WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR CONCORDIA'S FACULTY?

How do Lutheran theology and the LCMS tradition help to shape the teaching and learning at Concordia?

For those who teach and those who learn at Concordia University Wisconsin, a Christian community with a Lutheran perspective has an impact on that teaching and learning.  The university's Lutheran roots and connection shape the way that we educate those who choose to learn here.  Below are several ways (though not an exhaustive list) in which Lutheran theology influences our teaching and learning here.

1. A Tradition of Scholarship and Christian Education  Christianity is a faith tradition that has fostered the habits of the mind.  See the works of St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin, Soren Kierkegaard, Reinhold and H. Richard Niebuhr, and C. S. Lewis, for example.  The Lutheran tradition in particular has retained strong ties to both scholarship and education.  Lutheranism itself was born in a college town (Wittenberg, Germany); Martin Luther saw himself as a college professor as much as a pastor.  The Lutheran Confessions, a body of 16th-century writings by early Lutheran leaders, represent an attempt to systematize the ideas coming out of the Reformation.  Early Lutheran universities were also centers of the early Scientific Revolution; Lutheran universities, for example, were among the first to teach the Copernican model of the universe.  Martin Luther's emphasis on sola scriptura (scripture alone) has encouraged Lutheran scholars toward close reading and thoughtful exposition in many intellectual fields.  Early Lutheran universities prepared individuals for professions in the world (the law, government positions, and medicine) as well as for professions in the church (pastors and teachers).
   
   American Lutherans have continued the connection among faith, scholarship, and education.  Lutherans currently operate more than 30 colleges and universities in the United States.  The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod owns ten universities, of which Concordia University Wisconsin is one, in addition to sponsoring the second-largest parochial elementary and secondary school systems in the United States.
   
   
2. The Limits and Opportunities of Human Reason  While Lutherans extol learning, Lutheran theology rightly points out the limitations of reason and learning.  According to Scripture, human reason is bound by human fallibility and human limitation; humans can be wrong and they are limited in what they know.  Those boundaries shape a Lutheran response.  First, in contradiction to Enlightenment paradigm, knowledge and reason can neither answer all questions nor solve all problems.  Second, because each individual is bound by his/her own fallibility, we must approach reason with a sense of contingency.  We cannot claim complete truth through our reason because of the contingent nature of our reason.  Thus, scholars must, acknowledging their own limitations, be willing to listen to others and dialog with them.  Isn't this what universities are about?
   
   Of course, this is not a call to relativism.  There is such a thing as truth, and it is the goal of scholars to seek after it.  Nevertheless, Lutheran theology reminds us that we will only know in part; "we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror' (I Corinthians 13:  12 NIV).  Acknowledging that we might not know all, we are able to view scholarship in a more collegial, collaborative effort.
   
   
3. The Uses of Paradox   Christian theology abounds in paradox.  Yahweh is a God of both justice and love.  Jesus is both divine and human.  Christians are at the same time saints and sinners.  Martin Luther expanded the use of paradox in his teachings.  The Lord's Supper contains at the same time bread and wine and Jesus' body and blood.  Humans are both constrained and exercise free will.  Humans are saved by grace alone, by faith alone, by Scripture alone.  As you can see, Lutherans are relatively comfortable with the use of paradox in their faith lives.
   
   The concept of paradox can be useful in scholarship as well, especially as a way to combat the either/or mentality of extreme rationalism.  While always watching out for relativism, paradox can be a useful tool to help explain human nature or to give some sense of order to a complicated situation.
   
   
4. Vocation and Servant Leadership  A very useful tool for the educator is the Lutheran concept of vocation.  Martin Luther developed this radical and democratic understanding in reaction to the medieval use of vocation as a calling to a religious order.  According to Luther, God provides humans with a wide variety of ways to serve their neighbors.  Luther calls us to take seriously those vocations, to recognize the opportunities to be of service.  At Concordia University Wisconsin, God calls faculty members to vocations of teachers, with all of the rights and responsibilities that entails.   

                                         Theological Considerations