From the beginning of civilization, humanity has pondered the purpose of acquiring knowledge, the purpose of education. People throughout the ages have speculated a variety of purposes and motives and have therefore created different paths to approach education. One such path formed was the liberal arts education. In his chapter “The Countercultural Quest of Christian Liberal Arts,” author Jeffery Davis explains the purpose and motive of education behind this liberal arts path. He states, “The pursuit of knowledge should start with wonder and curiosity, not the motive of controlling our destiny. A liberal arts education represents a quest for truth rather than an information download; it moves us toward the unknown every bit as much as the
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Davis rightfully bases his argument off beliefs that education has a purpose above amassing knowledge, and that God and truth exist in everything and should exist in a believer’s life. His first belief about the purpose of education hits controversy in today’s popular view of higher education. People attend to walk away with a degree, a measurement of the knowledge that they have amassed during their years of study. College becomes a competition for the most knowledge that will eventually yield the most amount of money. In the eyes of many, it has turned into an industry that provides a career and money in exchange for learning specific material. However, what those people miss is that they are walking away from higher education with more than just a career and money. Somewhere along the journey of learning, they have changed …show more content…
When one tries to pursue an education with the only goal to create a better future for themselves, they miss out on the other aspects education has to offer. Sure, they will still glean some of the benefits unknowingly, but overall, they will not make as much progress as a person. Davis shows the importance of all the other aspects of education by calculating and comparing hours in a week. He finds that on average, a person will only spend 43.5 hours in a week working while they have 70.6 other non-sleeping hours a week (Davis 29). These numbers show that the career, the destiny people are preparing for themselves, accounts for less than half of an average person’s life. The other part of life that college should prepare you for, being a “good neighbor, a loyal friend, a devoted spouse, a committed church member, a loving parent, a responsible citizen,” does not come by being focused on controlling one’s destiny (Davis 29). Wanting to be educated to control one’s destiny also poses a theological problem. As Davis points out, this can become a problem of idolatry when one’s own ideas of the outcome of going to school override God’s (Davis 24). The fix for this problem? Avoid using education solely as a means to produce a certain outcome of
Davis rightfully bases his argument off beliefs that education has a purpose above amassing knowledge, and that God and truth exist in everything and should exist in a believer’s life. His first belief about the purpose of education hits controversy in today’s popular view of higher education. People attend to walk away with a degree, a measurement of the knowledge that they have amassed during their years of study. College becomes a competition for the most knowledge that will eventually yield the most amount of money. In the eyes of many, it has turned into an industry that provides a career and money in exchange for learning specific material. However, what those people miss is that they are walking away from higher education with more than just a career and money. Somewhere along the journey of learning, they have changed …show more content…
When one tries to pursue an education with the only goal to create a better future for themselves, they miss out on the other aspects education has to offer. Sure, they will still glean some of the benefits unknowingly, but overall, they will not make as much progress as a person. Davis shows the importance of all the other aspects of education by calculating and comparing hours in a week. He finds that on average, a person will only spend 43.5 hours in a week working while they have 70.6 other non-sleeping hours a week (Davis 29). These numbers show that the career, the destiny people are preparing for themselves, accounts for less than half of an average person’s life. The other part of life that college should prepare you for, being a “good neighbor, a loyal friend, a devoted spouse, a committed church member, a loving parent, a responsible citizen,” does not come by being focused on controlling one’s destiny (Davis 29). Wanting to be educated to control one’s destiny also poses a theological problem. As Davis points out, this can become a problem of idolatry when one’s own ideas of the outcome of going to school override God’s (Davis 24). The fix for this problem? Avoid using education solely as a means to produce a certain outcome of