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Four Pillars of Theological Education

Article · March 2014

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Four Pillars of Theological Education
Domenic Marbaniang

Workshop Talk Delivered at NATA-AGM, March 2014

In its Report to UNESCO in the document ​Learning: The Treasure Within (1996)​[1]​, a
​ lso referred to as
st​
the Delors Report, the International Commission on Education for the 21​ Century, proposed the following
four pillars of education as listed below:
● Learning to know
● Learning to do
● Learning to live together
● Learning to be

Learning to know​ involves “combining a sufficiently broad general education with the possibility of
in-depth work on a selected number of subjects.”​[2]​ The goal is “to provide the cognitive tools required to
better comprehend the world and its complexities, and to provide an appropriate and adequate foundation
for future learning.”​[3]​ The scheme is first to provide ​general education​ as an introductory foundation for
special education​ later on.

Learning to do​ involves “the acquisition of the practical skills needed in the workplace along with the
ability to contribute as part of a team and to demonstrate initiative.”​[4]

Learning to live together​ is re``garded as the main pillar of education of which the other are only
supportive.​[5]​ Brunton’sarticulation of this pillar is clear and concise:

… ​Learning to Live Together​ refers to developing an understanding of others through dialogue which
leads to empathy, respect and appreciation. It requires that we understand ourselves and how we can
use our strengths in concert with the strengths of others to achieve common goals. Students should be
encouraged to engage in cooperative activities beyond the school that address social and community
concerns.​[6]

Learning to be ​was the dominant theme of the Edgar Faure report ​Learning to Be: The World of
Education Today and Tomorrow​, published by UNESCO in 1972,​[7]​ the recommendations wherein were
considered still very relevant. The pillar stresses the importance of the freedom to each individual to
exercise greater independence and judgment combined with a stronger sense of personal responsibility
for the attainment of common goals coupled with the necessity to value and promote the self-actualization
of the individual’s potentiality so that “none of the talents which are hidden like buried treasure in every
person must be left untapped” – that, by the way, explains the title of the document ​Treasure Within​.
Some of the treasures hidden within each of individual may be named as: “memory, reasoning power,
imagination, physical ability, aesthetic sense, the aptitude to communicate with others and the natural
charisma of the group leader, which again goes to prove the need for greater self-knowledge.”​[8]​ Each
individual has a unique endowment that is distinctive from anyone else and education must play an
important role in tapping one’s individual worth and role in history. In Brunton’s words, learning to be
is the conviction that education should contribute to every person’s complete development - mind and
body, intelligence, sensitivity, aesthetic appreciation and spirituality. All people should receive in their
childhood and youth an education that equips them to develop their own independent, critical way of
thinking and judgment so that they can make up their own minds on the best courses of action in the
different circumstances in their lives. Education should enable people to live fulfilling lives.​[9]

Can the UNESCO recommendations be applied to theological education? I submit that in some way or
the other we are already attempting to do that. The UNESCO recommendations only highlight the
importance of them so that we don’t falter with regard to one or more of the pillars and thus become off
balanced. But, the challenge to theological education is to blend together the relation between the secular
and the theological with the intent that our content will be in touch with ourselves (to be), with others (to
live together), with our mission in the world (to do) in accordance to sound doctrine (to know). Certainly,
this is not to ignore the three pillars for curriculum development embraced by the Senate of Serampore,
viz, contextual education, interdisciplinary approach, and social relevance.​[10]​ Relevance to context,
current data, and humanity is the concern of those three pillars; which aren’t contradicted by but highly
enhanced by the UNESCO recommendations.

Fig. 1. Four Pillars of Education​[11]

Prevalent Models of Theological Education (Edgar)

The four typologies of theological education, diagrammatized by Brian Edgar,​[12]​ with their inter-blending
forms, might provide an insight into present models of theological education. The four typologies are
considered to be
(i) Athens​ (Kelsey: 1993), the classical school relates to the context of the academy and focuses on
individual transformation through gaining the wisdom of God (​theologia)​. It involved study of scriptures.
(ii) Berlin​ (Kelsey: 1993), the vocational school relates to the context of the university and focuses on
strengthening the church through training its leaders in knowledge skills (​scientia)​. In this approach,
theology is stripped of its spiritually transforming role and given an academic definition; its goal is now to
train ministers and leaders to provide professional leadership to the church.
(iii)​ ​Jerusalem ​(Banks: 1999), the missional school relates to the context of the community and focuses
on converting the world through emphasis on ​missiology​. Theological education is seen as a dimension of
mission and missiology is considered as the mother of theology.
(iv) Geneva ​(Edgar: 2005), the confessional school relates to the context of the seminary and focuses on
knowing God through the study of creeds and the confessions, the means of grace and the general
traditions that are utilized by a particular faith community (​doxology)​ .

