Week 9--Paper Outline (revised)

Part 1: The higher education system is a complex of hegemonic and subtler forces where the study of religion and the larger scholarly world are mostly in tension. I will use Barker to outline general problems of studying religion in terms of contingency (by showing the interrelatedness of religions beliefs); hegemony (the biases in the education system that have filtered down from political philosophies about the relationship between church and state, and also binary relationships between church and state); and the impact of hyper-rationalism on higher education and religion.

Part 2: I will use a particular model employed by Prof. Crerar Douglas at CSUN that emphasizes the “learning” process in education, as opposed to “teaching” with an angle. His model is similar to Bevans’ Synthetic model in that it is dialectical. The systems of both Douglas and the Synthetic model are witnesses to the Gospel in and of themselves because they are more humble pursuits of truth than the other models. While the dialogue amongst various cultural and religious perspectives will most certainly yield antagonisms, these can never impede upon the conversation process.

Part 3: The Gospel message emerges from open interreligious discourse. This can come about in my local congregation as we host and sponsor events related to religious dialogue. It will also play out in congregants being involved in campus activities and by being openly involved in the scholarly pursuit of religious truth. The local community outside of the church will in turn benefit from our unique faith perspective by being in dialogue with us along the way. The global community will be reached through academic and multicultural channels as the university acts as a kind of communication hub for the Gospel.