The Liberal Arts: A Student's Guide

Reclaiming the Christian Intellectual Tradition

by Gene C. Fant Jr., David S. Dockery (Series Editor)

An excellent liberal arts education holds purpose-giving and society-shaping power. But how do we tap into that power and make the most of liberal learning for the glory of God? Professor Gene Fant teaches how to maximize a liberal arts education by outlining its history, criticisms, purposes, and benefits. Ultimately, he shows that liberal learning equips us to become spiritually and intellectually empathetic people who are passionate about serving God, the church, and the world.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Religion, Theology, Cultural, Faith, Teaching

128 pages, Paperback

First published May 7, 2012

Reviews

[Mark Jr. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sometimes I skip to the end of a book review when I'm reading it in a rush. I think I'll try that while writing one: don't buy this book. Get Al Wolters' Creation Regained instead.

Now on to some substance. Gene Fant has a lot of it. But I just don't see how that substance is very Christian, precisely because it isn't very biblical. To be clear, I'm not sure I detected much if anything that was un- or anti-biblical. But neither can I imagine how an undergraduate student could read this book and come away with a truly biblical vision for the liberal arts. I do not see how this book helps "reclaim the Christian intellectual tradition," as the series title promises.

There are multiple Christian traditions, not all of them intellectual. There's only one I know that, in my humble estimation, manages to claim the title "biblical" when it comes to the liberal arts. And Fant wasn't reclaiming that one. How do I know this? Because the most biblically fundamental reasons for studying the liberal arts were entirely absent from this book, and it is the genius of that (hitherto unnamed) Christian intellectual tradition to draw on those biblical reasons. These reasons stand at the beginning of the biblical record: the image of God and the creation mandate (Gen. 1:26–28).

Here is everything Fant says about the image of God:

Perhaps there is something to the notion that our creative and inventive abilities are a part of the image of God that we bear. (81)

Here is everything Fant says about the creation mandate:

To learn about God, we must undertake research into his creation, from the humans who have a specific form of dominion over the world to the animals, plants, and even elements that fill every nook and cranny of the universe. (60)

Book reviewers aren't supposed to complain that they didn't get the book they wanted. But how can you write a whole book reclaiming a Christian view of the liberal arts and fail to explore these foundational points? It would be like a book about basketball basics that only mentions dribbling and shooting in respective footnotes. Dribbling and shooting are the organizing principles of basketball, the two practices built into the sport without which none of the other practices make sense. Likewise the image of God and the creation mandate.*

Fant speaks broadly and generically, glowingly, about the Christian view of the world. He also, to be sure, has numerous insightful and intelligent things to say about that view. But I couldn't discern an obvious method of organization toward a big point, and certainly not toward a scriptural point.

Let me share with you a few of the quotes that struck me as valuable insights:

Scientific pursuits must never become detached from other disciplines, particularly ethics. Science is the best means we have in telling us what we can do, as it describes the mechanisms of the physical world (e.g., we can study chemicals and design drugs that can cause our bodies to undergo changes). The scientific method, however, is ill-equipped to tell us what we may do in terms of ethics or practicality (is it ethical to use a drug to end the life of a person who is suffering from depression or to terminate a pregnancy?). Moreover, science as a discipline is completely unable to tell us what we must do (must we force a patient to undergo a drug treatment that can save a life but that the patient does not want?). Rightly understood, science is a tool, not a philosophical system. (70)

As Augustine once pointed out, math is discovered, not created. (61)

Much of the perceived conflict between faith and science is really an issue of data hermeneutics. Scientific materialism treats the universe in much the same way as literary critics detach text from authorial intent. If the universe has no author, then it has no intentionality, which means that its meaning is found only in the minds of its interpreters, those who analyze scientific data. The intentional fallacy that has afflicted much of literary criticism is shared by those who subscribe to a scientific viewpoint that there is no intentionality to the universe either. If the universe is random, it has no meaning. If it has no meaning, it has no originator of meaning. All authority, then, is ceded to the interpreters: scientific materialists. If the world has meaning, then it is only logical that is has an originator of that meaning; without an originator, there is no source of meaning. Or meaningful data. If the world is meaningful, then by definition it cannot be random. (78)

[Christian college] campus chapel programming should be viewed as a first-tier activity that reinforces the work of the core curriculum and grounds this work with specific applications that may be discerned in that context; too many campuses view chapel as an afterthought or a “throw away” hour that is a holdover from past times. Few things energize a Christian campus like an effective chapel speaker whose message resonates with previous discussions in the classroom or spurs subsequent class interactions that are relevant to the topics at hand. (90)

