The Way of the Class
S. M. Hutchens on Suffering Education as a Discipline from God
A Touchstone reader, responding in personal correspondence to my Quodlibet “Facing the Warfare,” wondered whether I might have added something about the value of entering a potentially hostile school situation with the intention of bending those met there toward the truth—to view it as a kind of evangelical enterprise. I responded that such an admonition might not have been amiss, but it simply didn’t enter my mind. (Even microscopic essays make demands on my ability to stay on subject.) I have never matriculated with the thought of reforming anyone in a school of religion, much less of making the world a better place once I left it—only doing my duty as presented to me there, and finding my way in life.
During my own years of graduate study, however, it did became evident that I would need to make a firm commitment before the Lord not to betray him myself, either for the offer of reward or the threat of punishment (from liberals or conservatives), understanding with full clarity that the promise would more likely than not cost me a doctorate. I made the vow, and what happened thereafter was curious. I was allowed to complete the degree, but was put in a life situation (as I had been placed in a time in history) where there was little opportunity to enjoy the advantages one might reasonably anticipate from it. The choice had to be made between those advantages and a clear conscience, or at least one that is fairly clear in this area, and to preserve a mind from which I can write with some uncompromised authority.
THIS ARTICLE ONLY AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
FOR QUICK ACCESS:
S. M. Hutchens is a senior editor and longtime writer for Touchstone.
subscription options
Order
Print/Online Subscription
Get six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for only $39.95. That's only $3.34 per month!
Order
Online Only
Subscription
Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95. That's only $1.66 per month!
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
more on education from the online archives
24.5—Sept/Oct 2011
on Wondering or Wandering Through College Education by Anthony Esolen
26.5—Sept/Oct 2013
The Perils of Pragmatism in Christian Attitudes Toward the Liberal Arts by Robin Phillips
more from the online archives
28.3—May/June 2015
Whittaker Chambers's Lonely War Against Godless Collectivism by Hunter Baker
30.3—May/June 2017
C. S. Lewis Assesses the Religion of Mohammed by Jacob Fareed Imam
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
