Taming a new wilderness

“Democracy Dies in Darkness.” The Washington Post notoriously adopted this slogan back in 2017. Considering the fact that the paper was making a claim about its own avowed purpose, the statement was laughable. The paper doesn’t come close to light in the darkness.

Yet the point itself is true. In democracies, the people are supposed to rule. They must know the truth to maintain their rule and to exercise that rule well. But if they are ignorant of reality, then their rule will at best fall short. At worst, they will lose their power to those who can mislead them.

This narrower point applies more broadly as well. Proverbs 1:32 observes that, “the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them.” When ignorant, we are degraded and harmed physically, morally, and spiritually.

We live in a time of darkness. For one, we have lost our knowledge of our Constitution and its underlying principles. For another, and most importantly, our darkness regards Scripture, especially the truth that Jesus Christ is “the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24).

Our darkness comes in large part from the poor state of education in America. Schools, from early childhood to graduate studies, peddle varying forms of ignorance. One form merely fails to impart knowledge. The other actively misinforms, especially regarding moral truths, natural and revealed. A similar critique could be applied to certain churches as well.

In education, we see this darkness in particular with the foolish and reprehensible decision by the University of Tulsa essentially to scuttle its Honors College. The excellent Dr. Jennifer Frey had spent two years establishing a remarkable program dedicated to shining a light of classical education in the collegiate darkness.

The educational future in many ways looks bleak. At this time, we would do well to remember the largely forgotten work of Bishop Philander Chase.

Chase was born in Cornish, N.H., on Dec. 14, 1775. He was ordained a deacon in the Protestant Episcopal Church in 1798, a priest the next year, and consecrated a bishop in 1819. He spent most of his ministry in the literal wilderness, serving as the first Episcopal Church bishop in both Ohio and Illinois when each state was actively being settled.

Education was central to Chase’s mission. In addition to building up two dioceses in his church, Chase founded two colleges—Kenyon College in Ohio and Jubilee College in Illinois.

Chase portrayed his efforts to form Kenyon partly as an attempt to keep his society from dying in darkness. He noted the terrible state of learning in the West, where the people lacked basic schools and other means of education. He felt called to address two resulting evils, namely “ignorance and irreligion.” The two went together in Chase’s mind. Too many people lacked basic knowledge of facts, focused as they often were on basic survival. Yet the people also wanted for an education of the soul. Chase at another point paired the ill of ignorance with “vice,” later combining it also with “sin.” The links pointed toward his view of education as one of the entire person, for all facets of life. Thus, beyond job skills, he saw a deep need to teach the people taming the wilderness the ethical precepts that encourage a virtuous life. Far from addressing posh elites, Chase had a classical philosophy of education meant for all.

Chase also rejected the idea that the education needed in the West could come from the study of non-Christian, classical sources alone. He declared that “the Holy Scriptures, shall hold the first station in the Temple of Science, and with their genial rays illumine the minds of all our pupils.” Thus, Chase placed God’s Word first in this education. He placed Scripture alone in authority but not alone as a source of instruction. Chase therefore wrote, “It is not intended to extinguish the lamps of heathen literature, but to outshine them by the splendor of the Sun of righteousness.” God revealed His truth through nature and even through pagan philosophers. Christians should not fear or reject Plato and Aristotle. They should show how and where these sources further reveal God’s truth.

Moreover, in his educational efforts, Chase saw more than a service to the Church. In establishing Kenyon, he believed himself “duty bound to do something in his humble sphere for the common good.” Religion displayed the gospel, the way of salvation for the Church. However, that proclamation also had beneficial social effects, suppressing evils that inhabit human nature and thereby plague human society.

Today, efforts to shine light into educational darkness often look like taming a society that, once a garden, now has deteriorated into a wilderness. We need more Jennifer Freys. And we need Philander Chases who will build new institutions to renew the knowledge of old goods. We need such men and women to clear away the brush of ignorance and sow the seeds of wisdom and virtue, including the truths of Scripture.

The American wilderness was enlightened before by Christians. May our current wilderness be met with the same Christian faithfulness.