Perhaps some of the hesitancy to tackle theological content in the core curricula is a belief that students possess basic scriptural and doctrinal literacy when they arrive on campus. This belief, however, is undermined by the reality that even the best-educated and most church-saturated students who arrive at Christian institutions tend to lack in-depth knowledge of even the most basic facts of the faith. Surveys and polls all consistently bear this out. (91)

Another hesitation to include theological content is the sense of many, if not most, faculty members that they are ill-equipped to lead such discussions. I suspect that this is partially due to the way that professors are trained: they are specialists who know a great deal about a particular subject so are hesitant to hold forth on subjects outside of that field. The stakes of theological discourse are even higher; in the end, many Christian faculty members end up teaching their courses in ways that differ little from their secular counterparts at other universities; they do not teach in distinctively Christian ways that drip with theological content. (91–92)

These are valid and important insights from a man with valuable knowledge and experience. But I'm afraid his book illustrates that last quotation. His book is surely different from what secular literature professors would say. But it lacks the full distinctiveness of the biblical worldview, because it fails to dig deep into what the Bible says about the liberal arts.

*He also mentioned the story of Scripture—the metanarrative that provides a Christian view of the liberal arts—just once (76), but he managed to use the word "fulsome" eight times. I counted.

[Kevin Choate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very basic. Not sure what I learned here that I didn’t already know.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a bachelor's degree in engineering and a master's in business and have never really grasped the meaning of "liberal arts," not that I thought about it enough to try to understand it. Dr. Fant's explanation of studying subject matter that "liberates" helped me. Though I studied in the sciences and professional fields, I have worked in higher education (technology) for 20 years. I hear so many people that do not value the "general education" core of a college/university education. I have instinctively understood the value of my general education in developing my ability in critical thinking, this book has helped me be better equipped to articulate that value.

The content on pages 61-66 spoke to me. I value mathematics and the sciences because of their exactness and expressions of truth. Dr. Fant relates what he has heard from so many in higher education: "The Christian faith intersects most clearly in the humanities, but in mathematics, there is little difference between what a student will learn in the classroom of the Christian college and in that of [the secular school." I was blessed to study engineering at LeTourneau University and to have many dedicated Christian professors that influenced my thinking and my life in so many ways. Dr. Bill Graff was my professor in Electrical Engineering Circuits. The first day of class he asked the class for a show of hands on whether faith in Christ is belief because of the evidence or belief in spite of the evidence. The majority of the class said "belief in spite of the evidence." He said, "This shows that the majority is not always right and we will spend our devotional time at the beginning of each class proving to you that faith in Christ is belief based on overwhelming evidence. His devotions involved drawing charts and graphs on the board and showing us the overwhelming evidence that God's Word as recorded in the Bible is true and He is worthy of our faith and worship. Dr. Fant's words in this section support that the sciences point us to basic truths.

[Christopher Rush · Rating 2 out of 5]

As the Dull Train plods into Dull Station, we close our uneventful ho-hum. Please exit lugubriously and be on your way.

I don't want to sound harsh, but that's basically this book. I was very interested in this series, but this was not the ideal place to start. Perhaps it's me: maybe I'm at that point at which I don't need yet another "initial student's guide," of which this certainly is one of. Not only is it very much a beginning guide (one hopes it's not truly aimed at college students ... junior high kids, maybe), it deceptively has virtually nothing to do with the Liberal Arts. I was hoping for an engaging overview and interaction with the classical Liberal Arts, somewhere around seven in number I believe, but this little-yet-overlong pamphlet does not truly engage with them. Mr. Fant, Jr. spends some time dabbling with Science and Language Arts and how they can be neat-o, and he does give some attention to God and Stuff like that and how Thinking and Work and Bible-thing-items can be beneficial to one's thoughtlife, but none of that is really why anyone reading the title wants from what the title advertises. Typically, and especially disappointingly, it ends with a peevish and irritating lament of Mr. Fant, Jr.'s own personal educational background experiences, its ups and downs, its Liberal Artsiness and its Non-Liberal Artsiness, effectively albeit inadvertently confirming for us he really doesn't have much of a grasp of what the Liberal Arts are (seems like it's some cloud-like "thinking about what you read" pastime), and neither will you if you read this book. Surely better intro. guides for the actual Liberal Arts exist.