Fig 2. The Typology in Diagrammatic Form (Edgar: 2005)

Of course, the typology is neither final nor free of criticism and Edgar agrees that it may not fully apply to
non-western contexts (Obviously, the university model for ministerial training doesn’t apply very much in
India – theology is not a university discipline at all here, though the tension to obtain for theology a
scientific status is felt, especially where seminaries seek for university acknowledgement). With regard to
the Indian context, an empirical study of curricula and objectives will be necessary before any
classification can be decided upon. But, a cursory glance at the diagram above should not fail to suggest
that theological education needs an interblending of all the models presented above. Theological
education should aim the transformation of the individual, understanding of doctrine in light of history,
context, and dogma; it should also not fail to provide ministerial training with development of theoretical
and practical ministry skills and to enhance an understanding of Christian mission in the world.

Learning to Know
While there are a number of programs now offered in seminaries that do not pre-require a
ministry-oriented degree like BTh or BD/MDiv for admission into (e.g. some MA programs), a general
foundational introduction to Christianity is a general rule, though the general ecclesiastical efficiency of
these degrees is questionable. For instance, degrees like MA in Church History and MA in Christian
Counseling are specializations and may not have the breadth of ministry-oriented courses among the
foundationals offered in the programs; these may generally fall under the Berlin model, with university like
focus on the academic aspect of the discipline; though, deprived of the general ministerial intent. But, this
doesn’t mean that they don’t cater to the need of the church. In fact, they could cater well as supportive
equipping models for church and para-church ministries. However, a proper theological education is
indisputably one that involves “combining a sufficiently broad general education with the possibility of
in-depth work on a selected number of subjects.” The significance, therefore, of the BTh or BD/MDiv
cannot be undermined as the main vein of theological education. In fact, they are the first professional
degrees; while the rest are usually academic only. Whether, this broad general education should give
more importance to the historical context of India than to the West is a contextual issue. The goal is to
provide cognitive tools essential for comprehending the complexities of the immediate context without
their being inefficient for comprehending the realities of other contexts; which implies that addressing
breadth of knowledge in general education is vital. Consequently, topics such as scripture, general church
history, general introduction to theology, general introduction to hermeneutics, ecclesiology, and
comparative religions become vital.

With this regard, in India, the BD/MDiv degrees are not more specializations in their fullest sense. The
rationale for a BD/MDiv is a matter of entry point, so that graduates can apply to them directly without the
need to go through a BTh. However, the non-theological graduates are still required to do extra courses in
a way that integrates BTh+BD/MDiv. At both Oxford University and Cambridge University, BD was a
post-graduate higher degree; at Cambridge is considered a degree “so senior that it outranks a​Doctor of
Philosophy​”.​[13]​ Oxford discontinued offering BD since 2005.​[14]​ At Oxford, a graduate in theology can
directly apply for MTh.

But, in India, an MDiv is the first a professional degree (with regard to entry point for non-theological
graduates); the specialized MTh that it leads to is an academic one. One issue to tackle is the level of
redundancy that can be avoided in offering the MDiv program to a BTh holder and the form of
equivalence that can be maintained in offering MDiv to non-theological graduates.

While mastery of learning tools such as numeracy, literacy, and life skills are presumed to precede entry
to theological education (which in itself is a specialized discipline, in a way), the theological curricula must
not fail to incorporate involvement of the major components of learning to learn such as concentration,
memory skill, and critical thinking, which includes practical problem-solving and abstract thought.

Learning to Do

Some of the skills that theological education attempts to develop are research skills, public speaking,
writing, witnessing, team work, problem solving, team leadership, and other practical ministry skills. The
goal is to encourage the student to learn to analyze concepts, think through solutions for problems,
articulate narratives and rhetoric of biblical wisdom, do research, and to move from concrete to abstract
and back from abstract to concrete in order to translate general ideas into specific blueprints for practical
and relevant action. Care must be given to emphasis not so much on certified skills as on personal
competence in which inborn talents are enhanced through development of associate skills. Use of
multiple intelligence and learning styles through participation in creative and innovative activities are keys
to discovery and enhancement of personal competence that prepares the learner for the future to tackle
issues that are yet unforeseen .

