The Challenge of Teaching the Bible in an Academic (or church!) Setting
January 5, 2012 1 Comment
Teaching in a theological climate is a very lonely and sometimes daunting enterprise. Even with the most absorbed and friendly class, you are all alone there in front. What you say will inevitably be passed on—sometimes garbled and distorted. When you read the exams and one student after another gets it all wrong, there is really only one conclusion available: you, with all your preparation and good intentions, have deceived a whole class, and they will go on to deceive the waiting world. It is hard to be fearless and open to learning and willing to teach something new and important. It is easy to be safe and lazy.
Clair Davis, Chaplain and Professor of Church History, Redeemer Seminary, Dallas TX
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A very thought provoking statement. But there is a great issue…the student who gets it all right on the exam, but fails to understand how to live it out. Does this mean that our teaching is failing to reach the heart? Or is it a condemnation of our teaching methods that focus solely on intellectual endeavors? Perhaps the greater challenge is transforming the classroom into an environment that not only conveys knowledge, but demands practice…or application. There are a number of reasons why students get test questions wrong, and it is not limited to deception (as pointed out by the author). The point I am trying to make is that seeing belief (content) put into practice (application) may be a better assessment tool of comprehension.