Profs to Speak On Faith & the Academics
Feb. 10th, 2005 10:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ziasudraMost likely my last summary report on a Veritas Forum event. Tomorrow: Broadway actor Bruce Kuhn performs "One Man, One Gospel, One Act" at Kimmel 405/406, 6:00 p.m.
Tonight's event was a panel of NYU professors sharing about how they integrate faith into academia -->
♦ Alf Bishai, Department of Music
♦ Daniel Fleming, Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies
♦ Seth Freeman, Stern School of Business
♦ Kenneth Krabbenhoft, Spanish and Portuguese Language and Literature
I'm not feeling too analytical tonight (gasp!), so I'll let the panelists speak for themselves:
Prof. Kenneth Krabbenhoft
~ Grew up Presbyterian, drifted away from all things spiritual, eventually converted to Roman Catholicism.
~ Changed from being "completely spiritually impoverished" to possessing deep faith via study on St. John of the Cross and other Spanish mystics.
"I find that I kept being dragged back to religion...even during my wandering years, my Bohemian years."
"I stopped teaching from my mind and started teaching with my heart...I realized I was a fraud, I had no idea about what I was teaching about."
~ Just to clarify: Krabbenhoft's point was that he was able to teach better as a result of integrating his faith into his academic passion. No, his brain didn't leave for permanent vacation when he made the mind to heart comment; he meant quite the contrary.
"Material wealth isn't an obstacle to spirituality, unless you're valuing it over God."
Prof. Daniel Fleming
~ Grew up atheist.
~ High school friend became a Christian and challenged him to read the bible with him.
~ He accepted the offer ("I told him, 'What? You think I'm chicken?'")
~ He decided to believe as well, then went to seminary and eventually obtained a Ph.D. in Bible.
"Even though there were a lot of tensions, but this represents the background of everything that I thought was right..."
~ It seems as if Fleming is by nature one who is not afraid to examine things head-on. His reaction to his high school friend shows that he was ready to (1) change his views if he was wrong, and (2) reinforce his views if he were secure enough in his (atheist) worldview. This explains his academic discipline, in which he challenges both his own beliefs and existing premises in biblical studies as someone who is secure in his own worldview.
"The career that I chose...was the very heart and soul of the thing my faith was oriented about."
~ Combination of fear and open-mindedness.
"It took both a long-term commitment for both my faith and my mind to survive."
Prof. Seth Freeman
~ Grew up in secular Jewish home.
~ Whereas academia encourages cynicism, faith encourages wonder.
~ Initial indifference: "[God] just wasn't part of my life."
~ Sees AA meetings as closest structure to help people "overwhelmed with life."
Life: "there was no getting away from it," nor was it good.
~ Freeman held this view about life, which became a driving force behind his search about faith.
Told by a minister to Freeman: "Don't come to Christ because he'll fix your problems, although he will...come to him because he's true and he's God."
~ This spurred Freeman on in his Christianity quest. As proof that "gaining faith" does not mean life's problems solved, he relayed:
"As soon as I became a Christian, life immediately got worse."
In his career (as business school professor): "You have a worldview and you bring it to the classroom."
~ Hence, need to be respectful. Freeman is aware of the "power position" he is in as professor, so he strives to be a Christian without letting it be an influencing factor or imposition of power.
"At the bottom, all things rest upon some assumption, some faith premise."
Alf Bishai
~ Gospel always made sense to him; he really "got it" when he was eight.
~ Struggle: to determine whether his faith was his family's, or his own.
~ Two guidelines: 1. whatever is true must be pervasive in all areas of life/universe. 2. his anchor is the person of Jesus.
"For me, the whole issue is...if I wasn't born in this family who gone to church, would I be a Christian?"
"I don't see religion as an optional element in your life."
On Jesus: "If you look at this guy...he's some guy...I found him to be undeniable.... He never once said, 'I'm God.' He just acted like God."
~ Bishai's thoughts on the person of Jesus were part of his "specific" example, very tangible. On the other hand, his foundation on the necessity of religion as part of a universal phenomenon was very idea-based. He's not a theorist for nothing ;)
So there you have it, the four panelists/professors describing themselves and their beliefs, in their own words. This event's audience was majority Christian, so not much controversy there. Overall, it was a good Q&A time for students to ask their older brothers in the faith about life in academia. I found the night to be informative. It was one of those "beginning meetings" that sparked further conversations. And starting up dialogues was what the Veritas Forum is for, right?
