Spring Break
Wither the "M" in SMU?
Issue date: 9/13/07 Section: Opinion
Second, this quest for Truth and the advancement of knowledge it sometimes produces does not proceed according to or within preconceived notions of what truth should be or what knowledge of truth might be appropriately transmitted. The Johannine dictum, "Veritas liberabit vos," SMU's "motto," points to the liberating dynamic of Truth in all its fullness, not exclusively religious truth, and certainly not one expression of religious truth. Third, at United Methodist institutions of higher learning you will find no "litmus tests" of religious faith to which our faculty or staff or students must subscribe, no credological requirements for appointment, admission or continuance as a member of this community. This reflects the typically Wesleyan tenor of the Methodist Church's historical and theological inclusiveness, a setting at ease with disparate and diverse - even conflicted - intellectual traditions, theological methods and faith perspectives. This liberality marks an important characteristic of Methodism's support of higher learning in the liberal tradition of American Protestantism.
Because the Methodist Church stands squarely in the tradition of American Liberal Protestantism, albeit reconstructed theologically during the early part of this century, Methodist institutions of higher learning are often regarded as citadels of non-conformist thought and unfettered inquiry. Consider some of our sister institutions who share Wesleyan intellectual parentage and similarly commitments to intellectual discourse: Emory, Duke, Syracuse, Northwestern and Boston Universities, to name a few. USC had its genesis in Methodist concern for higher education and was originally a "Methodist" institution. Our denomination's practice of founding institutions of higher learning, and commissioning them to become settings where Truth is pursued without regard to dogmatic prescriptions or methodological proscriptions, is often misunderstood by folks whose own roots reflect more rigid and restrictive orthodoxies.
Because the Methodist Church stands squarely in the tradition of American Liberal Protestantism, albeit reconstructed theologically during the early part of this century, Methodist institutions of higher learning are often regarded as citadels of non-conformist thought and unfettered inquiry. Consider some of our sister institutions who share Wesleyan intellectual parentage and similarly commitments to intellectual discourse: Emory, Duke, Syracuse, Northwestern and Boston Universities, to name a few. USC had its genesis in Methodist concern for higher education and was originally a "Methodist" institution. Our denomination's practice of founding institutions of higher learning, and commissioning them to become settings where Truth is pursued without regard to dogmatic prescriptions or methodological proscriptions, is often misunderstood by folks whose own roots reflect more rigid and restrictive orthodoxies.
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mark anderson
posted 9/21/07 @ 9:39 AM CST
Pilate asked, "What is truth?" [John 18:38]. He was looking at the Truth, but didn't see. If he had ears to hear, he could have heard:
Truth is exclusive. (Continued…)
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