The title of this volume reflects a particular perspective toward its subject matter. This anthology does not, for example, attempt to provide an exhaustive analysis of the relationship between “ethics” and “theology” considered as formal academic disciplines. Instead, its purpose is to offer insights from the accumulated wisdom of the ages for those who approach these subjects in personal terms—“faith” and “morals”.
In his Critique of Pure Reason, Immanuel Kant suggested that all human inquiry arises from the desire to answer such questions as: “What can I know?”; “What ought I do?”; and “What may I hope?”. We agree with Kant that these questions belong together and that the answer given to any one of them will affect the answers given to the others. Unlike Kant’s highly theoretical approach, however, we suggest that the answers to these questions must be worked out in the context of our individual lives and the historical experience of the communities to which we belong.
This second edition of Faith and Morals has profited from the recent and continuing debate over the need to expand the canon of texts in American colleges and universities. In particular, increased attention has been given to the perspectives of women and peoples of color. We do not, however, attempt to represent all peoples, all times, or all possible perspectives. With its emphasis upon the dialogue between Athens and Jerusalem, this volume remains grounded in “the Western Tradition”—with an openness toward other traditions. Although the distinctive contributions of Hinduism and Islam (among others) have not been included, the volume does present the rudiments of Buddhist teachings and incorporates one of the most compelling spiritual visions of the indigenous peoples of North America.
As with all such anthologies, some decisions for or against the inclusion of a text were easier to make than others. Few persons are likely to debate the significance of Plato, Aristotle, and biblical texts. Even those critics for whom these writings only serve to chronicle “the Great Mistakes” of Western Civilization are likely to acknowledge the need for their inclusion. Lists of the greats or near-greats from more recent times will differ, but most are likely to include Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, Niebuhr, Bonhoeffer and Wiesel as representative figures. Other decisions were made on the basis of the ability of an author to raise important issues. Some calculated risks were taken, such as the assumption that the recent emergence of women’s issues and liberation theology will prove to be developments of continuing significance.
In the general Introduction to this series, the editors describe how the Lynchburg College Symposium Readings and the curriculum it was created to support have at least four antecedents:
- the senior course in “Moral Philosophy” common in American colleges in the nineteenth century;
- “Chapel” or “College Assembly” common in many American colleges until fairly recently;
- the “Great Books” programs of Columbia, Chicago, and Harvard; and
- the “Great Issues” course at Dartmouth, the University of Denver, Purdue, and Michigan State.
It is especially with the first two that Faith and Morals is likely to be identified. However, the primary editor of this volume, himself a college chaplain, hastens to add that there is no reason to lament the passing from college life of the spiritual and intellectual abyss into which required Chapel services eventually descended—uninterested captive audiences listening to uninspiring speakers offering unreflective answers to questions which no one ever asked. What is to be lamented is the way in which curricular and, eventually, even co-curricular neglect of questions related the meaning and purpose of human life has driven this traditional dimension of higher education underground at many colleges and universities and has spawned the creation of so-called bible colleges and sectarian universities where crude, often dangerous, trivializations of “the real thing” are offered to a spiritually and culturally impoverished generation.
The approach to moral philosophy which predominated until quite recently in many smaller, church-related colleges of religious traditions such as the Presbyterian and Reformed, the Quakers, the Disciples of Christ and others may be traced back to the public lectureships and chairs in moral philosophy at the universities of the Scottish Enlightenment which attempted to demonstrate how private character and public virtue could be brought together in a common structure of rationally agreed upon meaning. Some individuals and groups question whether such an approach is either possible or appropriate in a pluralistic and/or fragmented society such as our own. This collection does not seek to vindicate the doctrines of seventeenth and eighteenth century Scotland or nineteenth and early twentieth century America. But it does attempt to reproduce their method: to bring opposing positions and traditions into creative juxtaposition in such a way as to make confrontation between and deliberation among alternative points of view inevitable, trusting that something resembling “common sense” will lead us to conclusions well-adapted to our own lives and times. This is a method which the philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre has identified correctly as “Aristotelian” in its origin—similar to but distinct from the more familiar Thomistic method still popular in some Roman Catholic circles.
In addition to its use in “Great Books/Issues” curricula and honors programs which stress “the history of ideas,” it is our hope that this volume might offer a distinctive and re-vitalized approach to the “Religion and Morality” courses offered by religion or philosophy departments in many American colleges, universities, and seminaries. In the absence of a Chapel lecture series or the older style course in moral philosophy, instructors in the humanities frequently discover, much to their surprise and often to their chagrin, that many students sign up for their courses not so much out of detached intellectual interest in particular academic disciplines as from a desire to discover resources which will allow them to develop their own personal perspectives on perennial issues. Faith and Morals offers a textbook resource for those who are willing to attempt this more traditional function of college instruction: the willingness to address questions bigger than a bread box or an academic meal ticket—the same questions which often were the original reason we chose our peculiar profession!