Tonight's event was a panel of NYU professors sharing about how they integrate faith into academia -->
♦ Alf Bishai, Department of Music
♦ Daniel Fleming, Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies
♦ Seth Freeman, Stern School of Business
♦ Kenneth Krabbenhoft, Spanish and Portuguese Language and Literature
I'm not feeling too analytical tonight (gasp!), so I'll let the panelists speak for themselves:
Prof. Kenneth Krabbenhoft
~ Grew up Presbyterian, drifted away from all things spiritual, eventually converted to Roman Catholicism.
~ Changed from being "completely spiritually impoverished" to possessing deep faith via study on St. John of the Cross and other Spanish mystics.
"I find that I kept being dragged back to religion...even during my wandering years, my Bohemian years."
"I stopped teaching from my mind and started teaching with my heart...I realized I was a fraud, I had no idea about what I was teaching about."
~ Just to clarify: Krabbenhoft's point was that he was able to teach better as a result of integrating his faith into his academic passion. No, his brain didn't leave for permanent vacation when he made the mind to heart comment; he meant quite the contrary.
"Material wealth isn't an obstacle to spirituality, unless you're valuing it over God."
Prof. Daniel Fleming
~ Grew up atheist.
~ High school friend became a Christian and challenged him to read the bible with him.
~ He accepted the offer ("I told him, 'What? You think I'm chicken?'")
~ He decided to believe as well, then went to seminary and eventually obtained a Ph.D. in Bible.
"Even though there were a lot of tensions, but this represents the background of everything that I thought was right..."
~ It seems as if Fleming is by nature one who is not afraid to examine things head-on. His reaction to his high school friend shows that he was ready to (1) change his views if he was wrong, and (2) reinforce his views if he were secure enough in his (atheist) worldview. This explains his academic discipline, in which he challenges both his own beliefs and existing premises in biblical studies as someone who is secure in his own worldview.
"The career that I chose...was the very heart and soul of the thing my faith was oriented about."
~ Combination of fear and open-mindedness.
"It took both a long-term commitment for both my faith and my mind to survive."
Prof. Seth Freeman
~ Grew up in secular Jewish home.
~ Whereas academia encourages cynicism, faith encourages wonder.
~ Initial indifference: "[God] just wasn't part of my life."
~ Sees AA meetings as closest structure to help people "overwhelmed with life."
Life: "there was no getting away from it," nor was it good.
~ Freeman held this view about life, which became a driving force behind his search about faith.
Told by a minister to Freeman: "Don't come to Christ because he'll fix your problems, although he will...come to him because he's true and he's God."
~ This spurred Freeman on in his Christianity quest. As proof that "gaining faith" does not mean life's problems solved, he relayed:
"As soon as I became a Christian, life immediately got worse."
In his career (as business school professor): "You have a worldview and you bring it to the classroom."
~ Hence, need to be respectful. Freeman is aware of the "power position" he is in as professor, so he strives to be a Christian without letting it be an influencing factor or imposition of power.
"At the bottom, all things rest upon some assumption, some faith premise."
Alf Bishai
~ Gospel always made sense to him; he really "got it" when he was eight.
~ Struggle: to determine whether his faith was his family's, or his own.
~ Two guidelines: 1. whatever is true must be pervasive in all areas of life/universe. 2. his anchor is the person of Jesus.
"For me, the whole issue is...if I wasn't born in this family who gone to church, would I be a Christian?"
"I don't see religion as an optional element in your life."
On Jesus: "If you look at this guy...he's some guy...I found him to be undeniable.... He never once said, 'I'm God.' He just acted like God."
~ Bishai's thoughts on the person of Jesus were part of his "specific" example, very tangible. On the other hand, his foundation on the necessity of religion as part of a universal phenomenon was very idea-based. He's not a theorist for nothing ;)
So there you have it, the four panelists/professors describing themselves and their beliefs, in their own words. This event's audience was majority Christian, so not much controversy there. Overall, it was a good Q&A time for students to ask their older brothers in the faith about life in academia. I found the night to be informative. It was one of those "beginning meetings" that sparked further conversations. And starting up dialogues was what the Veritas Forum is for, right?
cool
Date: 2005-02-12 10:22 pm (UTC)Those Veritas Forums sound so exciting ~ thanks for being diligent about posting your thoughts on the nights. I wonder what cool things that God is doing through them...
The one person performance should be interesting. Look forward to hearing your impressions.