, and you know exactly what I mean.
” … the Catholic faith will assimilate what it can while holding at bay what it cannot.”
I think the CC will assimilate what it needs …
What seems missing from the curriculum ( from someone with 12 years of parochial school )
is comparative theology, which is learned on ones own while interacting with the world. That’s
when relativity kicks in and fills a void you failed to address.