John W. Chandler - "Faith, Knowledge, and Community" (December 11, 1988)

Download
- Rights
- Limited Re-Use
  CC BY-NC 4.0
  More Rights Info
- Files (1)
- MP4
- Please be patient with media downloads. They are often large files.
Share

Embed Code
<iframe src='https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4f18sv82?embed=true' height='500px' width='100%' frameborder='0' marginwidth='0' marginheight='0' scrolling='no' loading='lazy' allowfullscreen></iframe>
Permalink

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4f18sv82
Skip to Item Info

Loading the media player...

Files for this Item

Transcript

Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.

	(church organ music)	0:00
	(church choir vocalizing)	4:49
	(church organ music)	6:10
	(music drowns out voices)	7:06
-	Thursday afternoon in this place	11:02
	the university community took occasion on the	11:05
	anniversary of the signing of the Duke Indenture	11:08
	64 years ago to reflect upon our heritage.	11:10
	To single out those who have made a	11:15
	significant contribution to the university.	11:18
	And to recognize recipients of scholarships	11:21
	made possible by the founding family.	11:24
	Today, we pause as we do each year,	11:28
	in memory of the Duke family.	11:31
	To honor all those who have given of themselves	11:34
	in service to the future by creating and	11:37
	re-creating this university.	11:40
	We reaffirm here, our pledge of this university	11:43
	to the ideal of service to humanity.	11:47
	And we give thanks for those who unselfishly	11:50
	take responsibility for a future	11:53
	that is not theirs,	11:56
	but belongs to other generations.	11:57
	We remember, also, that this university returns	12:01
	the wealth of the land to its people,	12:04
	through respect for knowledge and truth,	12:07
	and through the continuing generosity of those	12:10
	who established it for enduring existence.	12:13
-	Let us pray.	12:20
	Gracious God, we thank You for this day,	12:22
	for our founders and all those who	12:25
	dreamed and sacrificed, labored and gave,	12:27
	so that this school might be established.	12:31
	Remembering their gifts,	12:35
	we dedicate us to their vision, Amen.	12:37
	Would you join me in the	12:41
	litany of commemoration.	12:42
	Almighty and eternal God in whom our	12:48
	mothers and fathers have trusted,	12:51
	we, their children, at this time of remembrance	12:54
	offer unto thee our prayers of thanksgiving.	12:56
Congregation	Hear us, oh Lord.	13:00
-	For the members of the Duke family,	13:03
	father, daughters, sons and their spouses,	13:05
	grandchildren and all others in continuing	13:08
	generations until this very day,	13:11
	who, with concern and compassion,	13:14
	devotion and dedication,	13:16
	and by their generosity built	13:19
	on a solid foundation,	13:21
	continued a worthy school and provided	13:23
	for education and service beyond even their	13:25
	dreams and expectations.	13:29
Congregation	We give You thanks and praise.	13:31
-	For the pioneering and persevering men and	13:34
	women connected with this university,	13:36
	Methodists and Quakers,	13:39
	farmers and merchants,	13:41
	teachers and administrators,	13:42
	who in days gone by believed in education and	13:44
	made their beliefs prevail.	13:47
Congregation	We give You thanks and praise.	13:50
-	For the embodiment of their dreams,	13:52
	from private school to academy,	13:54
	to college to great university,	13:56
	founded in hope, continued with sacrifice,	13:59
	growing and outreach,	14:02
	serving with commitment.	14:04
Congregation	We give You thanks and praise.	14:06
-	For faculty and staff whose vision was	14:09
	bolstered by their courage,	14:11
	whose patience was tested and found true,	14:13
	and whose idealism was implanted	14:17
	in the hearts and minds of others.	14:18
Congregation	We give You thanks and praise.	14:21
-	For the ongoing presence of noble ideas,	14:23
	the blending of eruditio et religio,	14:27