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meandering look at the liberal arts. Much of the work is focused more on the theory of higher education itself rather than on liberal arts specifically. Which is fine because later volumes in the series focus on various such arts. Fant is not great at making clear the logic of his writing--he tends to jump from topic to topic without providing much warrant. His best chapter addresses general revelation, and how this theological principle aids our pursuit and understanding of the liberal arts.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a nice, quick survey of what liberal arts education was and has become. But like other reviewers, it'd be hard to put a finer point on Fant's description, even though that can be done. (Not that I could. Or have a good recommendation for someone that does. It's probably not Al Wolters as one reviewer suggested, if I can be snarky.) I appreciate how much Fant did not entertain the culture war crud we're surrounded by.

[Andrew Hoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent intro to the liberal arts. Skip the last two chapters.

[Jake Busch]

Helpful little introduction to the liberal arts and the Christian intellectual tradition. Is a good resource for those gaining interest in Christian education.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great defense for studying the Liberal Arts as a Christian and how this foundation can benefit students in all of life.

[W · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The core of what has happened to liberal learning is best viewed from a two-part question: from what does liberal learning free us, and for what purpose are we then free? When liberal learning was within the context of Christianity, the term liberal was intended to result in liberation from the self and egotism. The post-Enilghtenment, secular vision of liberal learning exalts freedom, instead, from the tyranny of institutions and social structures that would circumscribe our lives, freeing us so that we may follow our hearts and minds wherever they may wish to roam. These answers are almost completely opposed to the answers that a defender of liberal learning in Christian context would offer: 'We are freed from the selfishnesss of our sinful and crooked ways' and 'W are freed to return to our original purpose, the glorification of God and the service of our fellow persons.' One view focuses on the self, and the other empties the self. The difference is critical to understanding what might happen in a university classroom." pp.41

"Traditional learning, then, always connects the individual with a larger purpose beyond the self. The learner seeks to pursue goals loftier than hedonism or mere creature comfort by submitting to the tutelage of the best thinker of the past in preparation for the challenges and opportunities of the present and future." pp.45

"The Great Commandment does not call us merely to empathize with our neighbors' it demands that we love God with every fiber of our being (Mark 12:30). We are to love God with our minds, and we are to love our neighbors as well, which means that intellectual empathy is a moral virtue. For this reason, learning must never be detached from the community...learning must be dedicated to the glory of God and the service of our neighbors. Likewise, learning must be ready to tackle a variety of academic fields, filling one's intellectual storehouse with a number of ways of thinking, along with a full complement of questions that derive from different fields' philosophical foundations." pp.57

"As John Milton wrote in On Education (1644), the purpose of education is 'to repair the ruins of our first parents by regaining to know God aright, and out of that knowledge to love Him.' "

See especially the discussion on Liberal Learning and the Core Curriculum.

Current Opporutuntiies for (and Challeneges to ) Liberal Learning: 1) Reconnecting Vocation and Liberal Learning 2) Preparing for a Lifetime of Learning 3) Preparing for a Global Society

In response to hostility from secular intellectuals and institutions: "'Let excellence be your protest...When we allow excellence to be our protest, we will allow work harder than anyone else. When we allow excellence to be our protest, we will rely on God to open doors for us, trusting him to vindicate us, even if that vindication does not come in this life. How can we not be excellent when we serve the God of the universe? '" pp.109

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never really appreciated my liberal arts education until I read this book. Fascinating history of this pedagogy and role in Christian life and society in general.

[Mark A Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fant discusses the origins of what we now call a “liberal arts” education, revealing that the primary goal was to liberate a student from self and ego, not an anti-institutional rallying cry for total self-rule. Although most liberal arts curricula have been largely hijacked by secular antagonists of anything religious, Fant argues that there is still a place—and urgent need—for a Christian approach to liberal education. His arguments are briefly stated, but largely convincing.

[Frances Chan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic overview of the importance of the liberal arts to Christianity (both historically and currently). Fant describes the liberal arts as not just a particular set of content, but a way of thinking and a set of principles that guide Christians to excellence in every field. He shows how liberal learning glorifies God and prepares people to be well-equipped for every challenge.

[Jerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

The liberal arts are critical to education in the most basic sense--the art of living well. Gene Fant does a great job of anchoring why and what we learn in the Bible, and makes the case for the kind of education that every person with a soul ought to receive and continue to enjoy for a lifetime.

[Jeremy]

Fant became the president of North Greenville University in 2017.

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very fine. So few people understand the liberal arts today -- thinking it is some kind of votech thing for future English teachers -- that it is truly refreshing to come across something like this.

[Brenton · Rating 3 out of 5]

A loose collection of some great ideas for educators, but lacks overall coherence. See Mark Ward's review.

[Brett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concise and convincing argument for the value of the Christian liberal arts college.

[Robert Balfour · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful starter for answering the question why Christians should get an education, and what kind of education it should be.