1 John 4:6 You are from God, the one who knows God hears us, whoever is not from God does not hear us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.
ἡμεῖς ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐσμεν, ὁ γινώσκων τὸν θεὸν ἀκούει ἡμῶν, ὃς οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐκ ἀκούει ἡμῶν. ἐκ τούτου γινώσκομεν τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς πλάνης.
John emphasizes once again obedience and listening to the truth about God. The emphasis in this verse is on discernment of the truth. Some people and situations will compromise the truth and may even claim to be the truth.
I am thinking about this in the context of so-called “academic freedom,” one of the highest values of those in educational circles. I participated in a workshop yesterday on “transformative learning.” One of the components of this approach is how students experience a disorienting moment of question whereby they are challenged to re-evaluate their ideas leading to change.
The challenge for theological educators, in my opinion, is to discern and choose carefully what questions or issues are addressed in this disorienting experience. Students can become so disoriented that they never return to the right path. This puts a huge responsibility on the shoulders of teachers. This responsibility should not be taken lightly. Do we sacrifice orthodoxy to the god of academic freedom? I am afraid that some teachers do this, perhaps unintentionally or through ignorance.
Students are not always capable of discerning truth from falsehood. Either because they do not have the mental capacity or spiritual maturity. They may simply honor the teacher so much that they will listen to and accept whatever the teacher says. Teachers can endanger these students by exploring the deceptions without returning to and emphasizing the truth, or if the teachers themselves are deceived and miss the truth.
Post-modernism especially challenges the idea of having truth with the idea that truth is subjective and relative to each person or situation. Post-modernism has value but also provides many threats to orthodoxy. Those in positions of responsibility within churches and institutions must be very cautious about these matters.
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