Comments on The Sacred Page: Anti-intellectualism in the early Churches of Chri...

Offtop:Hi! I`m a student from Russia. Now I`m writ...

2008-12-24T10:51:00.000-08:00

Offtop:
Hi! I`m a student from Russia. Now I`m writing a diploma about anti-intellectualism in American historiography.
I don`t have access to the journal where the article by Rigney was published.

Do you have the text of this article?

Christopher, I know some of them personally as wel...

2007-06-21T15:47:00.000-07:00

Christopher, I know some of them personally as well, and who knows, may even be one of them myself!

I'm not a church historian, so I can't speak confi...

2007-06-17T17:10:00.000-07:00

I'm not a church historian, so I can't speak confidently to the early Churches of Christ, but I think your threefold typology probably works pretty well.

In modern Churches of Christ, I think there is a great deal of variety. As our folk became better and better educated themselves, I think two things happened. First, the esteem for learning went up in general. But at the same time, I think variety #2, not anti-intellectualism but anti-elitism, also increased. In Churches of Christ broadly, we still operate under the delusion that pretty much any literate adult (male, in most congregations) is equally well qualified to teach scripture. I think this is anti-elitism, or "democratization," in action. On the other hand, it's not really anti-intellectualism, as many underqualified individuals in our congregations (yes, I know some of them personally) fancy themselves intellectual.

I can confidently say that all three of these stra...

2007-06-16T20:08:00.000-07:00

I can confidently say that all three of these strains are apparent in the North-Central Arkansas Missionary Baptist tradition in which I was raised. Deeper thinking is always a nonentity next to personal feelings, which always take on the level of conviction. Before taking the time to think about things, it is better to put yourself to work. Idle hands are the devil's playground, after all.

There was a kind of learning that was acceptable, but it came from studying the Sunday School pamphlet before class and memorizing scripture. Preachers and evangelists who receive seminary education gain respect, but their sermons are still expected to rile convictions. As for any type of education that isn't training for a specific profession (like my newly-gotten liberal arts degree), it just makes people tilt their heads quizzically.