	the freedom for responsible academic	14:30
	research and teaching,	14:32
	the ongoing respect for both the body	14:34
	and the spirit,	14:36
	the pursuit of knowledge in the sciences	14:38
	and the humanities,	14:40
	the realization that the old order changes and	14:42
	new times bring new opportunities.	14:44
Congregation	We give You thanks and praise.	14:48
-	For the future of Duke University,	14:50
	established for Thy glory and for the	14:53
	enlightenment of the human mind and spirit,	14:56
	for consecration to learning by the young,	14:59
	for the best use of the wisdom	15:02
	of those in later years,	15:04
	for the commitment to growth and	15:06
	enhancement of all persons,	15:07
	for a sense of humor, a spirit of cooperation,	15:10
	and a desire for understanding among all	15:14
	within our community and the world.	15:16
	We give Thee thanks and praise and to Thee	15:19
	oh, God, we shall ascribe as is most due,	15:22
	all praise and glory,	15:27
	world without end, Amen.	15:29
	Be seated.	15:32
	We welcome you to this service of worship,	15:43
	Founder's Day celebration and	15:46
	third Sunday of Advent.	15:48
	Our preacher for this day is	15:51
	Dr. John W. Chandler, president of the	15:54
	American Association of Colleges,	15:57
	and Duke trustee and alumnus.	15:59
	Remind you of the five o'clock concert	16:03
	this afternoon by Lynn Zeigler-Dickinson,	16:07
	here in the chapel free of charge.	16:09
	Also, as is our practice,	16:13
	the Lord's supper or Holy Eucharist will be	16:16
	served in Memorial Chapel immediately	16:18
	at the conclusion of this service.	16:21
	Let us continue in our worship.	16:23
	(choir vocalizing)	16:33
	Let us pray together the Advent prayer.	19:36
	Oh, Lord, God, Heavenly King,	19:43
	in this holy season of Advent,	19:46
	we beseech Thee so to rule and guide us	19:48
	by the Holy Spirit,	19:52
	that we may hear and receive Thy Holy word	19:54
	with our whole heart.	19:57
	And through Thy word we may be sanctified,	20:00
	and may learned to place all our trust and hope	20:03
	in Jesus Christ, Thy Son,	20:06
	and following Him, may be led safely	20:09
	through all evil until through Thy grace	20:12
	we come to everlasting life,	20:15
	through the same Jesus Christ,	20:18
	Thy Son, our Lord, Amen.	20:20
-	Let us pray.	20:29
	Open our hearts and minds, oh, God,	20:31
	by the power of Your Holy Spirit,	20:34
	so that is the word is read and proclaimed,	20:36
	we might be prepared for Advent of our Savior.	20:39
	Amen.	20:43
	The first lesson is taken from the	20:45
	Book of Job.	20:47
	But where shall wisdom be found?	20:48
	And where is the place of understanding?	20:51
	Man does not know the way to it,	20:54
	and it is not found in the land of the living.	20:57
	The deep says, "It is not in me."	21:00
	And the sea says, "It is not with me."	21:03
	It cannot be gotten for gold,	21:07
	and silver cannot be weighed as its price.	21:10
	It cannot be valued in the gold of offer,	21:13
	in precious onyx, or sapphire.	21:17
	Gold and glass cannot equal it.	21:20
	Nor cannot be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.	21:23
	No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal.	21:27
	The price of wisdom is above pearls.	21:31
	The topaz of Ethiopia cannot compare with it.	21:35
	Nor cannot be valued in pure gold.	21:39
	Whence then comes wisdom?	21:43
	And where is the place of understanding?	21:46
	It is hid from the eyes of all living,	21:49
	and concealed from the birds of the air.	21:52
	Abaddon and Death say,	21:55
	"We have heard a rumor of it with our ears."	21:57
	God understands the way to it.	22:01
	And He knows its place.	22:04
	For He looks to the ends of the Earth and	22:05
	sees everything under the heavens.	22:08
	When He gave to the wind its weight,	22:11
	and meted out the waters by measure	22:14
	when He made a decree for the rain and a	22:17
	way for the lightning and the thunder.	22:20
	Then He saw it and declared it.	22:22
