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95054

Dr. Chase

Comm 494

November 18, 2022

Essay 2: Christian Liberal Arts and Vocation

The liberal arts tradition is believed to have originated in Ancient Greece during the fifth

and fourth centuries B.C. (Kimball 1). Over the centuries, the definition and understanding of

what liberal arts education is has evolved. In his evaluation of this transition, Bruce Kimball

writes, “The history of what has empirically been called the “liberal arts” or “liberal education”

can be understood in terms of two basic traditions: of emphasizing reason... and another

emphasizing speech” (Kimball 9). It was later understood that these two traditions could not

stand on their own; Plato and Aristotle also viewed the arts of mathematics and logic as essential

in the search for a precise, rational method of pursuing knowledge. In the modern era, the

Merriam-Webster dictionary describes the liberal arts as “studies intended to provide chiefly

general knowledge and to develop general intellectual capacities, as opposed to professional or

vocational skills.” Taking both ancient and modern definitions into consideration, a liberal arts

education allows students the opportunity to broadly study various disciplines in addition to their

own specific study of interest. Through my experience at Wheaton College, having a Christian

liberal arts education has provided an integration of faith and learning, which has contributed to

my vocational calling of encouraging and equipping youth to share the Gospel.

For Christians, there is great value in learning and being educated in the liberal arts

tradition. In their description of the liberal arts education, Wheaton College writes, “We also

come to a wiser knowledge of ourselves as we discover the particular gifts and unique passions
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God has given to each of us. For learning to have its full effect on the mind, body, and soul, it

must not be narrowly directed to a particular career, but widely oriented to forming the whole

person for all of life’s vocations” (Wheaton). The liberal arts education is not only valuable in

the intellectual sense, but it plays a role in shaping the person. For Christians, this means that the

liberal arts may give us an understanding of how to live a better and more meaningful life that is

fulfilling to our calling. Elizabeth Backfish writes about the importance of a foundationally

theological Christian liberal education and states, “Often at this crucial juncture in their lives,

students are challenged to either accept the Christian faith as their own foundation for life and

learning or to reject it and find an alternative foundation” (Backfish 387). A Christian liberal arts

education is valuable in its integration of faith and may lead students to accept the truth of the

Gospel as their own foundation. Faith often creates a desire to understand the world around us,

and Christian liberal arts provide a place to do so through a diverse range of studies.

In my personal experience at Wheaton College, I learned that my liberal arts education

contributed greatly to my sense of calling as a Christian. During my freshman year at Wheaton

College, I felt passionate about writing and journalism. I enrolled in a class on Introductions to

Journalism, and with excitement I began to imagine my future calling as a journalist. However, I

soon learned that this was not my calling. I started to feel pressured by the fast pace of writing

one article after another, and was dissatisfied with the feeling that I could not make every piece

of writing my best. Some of my articles included short stories or interviews with people, but I

felt as though I was not truly getting to know them for any other reason aside from academic

purposes. As I experienced doubts about what God had in store for my future, I was reminded of

the fact that I am told to “Go and make disciples.” Sharing God’s truth and love are an essential

part of my calling, but I am told to do more than just share. I am called to be in a relationship
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with the people I share my faith with and teach them how to do the same– something I found

personally difficult to achieve through journalism. During my junior year, I took a class called

Comedy and Tragedy. As a part of this class, we learned the art of acting and performance. One

of the essential elements of portraying a character is understanding his or her objective. In order

to do so, one must dedicate themselves to understanding the perspective of the character and

internalizing his or her emotions. While learning about this concept, I was able to realize that this

is an essential aspect of the Gospel– in order to rescue us from our sin, God sent his Son in the

form of a man to walk alongside us and carry our burdens. The lessons I learned from this class

gave me a better understanding of what this means and how I can apply it to my relationships

with others.

Receiving a Christian liberal arts education has been foundational for the understanding

of my vocational calling. Throughout my educational journey, I have been able to see the various

ways in which my faith can be deeply intertwined with learning. Having a liberal arts education

opened my eyes to see that my calling was not in journalism, but in interpersonal communication

and relationships. In my understanding of how the Gospel applies to my interactions with others,

I have learned that I must seek to know and love my brothers and sisters first. In my pursuit of a

vocation, I have found that a meaningful life may be found through relationships with young

believers and using these lessons to equip and encourage them in their own walks of faith.
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Citations

Backfish, Elizabeth H. P. “Biblical Wisdom as a Model for Christian Liberal Arts Education.”

Christian Higher Education, vol. 18, no. 5, Oct. 2019, pp. 382–96.

Kimball, B. A. (2010). The liberal arts tradition: a documentary history. University Press of

America.

“Liberal Arts.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster,

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/liberal arts.

“The Liberal Arts at Wheaton College.” Wheaton College,

https://www.wheaton.edu/academics/the-liberal-arts-at-wheaton-college/.