Faith Enlightening Education: Part Two, Do We Discover Truth or Create Truth?

“If everybody stopped believing in God, would He cease to exist?” Mike asked.

“Excuse me?” said the teacher, not sure he was being serious.  Mike, a senior, could be a bit of a comedian at times.

“If everybody stopped believing in God, would he cease to exist?  I mean, what would happen if we all just stopped believing in him?” Mike asked again.

The rest of the class showed both smiles and curious faces.

There is a brutal honesty to youth that every teacher finds refreshing.  Mike — being a product of his culture —  asked a question that many people would probably like to ask.

With a chuckle, the teacher turned to the class and said, “How about if we all stop believing in Mike and see if he will cease to exist”.  They tried, but Mike never went away — even when they closed their eyes for effect.

The teacher then asked; “If God stopped thinking about us, would we cease to exist”?  Whose existence is more foundational?  In fact, isn’t God the foundation of existence?

Man has an incredible dignity that Mike very much understood.  Like other animals we take in information with our senses, but we also can learn, reason and creatively apply our knowledge.  JPII called this our subjective selves.  When Adam realized that he was “alone” in the world, it was a self-revelation that he was a person , and the other animals were not.

Man is a person like God, but man is not God.  Ever since Adam and Eve, man has been tempted to be “like God, knowing good and evil”.  Man as a person, has a unique subjective perspective.  God as a person does as well.

God’s perspective is what JPII calls objective truth .  Since God is the foundation of all existence, God’s Objective Truth is the foundation of Truth.

Same Car Wreck, Different Story

The difference between objective truth and a person’s subjective perspective was demonstrated during another discussion on a hypothetical car-wreck a couple years later.  Again, the brutal honesty was refreshing.

“When two people witness the same car-wreck, they usually come up with different explanations of what they saw”, Mary said.  “So…since one person saw the wreck one way and the other person saw the wreck another way, then they each saw there own truth about the wreck.  So…we all kinda live in our own world” she concluded.

The teacher replied “The wreck took place regardless of whether someone was there to witness it or not — do you agree?”

Mary agreed — but was unsure.

“Then the wreck objectively happened.  Each person’s interpretation of what happened may be a bit different, but the wreck they experienced was the exact same wreck.”

Mary agreed, but was not completely convinced.

“OK, I will agree that the wreck objectively happened” Tim piped in, “but we will never know what actually happened since each of our interpretations are flawed.”

This was a valid point — Tim realized that since we have darkened minds, our perceptions are flawed.

“Can we agree that some interpretations may be more correct than others?” the teacher asked.

Tim agreed.

“Then maybe our goal is to help our subjective perspectives become as objectively correct as possible” said the teacher.

Tim realized that objective truth existed, but he was convinced that we could never get to it (darkened minds).  He reasoned that since we may not perceive objective truth clearly, our hope for attaining it is futile.

Understanding the effects of our fallen nature is critically important in the field of education.  As the CCC states :  …Ignorance of the fact that man has a wounded nature inclined to evil gives rise to serious errors in the areas of education , politics, social action, and morals (407, italics mine).

We all experience the results of our darkened intellect from the fall.  Loving decisions are difficult to make when we are self-centered.  Our disordered appetites and concupiscence put up a fierce battle in our reasoning. “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate ” — Romans 7:15.

Man has a wounded nature, but Truth is not wounded.  Man’s wounded nature makes it more difficult to subjectively perceive what is objectively real.  But we are NOT without hope.  Through redemption, our minds become enlightened and we perceive the truth with more clarity.

Truth:  Something We Discover

Pope John Paul’s Theology of the Body reminds us that our faith sheds much light on Truth and its meaning.  We realize that each person is made in the image and likeness of God, and thus we have our own subjective perspective on life and its many wonders.  Prior to the fall, our subjective perspectives were objectively correct.  In the beginning, there was no conflict between what we subjectively perceived and what was objectively real.

With the fall, our subjective perspectives we not necessarily objectively accurate.  The original man that was created in the image and likeness of God is still very much a part of us, but our minds have become darkened.  We are too self-centered and battle concupiscence.

Every good student recognizes the need for the guidance of teachers.  Every good athlete seeks a coach.  Even saints need a spiritual advisor since we do not always perceive ourselves accurately.

There is an objective truth that is extraordinarily reasonable.  This truth can be found in daily living and in the natural law within us, but it is also found within the wisdom of the Church.  We should utilize both of these sources to discover truth — they resonate together.  As we construct our subjective perspectives throughout our lives, there is a much greater chance of that it will be objectively true if we allow ourselves to be instructed by the wisdom of the Church.

Truth is discovered because it exists beyond us — it is defined by God.  Understanding this it makes for a great paradigm shift within our culture — the individual stops being the source of truth.  Thus, two individuals that are seeking the truth can tackle the mystery together, grappling with their reason and insights.  They can each look beyond themselves and beyond each other.  BUT, if we are convinced that each person is the source of their own truth, any discussion turns into a battle of wills.

Education From the Truth

It would be ideal to be instructed by a teacher who understands objective truth, subjective truth and the importance of bridging the gap between them.   Good teachers help each person recognize their darkened minds, and that enlightenment is available through redemption.  That is what a Christian teacher should be.

It would be more ideal to be instructed at an institution that understands man’s dignity, his fallen nature and redemption.  An institution that knows there is a right and wrong and spiritual basis to morality.  An institution that forms the whole person:  physically, intellectually, morally and spiritually.  That is what a Christian School should be.

It would be most ideal to be instructed by a Christian school that can provide the sacramental grace that in fact redeems; a Christian school that embraces the fullness of the faith and thus leads students from the study of objective truth, to a relationship with He who is Truth.  That is what a Catholic school should be.

[For part one in this series click here .]

By

My wife's name is Susan and we have four children born in '86, '90, '95, and '98. I teach/coach and administrate at a Catholic High School. I have been in the education for 26 years, the first 9 in public K-12 system, 5 years at a community college, and the past 13 in a Catholic High School.

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