This class was easily the fourth time I've heard Mashburn speak on Genesis, and it never gets old. I remember the first time, it was second semester of my freshman year and he was a LOT more intense with our ethics class than he was on honors today. Or at least that's how my memory framed it, because I flipped out. He wrote a series of questions on the board, which he said in class today. Some of which include-
What was the original sin?
Is knowledge evil?
Was the garden without sin, if so, WHY was the SNAKE THERE?
Was it adam's fault or eve's?
Where IS the garden, if it's a literal place, then where did it go?
And for the most part my handy set of sunday school answers had kept me comfortable until that point. And then all the sudden, the walls came down. I was mad for at least a week. But behind anger, and behind defense (as my friend Sara Dye so eloquently put it) lurks fear. When I had to throw out my answer to combat Mashburn, it meant I was afraid of what he said. Afraid his questions would shake the pillars of my faith and they did.
The funny thing about this, is that I agree even less with what Mashburn believes about creation than I did my freshman year. For me, the truth that Adam and Eve existed as literal people in a literal garden is an integral part of my faith. I turned down a really incredible job a few months ago because of it. I'm not saying that I'm going to start a fight, and I can name off a list of incredible Christians who don't hold that view, I'm just saying for me personally, it's important.
But I love hearing Dr. Mashburn speak, because I love to think about it. I love to listen to what he has to say because I DO think there's value in it, if even more value because I disagree. I've found that the best teachers are the teachers who tell me they don't agree with me, who challenge me, who push me. Even the Rabbis would argue and debate with each other over the meaning of scripture. This is what it means to be in the freedom of a community of believers. That I can say i don't have all the answers, I don't know where the garden of Eden actually is, and that really is okay.
If Dr. Mashburn had asked me what the imago dei meant 2 years ago, I would have had an answer. And now I can confidently say I stand in awe of the glory and the wonder of what it means that God made me in his image. And I struggle, and will always struggle, to understand the glory and the love and grace that were bestowed upon me. And I don't even know what it means.
That's something I appreciate about Dr. Carey. He makes you struggle and reexamine yourself, and you end up a better person for it, even though you don't accept everything he says. And it's okay to disagree with Dr. Mashburn or Dr. Carey. Their goal is to make you educated, to make you think for yourself. I think everyone needs at least one teacher like that.
ReplyDeleteLike Aristotle said, "It is the mark of an educated an to entertain an idea without accepting it." (And I like my simple WSC and Sunday School answers, thank you very much. They hold much more intellectual weight than their critics give them credit for.)
Honestly, while I absolutely love hearing Dr. Mashburn speak, I don't think it's just what he says or the questions he asks that test my faith. The entire Honors class does that, every time! I remember when Dr. Mitchell began teaching on Descartes Meditations, and while I don't remember the exact Meditation, I remember sitting in the Honors room with the lights out pretending that I didn't exist, thinking, this is crazy. But I remember, after class was over, I had no idea what to think or what was really true. Ever since then, my idea of what is true has been tested, tweaked, and, over all, come out stronger than it was before!
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