Just Curious

Elbert Russell

Dr. Elbert Russell (1871-1951) was a Quaker theologian and an authority on the Holy Scriptures. Born in England, he came over to the United States in 1895, at the tender age of 24, to serve as Professor of the Bible at Earlham College, a small Quaker college in Indiana. During his tenure there as chaplain and professor from 1895 to 1915, he caused an uproar among orthodox Friends by introducing a course on Biblical criticism. Professor Russell later became Dean of Duke Divinity School.

Here's an interesting story about religious education (from a sermon by Rev. Bill Bouknight of Christ Church, Memphis, delivered on Jan 5, 2003):

"There used to be a great professor of Old Testament studies at Duke Divinity School by the name of Elbert Russell. Dr. and Mrs. Russell usually spent Christmas holidays in Greensboro, North Carolina with their daughter and her family. On one Christmas morning they opened presents at sunrise as usual. They sat down to a sumptuous breakfast. Dr. Russell's grandson Rusty was eight years old then, and he had learned lots of things since he was 7. "Grandpa," he said, "I have made a discovery." "What is that?" his grandfather asked. "I have found out all about Santa Claus, the myth of Christmas." There was an embarrassed silence around the table. Then the boy added, "And that's not all. When I get a little older, I'm going to look into this Jesus business." The old professor braced himself, looked straight into the eyes of young Russell, and said, "And I hope you do. And if you look into this Jesus business seriously, he'll get you just like he got me."

I think Dr. Russell's approach was absolutely right. Religion is about experiential knowledge, not "head knowledge." This is why I am so thoroughly against brainwashing little children with all the Christological myths. Early indoctrination could easily cause backlash against the Christian faith at later stages of the child's life. This is because our understanding of the Scriptures could be divided into 3 stages:

1) Blind acceptance
2) Complete rejection
3) Mature and experientially-established faith, which truthfulness is testified by the Holy Spirit in the heart.

Many people unfortunately never made it to the third stage, and eventually conclude their lives as non-believers. This is a tragedy for Christianity.

posted by James Chang @ 11:12 AM