Today, after services, after I gave a fairly historical message [1], I got a comment from someone who was attempting to translate the sermon into sign language about how great it was that Herbert W. Armstrong spoke and wrote with an eighth grade education, and that this was perfect for comprehension except for those who wanted to belong to the Mensa Church of God. I took offense to this comment, not because I have anything against Mensa (in fact, if I made enough I’d happily pay for my Mensa dues so that I can be an active member of Mensa once again, but I don’t).
I took offense to this comment because it reflects one of the most striking failures of the Church of God as a culture, and that is a strong and deeply rooted anti-intellectual attitude. This behavior would be offensive even if I were not an intellectual, but I would probably not be as offended by it if I were not so strongly intellectual in my own personal background. As a result of growing up as a self-aware intellectual from an early age I have learned that it is necessary to strongly rebuke such satanic anti-intellectual attitudes as were present in both the area and the religious culture I grew up in.
This is not to say that I believe that intellectuals are necessarily morally superior to others. Intelligence is a gift–it can be used for good and evil. Like any other gift, it can serve to make one arrogant or it can be used to serve others and help make the world a better place. But it is a gift, and it is necessary especially for those who are not particularly intellectual by nature to recognize that it is a gift, lest they think it a bad thing when it is extremely necessary to sharpen thinking and to do the hard work of digging out treasures from history and scripture that others can then simplify and tell to others who are less intellectually inclined. And I for one, regardless of the opinions of others, am not going to hide my light under a basket, but I am going to let it shine. So deal with it.
What is the problem here with anti-intellectual attitudes? For one, they are anti-biblical. Romans 10:1-3 states: “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.” And this is precisely the problem of anti-intellectualism. It is a belief that an extremely simplified approach is sufficient, that an eighth grade education is enough to understand the full knowledge of God’s word (which is not the case, or even close to it), which leads to a hostility of those who know more than you do, rather than learning from them, as you supposed to do.
Again, this is not to say that those who are not educated cannot be saved. However, those who are hostile to intellectuals by definition fail to appreciate the God-given gifts of a powerful intellect, and fail to grow in grace and knowledge accordingly, and that is something that can jeopardize salvation. Not everyone has to be an intellectual, in the same sense that not everyone has to be a farmer or a mechanic. But everyone needs to appreciate the gifts of others, to recognize that we are all one body with many parts and functions, and that intellectual activity is a godly and worthwhile activity. The fact that some people aren’t apparently aware of this is staggering and appalling.
At any rate, it is important for us to know our enemy. One of the biggest threats we face in striving to be united is our tendency to divide over God-given gifts. People divide over generation, instead of learning what wisdom and insight each generation has to offer. The same is true for genders, personalities, and gifts. All personalities, and all godly gifts (including the intellect) have a useful purpose. Our job is not to attack the gifts of others simply because it makes us work harder to understand what they are saying or how they work, but rather to learn from and gain an appreciation of the glory of God in scattering his gifts widely and in the intricate complexity of the body of Christ that is being built from individual members with a multitude of gifts–but all with love, hopefully, lest we be cast out as unprofitable servants who have not borne the fruit of the spirit because of their hatred and envy of God-given gifts. Let that not be said of any of us, lest we enter into wrath or condemnation.
[1] https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2012/02/11/samuel-a-lasting-legacy-of-godly-leadership/
Edge Induced Cohesion 
As one who studues and teaches, and who reads the rather detailed and specific works of scholars in this effort, I have always found that I need to tailor my presentations to the audience, who have typically not been so inclined (on the whole). As you are certainly aware, this is particulary true when speaking to audiences who will rely on a translation, or whose background is significantly different than mine. This is once again on my mind as I begin to prepare for another trip to Asia.
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Indeed. And I certainly do tailor my messages to the audience. Anyone who reads my “sermonette” tab and compares it to the language and scholarly level of most of my other historical or book review posts will be well aware of that fact. But it doesn’t change what one is, or what kind of language is “natural.” What to me is extremely simple language is probably hard language for others. Oh, and on that note, we need to work out a Spring Holy Day speaking schedule.
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Intellectuality is fine as long as you don’t forget the basis of true love and brotherhood. My parents were college educated and fairly intellectual. I appreciate inquisitive, open minded people that are willing to learn. Unfortunately my Father didn’t understand love. Our home was therefore cold and not ideal to growth and learning.
I gravitated to a friend’s parents who were about as ‘country’ as could be. Some of their dialog and ways may have been a little less formal or polished but they had a warmth, happiness, love and family cohesion beyond anything I’d experienced before. The Father was a naturally gifted engineer with skills above many trained engineers. (He was also educated in that field at a University). Along with his warm personality he became the role model for my early life.
There is as particular a beauty and simplicity to some ‘country’ people as there is to ‘county’ landscapes. They may be a little less ‘polished’ in some areas but they also excel in others. They don’t have to be dirty, crude and uncaring of their personal belongings. Sometimes they’ve just chosen to not be so much a part of this man-‘mismade’ society.
An anti-intellectual bias I don’t understand just as I don’t understand an anti-‘country’ bias. Each ‘side’ may have gifts and abilities the other side may be missing. However it doesn’t have to be so – we can be more well balanced. I appreciate beauty and love where ever it may be found. 🙂
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I don’t like the anti-country bias either. I grew up in the country, and even if many of the people I grew up around weren’t necessarily fine examples I would wish to emulate, I too like the peace and quiet of having a fair amount of land and a quiet little brook running through it. I find the country very invigorating, and I love horses and even hiking and camping once in a while. Suffice it to say that I’m not hostile to the country. In fact, a great deal of my point was that the anti-intellectual bias (or, by implication with my comments about farmers and mechanics, any kind of bias), is a problem because of the lack of love it shows. God gave many gifts to mankind, many of which I don’t have in any great amount (including athletic talent, the ability to digest spicy food, gracefulness and dexterity, mechanical aptitude, and so on), but I do know that those gifts which I do possess are God’s gifts and need to be respected as such, along with everyone else’s. And that is true regardless of where one lives; we just have to recognize that a part of God’s design, which is obvious in His creation (Psalm 19, Romans 1) is His love of diversity and quirkiness. We just have to accept His will in making us so varied and different and see that it is a part of His plan to create a unified body of believers that is vastly more complex than any of us can imagine.
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I’ve not noticed an anti-intellectual bias in the North Carolina, USA seventh day churches I’ve attended since 1986. All of our opinions, however, are limited by our experience.
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I certainly believe that, and that is why I included my own personal experience. If I had not grown up in rather country areas, I probably would not have picked up on the bias or been as deeply offended by it by virtue of dealing with it for my almost my entire life.
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