But Isn't Christianity Anti-Learning?

Michie

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Father Tim Finigan has a great little post over at The Hermeneutic of Continuity in which he points out, among other things, that the traditional vestments worn at Western graduation ceremonies come directly from universities’ religious pasts. It is quite striking: When I first looked at the picture of the graduation procession in his post, I assumed it was a shot from some kind of church service.


Any modern person immersed in secular wisdom knows that Christianity is an antiquated, superstitious belief system that is antithetical to reason and learning. The religious nuts can sit around and talk about fairies and angels and all the other silly stuff that interests them, but people who really value truth and the pursuit of knowledge set all that aside in order to get a real education.

Interesting, then, that it’s so easy to mistake a photo of a university graduation with a Christian religious event. The iconic square academic cap, or mortarboard, comes to us directly from the birettas worn by Catholic clergy, just as the robes and capes come from the Church’s roba and cappa clausa.

And let’s take a look at some of the original mottos of some of the world’s great universities:
  • Oxford: Dominus illuminatio mea – “The Lord is my light”
  • Cambridge: Hinc lucem et pocula sacra – “From here, light and sacred draughts”
  • Aberdeen: Initium sapientiae timor domini – “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”
  • Harvard: Veritas Christo et Ecclesiae - “Truth for Christ and the Church”
  • Columbia: In lumine Tuo videbimus lumen - “In Thy light shall we see the light (Psalm 36:9)”
And so on. In fact, a list of the mottos of old universities would leave one with the distinct impression that a love of God ignites a great love of learning. To quote the founders of Harvard, from their Rules and Precepts of 1646:

Continued- http://www.ncregister.com/blog/but-i-thought-christianity-was-anti-learning
 

BondiHarry

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Any modern person immersed in secular wisdom knows that Christianity is an antiquated, superstitious belief system that is antithetical to reason and learning

No, they don't KNOW that at all because it simply isn't true. God commands us to seek knowledge and wisdom (simply reading the book of Proverbs makes this abundantly clear). What secular man often does is look at the practices of certain churches that have fallen into apostasy and heresy, who abide in the corrupt teachings of men rather than fully abiding in the pure word of God and think what they do must be what God teaches. If secular man bothered to look at God's book they would discover that a great many of their beliefs about God have no basis in reality so there is no little irony in such men displaying the very attributes they wrongly condemn Christianity for.
 
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Dark_Lite

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No, they don't KNOW that at all because it simply isn't true. God commands us to seek knowledge and wisdom (simply reading the book of Proverbs makes this abundantly clear). What secular man often does is look at the practices of certain churches that have fallen into apostasy and heresy, who abide in the corrupt teachings of men rather than fully abiding in the pure word of God and think what they do must be what God teaches. If secular man bothered to look at God's book they would discover that a great many of their beliefs about God have no basis in reality so there is no little irony in such men displaying the very attributes they wrongly condemn Christianity for.

It was sarcasm written in the article. ;)
 
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