	He established it and searched it out,	22:25
	and He said to man,	22:28
	"Behold, the fear of the Lord.	22:30
	"That is wisdom.	22:32
	"And to depart from evil.	22:34
	"That is understanding."	22:36
	This ends the reading of the first lesson.	22:39
	(church organ music)	22:43
	(music drowns out voices)	23:07
-	The gospel lesson is taken from Saint Luke.	24:03
	He said, therefore, to the multitudes that	24:05
	came out to be baptized by Him,	24:08
	"You brood of vipers.	24:10
	"Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?	24:12
	"Bear fruits that befit repentance,	24:16
	"and do not begin to say to yourselves	24:18
	"we have Abraham as our Father,	24:21
	"for I tell you God is able,	24:24
	"from these stones,	24:26
	"to raise up children to Abraham.	24:28
	"Even now the ax is laid to the	24:31
	"root of the trees.	24:33
	"Every tree therefore, that does not bear	24:35
	"good fruit is cut down and	24:37
	"thrown into the fire."	24:39
	And the multitudes asked Him,	24:41
	"What then shall we do?"	24:43
	And He answered them,	24:46
	"He who has two coats,	24:47
	"let them share with him who has none.	24:49
	"And he who has food, let him do likewise."	24:52
	Tax collectors also came to be baptized,	24:56
	and said to Him,	25:00
	"Teacher, what shall we do?"	25:01
	and He said to them,	25:03
	"Collect no more than is appointed to you."	25:04
	Soldiers also asked Him,	25:08
	"And we, what shall we do?"	25:10
	and He said to them,	25:13
	"Rob no one by violence,	25:14
	"or by false accusation and be	25:16
	"content with your wages."	25:19
	As the people were in expectation,	25:22
	and all men questioned in their	25:25
	hearts concerning John,	25:26
	whether perhaps he were the Christ.	25:29
	John answered them all.	25:31
	"I baptize you with water.	25:33
	"But He who is mightier than I is coming.	25:36
	"The thong of whose sandals I am not	25:40
	"worthy to untie.	25:42
	"He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit,	25:44
	"and with fire.	25:47
	"His winnowing fork is in His hand	25:48
	"to clear His threshing floor,	25:50
	"and to gather the wheat into His grainery."	25:53
	"But the chafe,	25:56
	"He will burn with unquenchable fire."	25:57
	So with many exhortations,	26:01
	he preached good news to the people.	26:04
	This ends the reading of the gospel.	26:07
	(church organ music)	26:11
	(music drowns out voices)	26:25
-	It's impossible for me to be in this	28:08
	circumstance without sensing the presence of	28:10
	James Cleland who graced this pulpit and inspired	28:14
	the Duke community for many years.	28:18
	This is the moment for me to confess	28:21
	that when I was a Divinity School student	28:24
	I tried to persuade Dr. Cleland that I should be	28:26
	excused from the required course in preaching	28:30
	because I planned to be a teacher not a preacher.	28:33
	After losing that fight,	28:37
	which wasn't even close,	28:40
	I dutifully wrote and delivered	28:42
	required sermons.	28:44
	In each instance, Dr. Cleland declared that	28:47
	what I had produced was not a sermon.	28:50
	Perhaps a lecture, maybe a discourse,	28:53
	but not a sermon.	28:56
	So for the sake of truth in advertising,	28:58
	and in deference to the memory of Dr. Cleland,	29:01
	let me concede in advance that what you are	29:04
	about to hear is not a sermon.	29:07
	When James Buchanan Duke decreed that this chapel	29:12
	would be the central and dominating building of	29:17
	the university campus,	29:20
	he provided a focal point of community.	29:22
	Winston Churchill declared,	29:26
	"We shape our buildings and then they shape us."	29:28
	This chapel and the heritage which it symbolizes	29:33
	have had an extraordinary shaping power	29:38
	upon the lives, outlook and aspirations of the	29:41
	people of this university.	29:45
	I know of no other great university in which	29:48
	eruditio et religio, learning and religion,	29:50
	are related in such a way that the vitality of	29:55
	each is enriched.	29:58
	And the quest for faith and the search for	30:00
