05 Dec Early Civilization Influences responds one Joseph Paulino

Early Civilization Influences responds one

Joseph Paulino 

Discussion: Early Civilizations Influences 

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Discussion: Early Civilization Influence

Learning from the past is surely a vessel to the future.  A vessel that allows one to look out the window of history, which provides a comfortable experience those things that influence todays learning. The past teaches that an education was for the elite class. Additionally, a skill was passed on within the well to do. Moreover, the quest to be informed was always hidden from the uninformed.  

An informed community is clear on the reason and purpose of educating for the future. An education continues to be about life and death. Early civilization education was about life and death. Survival was the name of the game.  Survival continued to be at the core of an education. Many nation’s educational systems are guided by providing information to their citizen that enhances their survival.  One can see it in the many nations and their investment in their military.

The military structure is an educational influence of earlier civilizations. Nations continue to be influenced by the need to maintain a military today. Of course, many can define the reason in a variety of ways.  It said, history always speaks to us all. We only need to look around to hear the voice of history. Militaries in the early civilization were raised for protection and survival.  In our experience today, we find that purpose in the modern education system that support the military.  Today’s military experience across the globe have the capabilities to educate those serving in any field of human endeavor.      

There have always been those driven by the quest for knowledge, skills, abilities and experience.  Earlier civilization have continuously had those curious about knowing more. Today, one will find the gateway to higher knowledge, skills, abilities and experience at our institutions of higher learning.   In the past, institutions for learning were open to the wealth. Across our globe, we find that similar experiences continue to permeate in many communities. Communities today continue to impact and equip those within to a bright future.  Additionally, while consistently engaging, informing, teaching, guiding, protecting, and feeding, authors Anthony and Benson continuously in their work reveal these similarities and influence to the reader.

Freire said, “Education is an act of love, and thus an act of courage,” (Freire, 2013). Biblical verses supports the influence that early civilization has with the education system.  “Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you,” (Proverbs 4:6-7 English Standard Version).    

Finally, one does not need to travel far to experience the influence of earlier civilizations. One only needs to look around to take in the current experience of days long gone. Furthermore, our daily activities are saturated

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Thomas Narofsky 

Early Civilization Influences

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            Early Civilization influences can positively influence today when viewed in the context of why the approaches occurred. In the First Century Church, the positive influences were Jesus’ mentoring leadership style and Community involvement in early believers’ lives and their development. From the Reformation period, Luther’s act of defiance can positively influence the drifting Church today.  

1.  Mentorship – (Positive Influence) Jesus was and is the master teacher. Jesus used the ancient Jewish Rabbinical tradition to mentor the Disciples (Anthony & Benson, 2003). In the same manner that Gamaliel instructed the Apostle Paul, Jesus instructed and tutored the Disciples. He constructed a foundation for educating and mentoring the Disciples through a close one-on-one type relationship as they traveled through Galilee, Samaria, and Judea. Transformational leadership, as defined by Burns (1978), is the process of building a “relationship of mutual stimulation and elevation that converts followers into leaders and may convert leaders into moral agents” (p. 4).

      According to Tichy & Sherman (1994), “the role of a leader is to express a vision, get buy-in, and implement it. That calls for open, caring relations with employees and face-to-face communication. Jesus shared his life, his vision, his ideas, his thoughts, and, most of all, his ministry with the Disciples. Jesus did this by modeling the Father through His daily walk, loving the Disciples, and teaching the truth about God. Northouse’s (2004) definition “leadership is a process whereby an individual influence a group of individuals to achieve a common goal” (p.3). He understood the Disciples’ weaknesses and fears but could see their potential and built upon their strengths.

      Jesus developed the Disciples to be leaders, and His replacements by shaping their views, beliefs, and behaviors. Vos (2012) states that “It is all about spiritual formation–becoming like Christ! (p. 101). Christ calls all believers to be spiritually transformed into disciples to carry on His work in the World and live as God desires us to live (Vos, 2012). A Christian leader is a Christian from the core to crust, placed their trust and hope in Christ, and serves through the Power of the Holy Spirit (Malphurs, 2003). Jesus’ methodology of mentorship and education is essential to developing Christ-Centered children and Christ-Centered leaders today.

