God is in All Things, Especially Academics

I’ve not been exposed to the Bible in traditional ways during my time at BC. Coming in, I was prepared to sit down with a pen, highlighter, and magnifying glass to really get a close read of the Holy Book and ask myself the toughest questions, like “what is the origin of evil?” Instead, I’ve been asked more basic questions like “how do we properly read and understand the Bible?” and most recently “how do we walk in the light of God?”, but the lenses and contexts in which these questions were proposed and answered opened my mind and heart to understand academics in a different light.

I was asked “how do we read the Bible?” in my core Theology class, and instead of receiving a cliche answer like “with an open mind and loving soul” I instead received a history and English lesson. Each book of the Bible could be read as a different genre of writing—whichever was most appropriate considering the target audience. Mark’s Gospel was similar to a Shakespearian tragedy, laced with themes of friendship and abandonment to make the story more accessible to common people. Matthew’s Gospel paints Christianity as a continuation of Judaism to appease the Jewish people. Other New Testament books also had different purposes, audiences, and subsequent compositions. It was a fresh way of viewing the Gospels I’d heard numerous times at Mass and CCD, and this view left a deep impression on me, yet I hadn’t thought much about why.

The last place I expected to discuss the Bible was in my political theory elective, but I’m grateful it was a part of the course material. The class is titled “Enlightenment Political Theory” and asks questions like “what does it mean to be enlightened?” and “how do we live in the political world as enlightened people?” Both questions are aptly answered in the Bible, yet I had never thought to ask them while reading or listening to its stories although they are so central to navigating how we should live as Christians in these politically turbulent times.

Discussing enlightenment in the Bible was especially interesting after reading Plato’s Republic days before. The two sources give different answers, yet are strangely similar in their language and intent. To Socrates, one becomes enlightened after they are pulled out of the darkness of the cave of ignorance and into the light of truth. From there, man pursues the truth through intense reasoning and logic towards the end of becoming a ‘Philosopher King’ whose job it is to lead his people towards that same light. 

The Bible argues the opposite. We know that the light of God is not knowledge through the story of Adam and Eve—they were tricked into eating the Fruit of Knowledge by the Serpent and as a result were cast out of Eden far away from God, who is the Light of the World. Because God and the Light are not knowledge, they must be understood and received in ways other than with intellect and reason, and the method prescribed in the Bible is abandoning all we thought we knew, placing faith in God and His commandments. After their transformation, one must glorify God by loving His people. Specifically, following His commandments, accepting persecution and evangelizing to those around him are central to living life as God’s chosen people and spreading His word, rather than becoming a political leader and forcing each person to accept the Truth of God. After all, each man must choose God of his own will in order to really know Him.

Of course, everything I learned about the Bible and how to “walk in the Light of God” were things I had been taught at CCD and by listening to the readings every Sunday at Mass. However, because they were presented to me in such an unexpected political and secular context, I felt as if I were learning how to live my faith again for the first time. Growing up and into my faith, I had unknowingly created metaphorical walls in my heart and mind separating God and His teachings from my academics, making me feel as if I wasn’t ‘allowed’ to read the Bible in the secular lights of politics, human history, and language. So much more than if I’d just focused on the ‘bigger’ questions of my faith, I’m glad these classes, and probably God, forced me to take a step back and recenter my faith into all aspects of my life.