	knowledge are pursued with such	30:03
	energy and seriousness.	30:05
	For this we pay homage to our founders.	30:09
	The founders of the little academy	30:13
	that became Trinity College,	30:15
	and those whose vision and generosity	30:17
	enabled Duke University to be built on the	30:20
	foundations of Trinity College.	30:23
	We pay homage too, to the Quaker and	30:27
	Methodist convictions of the founders.	30:29
	Both Weslian and Quaker piety include	30:33
	deep respect for trained and disciplined reason	30:37
	as a Divine gift and as the instrument	30:41
	of God's purposes.	30:44
	That respect for reason has helped to spare	30:46
	Duke the convulsions and controversies that	30:50
	have marked the histories of many colleges	30:54
	in which reason is circumscribed by dogmas	30:56
	that declare closure on	31:00
	many important questions.	31:02
	At the time of Duke's beginnings, 150 years ago,	31:06
	there was a widely accepted religious world view	31:10
	that was common to the United States and to	31:14
	those parts of western and northern Europe	31:17
	from which most of the white immigrant	31:20
	populations came to this country.	31:22
	In that world view history and nature were	31:26
	subject to the providential control of	31:29
	a personal God.	31:32
	A God whose principal historical manifestation	31:34
	was in Jesus Christ and whose will	31:38
	was set forth in The Bible.	31:41
	That religious world view coexisted more or less	31:45
	comfortably with the enlightenment mentality	31:48
	that began to shape universities	31:52
	in the 18th century.	31:55
	According to the enlightenment	31:57
	reason would eventually unravel all the mysteries	31:59
	of the natural world and explain human behavior	32:03
	in terms of principles and laws that would make	32:07
	possible prediction and planning that would lead	32:10
	in turn to a just and humane world.	32:14
	The puzzles, problems, and questions that	32:18
	constituted the challenges to reason presented	32:22
	a more or less fixed agenda.	32:26
	The expansion of knowledge that are corresponding	32:29
	contraction of ignorance.	32:32
	Knowledge was construed to be the mind's	32:35
	apprehension of things as they are.	32:38
	The growth of knowledge was considered	32:42
	to be progressive and cumulative.	32:45
	The greatest achievement of the human mind	32:49
	was to show the unity of knowledge,	32:53
	and the highest form of knowledge consisted of	32:56
	those over arching concepts and unifying	32:59
	principles that tied together discreet	33:02
	pieces of information.	33:05
	Knowledge was the basis of human progress.	33:08
	With the beginning of the land grant university	33:13
	system in this country in the 1860s,	33:16
	and the role that applied research came to have	33:20
	in the last third of the 19th century at such	33:23
	universities as Cornell, Johns Hopkins,	33:26
	and Michigan,	33:29
	American higher education came to be viewed	33:31
	as one of the principle engines of the country's	33:34
	material and social progress.	33:36
	The 20th century,	33:41
	and particularly the second half of the	33:43
	20th century has witnessed an increasingly	33:46
	awkward and uncomfortable relationship	33:50
	between reason and faith,	33:53
	particularly in the universities.	33:55
	It took Americans about 50 years to begin	33:58
	to take seriously Friedrich Nietzsche's claim	34:02
	that God is dead.	34:06
	But following World War II,	34:08
	the challenges to traditional religion by the	34:11
	thought of Nietzsche, Freud, Marx, and others	34:14
	began to have a great impact on the thinking of	34:18
	millions of college students and became pervasive	34:21
	forces in the culture at large.	34:24
	The influence of those thinkers took root in	34:29
	American universities and in the larger culture	34:32
	in part because of the earlier impact of the	34:36
	social sciences, particularly anthropology	34:40
	and sociology.	34:43
	Those disciplines began to flourish in the	34:45