Since this second edition of Faith and Morals represents a radical departure from the first, a description of the changes and the reasons for these changes is in order. Also, a brief summary may allow readers to use this volume more intelligently and deliberately, and will suggest to instructors and students alike fruitful options for the development of its themes.
BIBLICAL ORIGINS: A new feature of this edition of Faith and Morals is an introductory section containing selections from Hebrew and Christian scriptures. For all of the need to open up the academic canon of texts to include non-Western resources, we believe that instructors in American colleges and universities can no longer assume that their students actually are acquainted with the rudiments of the two major religious traditions of the West! This section attempts to provide a “canon within the canon” of scripture, together with a critical essay on biblical themes from the increasingly influential perspective of liberation theology.
GREEK ORIGINS: Our excerpts from Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics have been re-edited. Book One of The Republic has been added in order to include the initial confrontation between Socrates and Thrasymachus and to provide elements of narrative continuity which set the stage for Socrates’ and Glaucon’s constructive work in Book Two. Plato’s “Myth of the Cave” has been transferred to the volume on Education: Ends and Means (Symposium Series One, Volume Two). Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics now concludes at the end of Book Two.
THE MEANING OF SUFFERING: Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations (abridged) and The Book of Job (complete) have been grouped together and supplemented by other texts in order to emphasize the perennial religious question of the meaning of suffering. Elie Wiesel’s Night narrates the experience of one who could be considered as “a modern-day Job” and raises questions of the meaning of life and the credibility of divine love in our post-Holocaust age. The re-telling of the teachings of the Buddha provides a distinctively Eastern perspective and, quite intriguingly, invites comparison with the Stoicism of Marcus Aurelius. The section concludes with an examination of The Problem of Pain by the popular Christian apologist C. S. Lewis.
RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE: An increased emphasis upon the experiences and contributions of women and peoples of color is especially evident in this section. Julian of Norwich’s Showings, with her surprising theology of God as “Mother” as well as “Father”, serves as our example of Christian mysticism. Mary Daly’s concise statement of issues in contemporary feminist theology provides a more critical counterpoint. John Neihardt’s Black Elk Speaks and James Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountain offer vivid portrayals of the religious experiences of indigenous Americans and African Americans. The addition of these texts helps provide a much richer range of data for testing the validity of William James’ theories in The Varieties of Religious Experience.
THE CRITIQUE OF RELIGION: In this edition, the selection from Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov has been supplemented by short but indisputably classic excerpts from the works of Kierkegaard and Nietzsche in order to provide religious and anti-religious criticisms of religion and ethics in modern life.
RELIGION AND SOCIETY: This section is essentially the same as in the first edition of Faith and Morals. Niebuhr’s Moral Man and Immoral Society raises the question of the relationship between public and private morality and speculates whether such a thing as “social” ethics is even possible. In contrast, Bellah asks whether it really is possible to overlook the religious dimension of public life and chastises those approaches to social science which do not account for the religious social vision.
THE MEANING OF LIFE: This final section returns to the underlying quandaries of the volume: “What can I know?”; “What ought I do?”; and “What may I hope?”. Walter Stace’s “Man Against Darkness,” although chronologically last, is presented first as representative of that perspective to which Tolstoy and Bonhoeffer provide response.
The grouping of these readings into sections is somewhat arbitrary and other worthwhile combinations are possible. For example, “blessedness” in “The Sermon on the Mount” could be compared to Aristotle’s notion of “happiness”. “The Sermon on the Mount” could be added to the section on THE MEANING OF SUFFERING. Walter Stace’s “Man Against Darkness” could be included in THE CRITIQUE OF RELIGION, RELIGION AND SOCIETY, or compared to C.S.Lewis’ The Problem of Pain. Gutierrez’s liberation theology can be considered as a response to Bonhoeffer’s call for a theology “from the perspective of those who suffer.” Both Gutierrez and Bonhoeffer would fit well with the readings in RELIGION AND SOCIETY or THE CRITIQUE OF RELIGION. Tolstoy’s My Confession and Wiesel’s Night could be considered as additional examples of RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE or combined with the readings in THE CRITIQUE OF RELIGION. No doubt readers, instructors, and students will find other helpful permutations.
Finally, I would like to express appreciation for the critical insight and personal supportiveness of my colleagues R. Kendall North, Professor of Business Administration, Joseph L. Nelson, Jr., Professor of Religious Studies, and Julius A. Sigler, Jr., Professor of Physics and general editor of this edition of the Lynchburg College Symposium Readings. All of us are indebted to the editors of the first edition for their foresight in making this series possible.
David Felty
Chaplain Lynchburg College