1. Community Education and Development – Parents and the Church are charged to was raise a Christ-centered child. Unlike today’s church community, the early first-century Church was a unified community and acted as “one body through the one Spirit” (ESV, 2001, Ephesians 4:4). The first-century believer’s actions and choices reveal that they were committed to another through their sharing of resources and their daily communal interactions. The Apostle Paul intended the Christian community to live, grow, and love together as one body to become more Christlike (Pettit, 2008, p. 44; p. 272; ESV, 2001, Ephesian 4: 1-16, Titus 2). The early Church relied on each other to survive persecution. Each believer needed the correct Christian doctrine, so catechism or catechumen was developed by the early Church (Anthony & Benson, 2003). The catechism was a requirement for the new convert to be part of the Church. The development and instruction lasted three years to learn the Christian faith’s tenets (Anthony & Benson, 2003).

      The early Jewish education and later the catechism style education both are valuable in today’s consumerism world. The instant gratification problem that some Church’s experience with new believers could benefit from one-on-one development and a three-year development cycle. Ensuring believers, young and old, understand the commitment of taking up the cross, and following Christ’s example is not a 30-day program. It requires a greater understanding of Christ’s sacrifice and how to defend the Christian faith (apologetics) when the World pressures a person to be anything but a Christian (ESV, 2001, 2 Timothy 3:14-17). A healthy church community and parents can raise a child with a desperate dependence on Jesus Christ with a solid doctrinal foundation, just like the first-century church community.

3)      A relevant church in a changing world -. When Martin Luther posted his Ninety-five Theses on the doors of the Wittenberg Church, he was pointing out the fact that the Church had lost its “theological moorings and required course correction” (Anthony & Benson, p 198). Luther saw that the Church had lost its relevance as a life-changing and life-saving entity in the World. Luther felt the Church was just like the sinful World instead of the Salt and Light for the World (Anthony & Benson, 2003). He let the Catholic Church know they needed to reform their practices or lose their relevance and Christ’s Great Commission.  

      Luther’s 1752 message for reform is still relevant today for the Church. The Church is to be the Salt and Light of the World and not part of the World. People need hope, and the church can provide that in Christ’s life. When the Church is too involved with the world’s machinations and postmodernist culture is in danger of losing sight of what is important-The Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 and becoming just like the Church’s described in Revelation 2-4 (ESV, 2001).

 

References

 

             Anthony, M. & Benson, W. (2003). Exploring the History and Philosophy of Christian Education. Principles for the 21st Century. Wipf & Stock Publishers, Eugene, OR.

Burns, James M. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper and Row.

English Standard Version Bible. (2001). ESV Online. https://esv.literalword.com/

Malphurs, A. (2003). Being Leaders The Nature of Authentic Christian Leadership. Grand Rapids, MI. Bakers Books.

Northouse, P. (2007). Leadership: Theory and practice. (4th Ed.), Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Publications, Ltd

Pettit, P. (2008). Foundations of spiritual formation: A community approach to becoming like Christ. Grand Rapids, MI, Kregel Publication.

Tichy, N. M., and Sherman, S. (1994), Control your own destiny or someone else will, Harper

Business, New York, NY.

Vos, B. (2012). The Spiritual Disciplines and Christian Ministry. Evangelical Review of Theology, 36(2), 100-114.

Discussion: Pick One responds two

 

Thomas Narofsky 

The Benedict Option

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            According to Dreher (2017), the philosophical and theological roots of society’s fragmentation started in the Fourteenth Century and progressed until where we are today. The fragmentation of society was a slow progression in the beginning but rapidly change after the Nineteenth Century. To highlight the beginning, a look at the Fourteenth through the Sixteenth Centuries then jump forward to the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. In the Fourteenth Century, Dreher (2017) alludes to the defeat of metaphysical realism by nominalism. In early Christianity, the supernatural world (God) and the natural world (man) were connected.  However, nominalism crept in, and man began assigning meaning to the material world. God began to be replaced by the Socratic tradition and new philosophies that espoused humanism and human virtues (Anthony & Benson, 2003).