	1920s and 1930s.	34:48
	And it was principally through them	34:51
	that students learned about cultures	34:53
	other than their own.	34:55
	They learned from the writings of Margaret Meade,	34:58
	Ruth Benedict, and others,	35:01
	that standards of right and wrong regarding	35:04
	relationships between the sexes, property rights,	35:07
	the use of coercion in human relations	35:12
	and other questions.	35:15
	Those codes varied considerably from	35:17
	society to society.	35:19
	In short, college students and many others	35:22
	came to see that the moral absolutes that they	35:27
	had learned from their religious traditions	35:30
	were not universally accepted and that	35:34
	there were other codes based	35:37
	upon other premises.	35:39
	While few were uncritical enough to conclude	35:42
	that one set of standards is as good as another	35:45
	still almost everyone became, in some sense,	35:49
	a moral relativist as a result of that influence.	35:53
	Even Christian theologians and pastors	35:57
	had to come to terms with the pervasiveness	36:01
	of cultural relativism.	36:04
	This resulted in the development soon after	36:06
	World War II of situation ethics.	36:09
	The claim that while Christian love is the	36:12
	constant load star for conduct,	36:15
	the applications of love will vary according to	36:18
	the context in which one behaves.	36:21
	By about 25 years ago most of the traditional	36:27
	claims of religion were under either	36:31
	implicit or explicit siege from a variety	36:34
	of academic disciplines.	36:38
	Powerful representatives of philosophy	36:41
	and even of theology built upon the work of	36:43
	Nietzsche and other thinkers,	36:47
	in declaring the death of God and trying to	36:49
	push beyond that conclusion to find new	36:52
	foundations for meaningful human experience.	36:55
	The social sciences continued to shake confidence	37:00
	in the absolutism of codes that had been viewed	37:04
	as divinely inspired.	37:07
	Meanwhile, the natural sciences were steadily	37:10
	explaining the natural world in terms of	37:13
	laws and principles that seemed to make	37:16
	unnecessary a first cause, a prime mover,	37:18
	or a personal creator.	37:23
	Knowledge reigned supreme.	37:25
	And the privileged kind of knowledge	37:29
	was scientific knowledge,	37:31
	and indeed most of the academic disciplines	37:33
	tried to come under the tent	37:36
	of scientific knowledge.	37:38
	Faith, however defined,	37:40
	seemed pale and anemic at best.	37:43
	According to William James,	37:47
	faith was something that enabled people	37:49
	to take an occasional moral holiday	37:52
	leaving things in the hands of God.	37:55
	According to Karl Marx faith was the painkiller.	37:59
	The opiate of the people that made life tolerable	38:03
	for those suffering from exploitation.	38:06
	To Sigmund Freud faith was a facade of illusions	38:09
	and wishes projected upon the harsh	38:14
	face of reality to make reality bearable.	38:17
	Meanwhile, knowledge and the coping skills	38:22
	that come from knowledge would eventually	38:25
	render faith meaningless and unnecessary.	38:27
	That picture of the relationship between	38:33
	reason and faith,	38:36
	between knowledge and religion,	38:38
	was widely accepted up until about 20 years ago.	38:40
	But during the past two decades the picture has	38:47
	become considerably more	38:51
	confused and complicated.	38:52
	The once sharp distinctions among science,	38:56
	religion, magic, and superstition,	39:00
	particularly distinctions made by social	39:03
	scientists and philosophers,	39:05
	those distinctions have become blurred.	39:07
	A few years ago Clifford Geertz arguably,	39:11
	the nation's foremost anthropology,	39:14
	declined an invitation to offer testimony	39:17
	aimed at preventing the required teaching of	39:21
	creationism in public schools.	39:24
	While he was sympathetic towards those who	39:28
	wanted him to testify for their cause,	39:31
