Character Formation and the Goal of Theological Education
By Rod Dreher
Rawlings School of Divinity
CLED 720: Biblical & Theological Foundations of Education
Genevieve Hamer
July 9, 2022
Character Formation and the Goal of Theological Education
The goal of theological education is to enable students to know God so they can help
others to know and respond to the grace of God. In defining the objective of the
college/seminary, we need a defining principle, a point of integration between the classroom
itself and the co-curricular activities. If we do not have a clear sense of our objective, then we
will inevitably see the different components of the academy as competing against one another.
Wisdom could serve us well as a unifying principle. The objective of the academy, then,
would be to enable men and women to become wise. Wisdom is a helpful point of reference
because it incorporates the development of knowledge and understanding as well as the
formation of character. Wise people are mature in both their understanding and their
behaviour. Further wisdom assumes the integration and appropriation of truth--we both
understand and live the truth.
But we need to be more specific. Character formation will be a many-sided commitment;
we are seeking to form whole people. But there are three critical dimensions of character
formation that we cannot neglect in the pursuit of wisdom.
The first is vocational development. Few things are so central as a growing clarity about
one's vocation--one's strengths, passions, potential and opportunities--in response to the
enabling of God. Life-long effective service for Christ, whatever one's vocation, is dependent on
clarity regarding one's vocation. And this arises out of a maturing self-knowledge.
The second is emotional development and growth. Nothing is so critical to long-term
vocational effectivity as clarity, depth and balance in our emotions. Many careers are sabotaged
because of unresolved emotional baggage that come to the surface in mid-life or mid-career. In
this, it is essential that one learn learn how to deal with disappointment and failure. Further
when we long for our graduates to develop interpersonal skills we are in many respects
expressing a longing for mature emotional development.
Third, we surely need to give special attention to the matter of gender, sexuality and
marriage. Few things are so essential in spiritual formation as a clear understanding concerning
gender and sexuality and the development of the essential disciplines that enable one to live in
truth and freedom as male or female.
Therefore, the college/seminary provides a major and invaluable contribution to a student
when they provide a setting or context in which to reflect on vocation, work through one's
emotional response to God, to others and to the world, and come to terms with critical aspects
of sexuality and gender.
This identification of three critical areas of spiritual development is not comprehensive. But
it can give a school focus. Sometimes we do little or nothing because we are attempting to do
everything. Further, affirmation and development in these three areas would provide the solid
foundation for the growth of the whole person.
The only way in which this agenda of formation in wisdom can happen is if there is a
complementary relationship between the classroom and its formal agenda and the program of
spiritual formation that complements the classroom. Growth in wisdom, and in each dimension
of character formation, comes through the development of knowledge and understandingin the
classroom and the library. But it also comes through the integration that one experiences in
prayer, worship, spiritual direction, personal accountability and service. It is not a matter of the
one or the other. It is not a matter of character development in our spiritual formation
programs and the development of the mind in the classroom. We must reject this kind of
dichotomy. The objective is a complementary, intentional partnership, between the two.
As a passing note, I wonder if we do not need to be more explicit with our students about
our agenda in character formation. Do our students have a clear sense of what our objectives
are beyond just completing the courses for a degree program? Do they know what we mean by
maturity? Perhaps we need to have this outlined clearly for our incoming students, reviewed (at
least annually) and evaluated at the end of their program. We probably need to do this if we
are going to be intentional and proactive and not just passive when it comes to character
development.
The Means By Which The Objective Is Reached
There is an extensive body of literature delineating ways in which a school could achieve
the objective of character formation. Some schools have chosen to require a course in
spirituality--so that there is a theological and theoretical basis for the practice of the Christian
life. Other schools choose to grant formal, academic credit for spiritual formation. The rationale
is that students will take seriously only that for which the school grants credit. Other schools
insist on community experience, insisting that we grow in wisdom as active members of a
community, as we learn and grow together, in small groups, for example.
These are each noteworthy and commendable responses to the concern for spiritual
formation. But I wish to emphasize two factors that are the most definitive and crucial means
to realize character formation in an academic institution.
First, character formation is ultimately the fruit of the truth. It is truth that transforms; it is
by the truth that minds are renewed and it is by the truth that we know wisdom. Central in this
is the role of Scripture. I have a growing disease with the development of all kinds of
approaches to spiritual formation--small groups, psychological tests and counselling methods,
instruction in the spiritual disciplines, and so on--when we view these as achieving an end that
can only be accomplished by the Word. These are valuable and essential in a program of
spiritual formation. But they are only valuable to the degree that they are informed by truth--a
conscious and deliberate effort to know, understand and obey the truth.
The question really becomes: Do we believe in the transforming power of Scripture? Do we
really believe that the Spirit changes lives through the medium of the truth? We urgently need
a coherent vision for theological education that grants Scripture a central and defining place.
When this occurs, the Scriptures are studied, the Scriptures inform studies, but more, the
Scriptures are also central to the worship and devotion of the community.
Do we believe this? We don't when we fail to see that a classroom lecture and discussion
on the Sermon on the Mount may be the most significant factor in the development of mature
and wise interpersonal skills. When people note that individuals lack character or maturity, we
tend to look to the course or technique. While the course or technique may help, it is ultimately
the Scriptures that Spirit uses to accomplish the end of spiritual maturity and wisdom.
Further, we don't really believe in the transforming power of Scripture when the worship of
the academy--chapel gatherings--is a time of song and celebration but not an event in which to
preach the Word. I am not suggesting that every chapel event should include a sermon. But it
does mean that the preaching of the Scriptures is central in some form to the chapel events of
the community. The reason: because of the transforming power of Scripture.
Can truth, as embodied in the Scriptures, become the central defining principle of our
schools? If so, the truth itself will bring the integration between education and spirituality for
which we long.
Finally, in speaking of the objective of character formation, I must stress a second element.
The second definitive element in the formation of the student is the faculty member
him/herself--not the curriculum, not the academic program, not the co-curricular activities, and
not even the chapel services. It is the faculty members who embody the ideals of the academy.
In faculty recruitment, we must evaluate and expect professional and instructional
competence. But with similar rigor, we must also look for characterdepth of piety, mature
emotional well-being and a vital commitment to Christ and his kingdom. We can evaluate
professional credentials; but it is much more difficult to determine whether an individual has
the emotional, spiritual and relational integrity essential to be an adequate model within the
college/seminary.
One good focus in recruitment is to decide whether the candidate shows evidence of
gratitude and humility on the one hand, and resolved grievances on the other. Does the
candidate have a pattern of resolving wrongs and forgiving? Further, does the candidate display
an ability to seek and experience the means of grace to respond to the stress points of life?
Finally, confirm one way or the other when a candidate has a sense of humour!
The point is that if we are going to speak of the integration of faith and learning, of
intellectual and spiritual development, it must be modeled in our faculty.
Conclusion
Theological education is an essential part of spiritual formation; spiritual formation is an
essential part of theological education. They are each most effective when they complement
one another in a way that is mutually reinforcing. Further, they are effective when our objective
is clear--the pursuit of wisdom--and when our means our clear--through truth and through the
example of our faculty.