Learning to Live Together

This is a win/win approach of theological education. The goal is not only to promote attitudes and skills to
live together with other Christians (denominations, churches) but also to live together with people of other
faiths. The challenge of pluralism is, thus both internal and external. The objective is harmony but not at
the expense of conviction. The means is not compromise, but collaboration, so that we have attitudinal
maturity and practical wisdom to discover common grounds of collaboration for peaceful co-existence.

Learning to Be

Education should contribute to the holistic development of the person: of both mental and emotional
intelligence, of sensitivity, aesthetic appreciation, and spirituality. Education should, in this sense, aim at
the complete personality development of the person. The goal of theological education is not just to grant
a degree at the end; the goal is to transform, to equip, and to unleash. The aim is not just to create a
gospel worker but to help one discover the talents and gifts that the individual has and to help find ways in
which those talents can be enhanced and expressed for the good of humanity in ministry and conduct.
The goal of study is certainly that the servant of God will be able to present himself or herself to God as
one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth (​2Tim.2:15​).

Affiliation with the Four Pillars of Faith

If the goal is the contention for faith, to build up in faith, then it’s also important to understand that faith is
not a roof hanging upon nothing. The Bible relates faith with at least four pillars: Truth (the cognitive
pillar), Love (the relational pillar), Patience (the consistent pillar), and Works (the active pillar).

FAITH

TRUTH LOVE PATIENCE WORKS

(​1Tim.2:7​; ​Jn.8:32​) (​Gal.5:6​) (​Heb.6:12​; ​James 1:4​) (​James 2:17​)

Learning to Know Learning to Live Learning to Be Learning to Do

Together
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Concluding Remarks

In a time when distance education and online courses are becoming the growing trends, it is more
important to pay attention to ways in which curriculum can be designed to promote Christian education as
learning to know, to do, to live together, and to be. Sadly, much of so called “education” is not education
at all. There is a spate of commercializing instances. The loss is irreconcilable when the goal is no longer
learning, but only degree holding. Seminaries and colleges must pay special attention to providing tools
for intellectual, spiritual, social, and missional formation of the individual. The 4 Pillar Model provides a
relevant understanding that can be utilized for the future of theological education in India towards this
end.

References

Banks, Robert. ​Reenvisioning Theological Education,​ Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999.

Edgar, Brian. “The Theology of Theological Education”, ​Evangelical Review of Theology​ (2005) Vol 29
No. 3, 208-217.
Kelsey H., David. ​Between Athens and Berlin: the Theological Debate,​ Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993.
​ NESCO
International Commission on Education for the 21​st​ Century, ​Learning: The Treasure Within, U
Publishing, 1996

[1]​ International Commission on Education for the 21​st​ Century, ​Learning: The Treasure Within (​ UNESCO
PUBLISHING, 1996).
[2]​ ​Learning: The Treasure Within,​ p.23
[3]​ “The Four Pillars of Learning”,
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/networks/global-networks/aspnet/about-us/strategy/the-four-pilla
rs-of-learning/​ Accessed on March 3, 2014.
[4]​ Ron Brunton, "The Four Pillars of Education", ​The Teacher,​ May 2012, Volume 50 Number 7, page 14,
NSTU 2012
[5]​ ​Learning: The Treasure Within, p​ p.22,23
[6]​ Ron Brunton, “The Four Pillars of Education”.
[7]​ ​Learning: The Treasure Within, p ​ .23
[8]​ ​Learning: The Treasure Within​, p.23
[9]​ Brunton, “The Four Pillars of Education”.
[10]​ “Indian Theological Colleges Look Forward With New Curriculum,” Press Centre, World Council of
Churches, 24 February 2009,
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/press-centre/news/indian-theological-colleges-look-forward-with-new-curric
ulum/​ Accessed on March 3, 2014
[11]​ From Dr. Didacus Jules, “Rethinking Education in the Caribbean” ​http://www.cxc.org/?q=node/7174
Accessed on March 5, 2014
[12]​ Brian Edgar, “The Theology of Theological Education”, ​Evangelical Review of Theology​ (2005) Vol
[13]​ “Glossary of Cambridge Jargon”, ​http://www.queens.cam.ac.uk/queens/misc/jargon/CUjargon-B.html​.
Accessed on March 3, 2014
[14]​ ​https://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/examregs/31-67_General_Regulations.shtml​. Accessed on March 3,
2014