	Geertz was not confident that he could	39:35
	help their cause.	39:37
	He was reluctant to join the battle against	39:39
	the creationists because he said he saw no	39:43
	absolute distinction between science and religion	39:46
	or perhaps in this case,	39:50
	between science and superstition.	39:52
	Clifford Geertz's reaction to the controversy	39:55
	between evolutionists and creationists	39:59
	is a telling clue to a decided shift in the	40:02
	dialogue between faith and reason.	40:06
	Now one of the most hotly debated questions	40:10
	in the academy is not whether faith is possible,	40:14
	but whether knowledge is possible.	40:19
	Now on the face of it,	40:24
	to question the possibility of	40:25
	knowledge sounds absurd.	40:27
	When new knowledge is being discovered and	40:31
	created at a rate that overwhelms all human	40:33
	efforts to absorb it and transmit it.	40:36
	What is really being questioned is the	40:41
	objectivity, stability, and unity of knowledge.	40:44
	Let's look at a few of the specific challenges	40:50
	to the traditional assumptions about knowledge.	40:54
	One challenge questions the whole notion	40:59
	of progress in scholarship and knowledge.	41:01
	The central tenet of the enlightenment.	41:05
	Some 30 years ago some historians of science	41:10
	began to declare that science would never	41:13
	achieve closure and they denied that any	41:16
	scientific theory could be true in	41:20
	any final sense.	41:23
	These claims about the openness and tentativity	41:25
	of even the most assured kind of knowledge	41:29
	set the stage for Thomas Kuhn's book,	41:32
	The Structure of Scientific Revolutions,	41:35
	a powerful book published in 1962,	41:38
	which argues that scientific truth in its	41:42
	fundamental character is inescapably shaped by	41:45
	cultural and historical forces.	41:49
	By frames of reference,	41:52
	or what Kuhn calls paradigms,	41:54
	that are subject to change.	41:56
	The emergence of a new paradigm,	42:00
	a new frame of reference,	42:02
	Kuhn described as analogous to	42:04
	a religious conversion,	42:06
	a sudden revelation of a new way of looking	42:08
	things indeed of remaking of the	42:11
	old order of reality.	42:16
	Except that the new truth is no less subject	42:18
	than the old to being supplanted in time.	42:22
	About 15 years ago the American intellectual and	42:27
	academic scene began to be affected by the	42:31
	thought of Michel Foucault,	42:35
	a French philosopher and historian who	42:37
	describes knowledge in	42:40
	terms of power relationships.	42:41
	Foucault discounts the notion of truth or	42:45
	knowledge as the end result of the labors of the	42:48
	disinterested, high-minded scholar who is	42:53
	consumed with passion only for	42:56
	truth and discovery.	42:59
	Far from being high-minded, er,	43:02
	single minded about finding truth,	43:04
	scholarly investigators are linked to the	43:07
	agendas and self interest of disciplinary	43:10
	organizations, journals, and funding sources,	43:13
	all of which are in a position to confer or	43:17
	deny validation to the scholars' work.	43:20
	Knowledge then,	43:24
	according to this account,	43:26
	is like wealth, fame, or other commodities,	43:28
	it is inescapably a thing of this world.	43:32
	According to widely	43:38
	influential current assumptions,	43:39
	not only is knowledge contingent, tentative,	43:42
	and inescapably linked to power relationships,	43:46
	it is also fragmented.	43:50
	In the modern university there is a	43:53
	pervasive skepticism towards attempts to tie	43:55
	everything together into unified, coherent,	43:59
	and tidy large pictures.	44:03
	One important result of this is that	44:06
	undergraduate education is a fragmented	44:09
	experience in which the student has the	44:12
	principle responsibility for tying things	44:15
	together into some kind of intellectual order.	44:18
	And this is the situation that one report	44:22
	after another has decried in recent years.	44:25