            In the Fifteenth Century, the Renaissance age, humanism further expanded, and Man’s rebirth to literature, art, science, and man replaced God even further. Educational humanism and character-building expanding man’s potential to became all things and diminished God’s (Dreher, 2017; Anthony & Benson, 2003). The Sixteenth Century was the Rise of Western Civilization and the Reformation. Luther’s Ninety-five Theses created European religious disunity and power struggles between monarchs and the papacy (Dreher, 2017, p. 45; Anthony & Benson, 2003, p. 191)

            In the Nineteenth Century, the Industrial Revolution changed families forever. Familial closeness and connections were strained or dissolved as families moved from the rural areas to the city for jobs (Dreher, 2017, p 46). No longer was the home the core of everyday family life. Philosophical thought was progressive and focused on Darwinism, Marxism, Atheism, and Socialism. The Century also produced the Biblical scholar Charles Spurgeon and Salvation Army founder William Booth (Dreher, 2017; Anthony & Benson, 2003). Finally, in the Twentieth Century, WWI, WWII, and the Sexual Revolution further deteriorated the family, morals, and Christians resolve to defend against society’s decline.

            Dreher’s (2017) assessment concerning society’s fragmentation is reasonably accurate. The decline or fragmentation progressed over 800 years to where it is today. It has been a slow but steady move from God, as the King of the Universe, to Man, the controller of his destiny. Humankind stopped looking to the heavens for the answer and decided to look to themselves for the answers. They changed God from Creator and Lord of all life and replaced Him with primordial ooze and chance.

 

References      

Anthony, M. & Benson, W. (2003). Exploring the History and Philosophy of Christian Education. Principles for the 21st Century. Wipf & Stock Publishers, Eugene, OR.

Dreher, R. (2017). The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a post-Christian nation. Penguin Random House, New York, NY.

 

Joseph Paulino 

The Benedict Option 

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Discussion: Topic 2

The Benedict Option argues for one to focus on their own formation and education. A focus that only includes them and no one else.  It calls for education guided by classical Christian teaching. A teaching, which was strictly Biblically based.  It further calls for the isolation from the secular world. Next, it advocates for Christians to conduct business within themselves.  

Benedict Option encouraged, a buy Christian and support Christian only establishments. Additionally, it pushes the creation of a Christian only environment. A parameter open only to those that identified with classic Christian living. Past tradition of worship would be the flavor of the day.   

Learning and worshiping was guided by past classical Christian foundation. The author champions a return to a tradition that is no longer practiced.  However, a practice currently found amount the lifestyle of the Benedict monks. Dreher work, longs for a return to yesterday and a time long lost to the world.     

The Bible is more flexible than the commitment that Dreher is pushing on Christian. His work is too rigid on many fronts. It limits the broad learning opportunities by closing interaction with the greater community. It also goes against the great commission requested of all Christians. It steers away from what is believed to be Biblical living. It calls for behavior that pushes the limits for Christians living.          

The Benedict Option forces one to question and exam the authors’ purpose of the many suggestion in his work. However, one is challenged to take a second look at what he is really saying.  One may find that they are being guided to a place of wonder regarding the future.  A future that would not truly be seen unless one reads his work. The picture painted by the author has the reader rethink their commitment to the Kingdom. Additionally, it has them exam their behavior in the current world. Behavior that are disciplined and traditional by the Benedict Option standards.

Dreher said, “We are living with the consequences of ideas accepted many generations ago, and as a result of those decisions, we are losing our religion – a far greater crisis than merely losing the habit of churchgoing,” (Dreher, 2017, p22).      

Finally, Benedict Option is an individual desire to reestablish an old foundation on a new house. The author pushes the envelope on parameters that communities have struggled passed. However, the areas that make sense for one desire to arrive at disciplined behavior. Furthermore, it creates an opportunity to look at whether the suggestions in the book makes sense to us individually.     

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