The Narrow Path Ministries

One of my all-time favorite books is a satire titled "How to Become a Bishop Without Being Religious." It is an "instruction manual" on how to rise through the ranks of a typical denomination. With tongue placed firmly in cheek, the author explains the method used by the typical Sunday School class:

Americans have, for a long time now, been told that if a group of people who know nothing whatever about a subject spend a hour or so pooling their ignorant and uninformed opinions the end product will be insights whose truth is beyond question and a wisdom unobtainable be lesser methods. This is the faith on which the adult Sunday School class is founded, and to destroy it is to destroy the institution. - Charles Merrill Smith (1965)

How close to home does this hit in your experience?

This is a scary topic -- this is EXACTLY the type of thing that frustrates me so....

see http://www.theos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=103

Sam,

I just wanna say, "Thanks for that quote." Wow, did that ever conjure up too many experiences from Sunday School and Bible studies I've been to....

"Following on in our study guide, does anyone have comments or questions?"

No one says anything...but really wishes someone would!

"What about verse 1? Anyone?"

Mr. Jones is wondering who'll win the football game this afternoon.

"I think the verse a LOT to say...First, there's....And then...Also...So you have that."

As 90% of the class just knew the Class-Always-Talks-Person would say something like all-that...as they do every week....

"Would someone like to follow-up on this?"

Mrs. Jones remembers she forgot to start the roast...and all of the deacons are coming over for the game!

Etc, etc. etc.
Well, it's not always like this...which is a good thing!
{I've been in some awesome studies! though it's been a while now, mostly because I haven't been going!}...
~~~~~~~~~~~

Btw, Sam, I'm gonna post on Darin's thread {on things-related}.
But yours is a good one tho,
I bookmarked it for future reference: funny, but sad, but all-too-often-true.
Thanks!

While I suppose there is a shred of truth to it, I think the quote is far too cynical when compared to my experience.

a group of people who know nothing whatever about a subject spend a hour or so pooling their ignorant and uninformed opinions

This hasn't been my experience at all. A lot of Christians have a good amount of knowledge on a good amount of subjects, or, at the very least, a good amount of common sense.

the end product will be insights whose truth is beyond question and a wisdom unobtainable be lesser methods.

This hasn't been my experience at all either. I don't know many Christians who leave a discussion thinking the shared insights during SS are 'beyond question' or that their SS method is somehow superior to other forms of learning.

So, for me, the meat of the quote is a-typical, not typical. It is cynical, not reality.

mattrose wrote:While I suppose there is a shred of truth to it, I think the quote is far too cynical when compared to my experience.

a group of people who know nothing whatever about a subject spend a hour or so pooling their ignorant and uninformed opinions

This hasn't been my experience at all. A lot of Christians have a good amount of knowledge on a good amount of subjects, or, at the very least, a good amount of common sense.

the end product will be insights whose truth is beyond question and a wisdom unobtainable be lesser methods.

This hasn't been my experience at all either. I don't know many Christians who leave a discussion thinking the shared insights during SS are 'beyond question' or that their SS method is somehow superior to other forms of learning.

So, for me, the meat of the quote is a-typical, not typical. It is cynical, not reality.

Thanks, Matt. This whole discussion was making me kind of depressed.

mattrose wrote:So, for me, the meat of the quote is a-typical, not typical. It is cynical, not reality.

This has been my experience as well. My wife and I host a Bible discussion group every other week at our house. The families that have attended are average families from different walks of life. Much of what is shared is not ignorant or uninformed, but rich with meaninng. Often someone may not know histiorical/grammatical facts about a passage, but still share something beautiful and rich that comes from their walk with Christ.

The quote by Charles Merrill strikes me as rather elitist. I'll bet he has a seminary degree of which he is quite proud.

Dave