Engaging God’s World – Chapter 5

The final chapter of Plantinga’s book was interesting. I greatly enjoy being at Calvin College for many reasons that Plantinga mentioned and in a way I think he was too harsh on secular universities but then again I agree with him based on my experience. I attended a secular university for two years prior to coming to Calvin and they were not fun enjoyable years. I hated the school, I know hate is a strong word but it is true. I became depressed, I did not care about my education and simply got through each semester by doing as little as I could and I still made good grades because the people there, the professors did not care about their students or if the students got a good education. Of course there are some who do but yet again speaking from my experience I did not have many who did. I am not saying that all professors need to be strict and mean because you can have a professor who is funny, silly, and makes the class exciting and enjoyable, but they can still give you a good education.

From my experience at Calvin College the level of education I have received here completely opposite from the state university I was at for two years. The classes are great because not only do the professors care but the students care just as much, sometimes more about their education. Much of the time too it is not about the grade but about getting as much out of the class as one can. At Calvin is seems that those professors who do not care about their students are rarely found whereas at the state university the professors who truly cared about their students getting a good education were a rare find. This is where they are different. I would say that people go to most state universities to get a diploma to get a job. Lewis talks about education in Learning in War-Time and he stresses that we do not need to go to school as a means to an end, such as just to get a job. We need to go to school to get knowledge about a variety of subjects so we can help in many ways those who need help. God wants us to be well rounded and I think that getting an education at Calvin College, for the most part will give students that well rounded education. It is up to the students to pursue it though. As Lewis said in Learning in War-Time “We can therefore pursue knowledge as such, and beauty, as such, in the sure confidence that by so doing we are either advancing to the vision of God ourselves or indirectly helping others to do so."

I also think that students often just pick a college that is close to home or where their friends are going to go and as Christians we need to put more thought into where we get our undergraduate education because those four years at college will often shape a person in a way that no one imagines. As Plantinga says in chapter 5

“So deciding whether to marry or to remain single, and, if married, whether to conceive or adopt children, or do both. There are all vocational decisions for a citizen of the kingdom, and some of them are large. But a Christian looks at even the smaller decisions (who deserves my support for the office of county drain commissioner?) with faith and good humor, aware that in the plan of God, the mustard seed of one of our decisions may combine with the mustard seeds of others’ decisions to bring good growth for the kingdom.”

This also relates back to C. S. Lewis’ article Man or Rabbit. Because as good Christians we are called to live everyday for Christ, which means that every decision we make reflects back on God. We need to be careful as we go through our lives that we are living it to the best of our ability. God needs to be the center of our lives. I think that Calvin College helps students with putting God in the center of everything; education, family, and in the future our job.