	It is true that a typical modern scholar	44:29
	shuns unifying theories and over arching concepts	44:33
	in favor of pursuing highly specific questions,	44:37
	and articulating laws and theories that explain	44:41
	limited ranges of data.	44:45
	In the intellectual ethos of today	44:49
	it is difficult to imagine a scholarly enterprise	44:53
	such as Arnold Toynbee's attempt of some	44:57
	40 years ago to enunciate and illustrate laws	44:59
	that explain the entire range of human history.	45:03
	Or Freud's attempt to formulate	45:07
	all encompassing laws of human behavior.	45:09
	Indeed, the organization of the modern university	45:13
	reflects the specialized and fragmented	45:17
	character of knowledge so that universities are	45:19
	split up into schools, departments,	45:23
	sections, and centers.	45:26
	Furthermore, the growing specialization of	45:29
	knowledge has altered the patterns of	45:32
	loyalties and relationships among	45:35
	scholars and researchers.	45:38
	Ernest Boyer's very influential and exceedingly	45:42
	well done book, College,	45:46
	includes some survey data that reveal that	45:48
	American university faculty members	45:52
	feel premiere loyalty towards the national or	45:54
	international scholarly guild to	45:58
	which they belong.	46:00
	Their secondary loyalty is to their departments,	46:02
	and their university comes third on the list.	46:06
	It is not difficult to understand that in	46:09
	terms of where the real life of the mind	46:12
	of most modern investigators occurs,	46:15
	and the people with whom they	46:18
	most fruitfully interact.	46:20
	The questions about the possibility of knowledge	46:24
	and the nature of knowledge	46:28
	must be understood against the background of the	46:30
	shallow and inadequate understanding of human	46:34
	reason and the human mind that has been	46:37
	the legacy of the enlightenment.	46:41
	We are beginning to realize,	46:45
	more fully now,	46:46
	that the human mind is not a passive	46:48
	blank tablet that registers reality in the	46:51
	fashion of photographic film,	46:56
	as the mind was portrayed in the 18th century	46:58
	and indeed in many circles,	47:01
	has continued to be so portrayed,	47:03
	until very recent times.	47:05
	We are much more ready now to leap frog	47:08
	back over the enlightenment period	47:10
	to some of the profounder insights	47:13
	about how the human mind really works.	47:15
	For example,	47:19
	Saint Augustine, in the 5th century A.D.	47:20
	saw so clearly that pride and self	47:23
	aggrandizement can play tricks on the mind	47:27
	and subvert it into an instrument of the ego	47:30
	rather than an instrument for discovering truth.	47:34
	And I find that many of the claims today	47:37
	that are made about the impossibility of	47:40
	knowledge or the character of the knowledge	47:43
	that is realized echo of the	47:46
	views of Saint Augustine and Plato and others.	47:51
	As we work our way through this debate,	47:56
	and it is a very important one,	48:00
	this debate about the nature of knowledge,	48:02
	there is one emerging theme that is	48:05
	very reassuring, I think,	48:07
	and gives us grounds,	48:09
	not only for hope,	48:11
	but grounds perhaps for some sort of consensus.	48:12
	That theme is that knowledge is	48:17
	inseparable from community.	48:19
	This is hardly a new insight,	48:23
	but it is one whose significance is	48:25
	being appreciated anew.	48:27
	More than a hundred years ago,	48:30
	Charles Sanders Peirce,	48:32
	the intellectual,	48:34
	provided the intellectual head waters	48:37
	of the philosophy pragmatism,	48:39
	declared that knowledge and truth	48:42
	are the property of communities of the committed,	48:46
	of the competent,	48:49
	of the people whose values are the same,	48:51
	and whose values have to do with certain	48:56
	methodologies and certain canons of	48:58
	accuracy and honesty.	49:01
	Thomas Kuhn, in describing how	49:04
	scientific revolutions occur,	49:07
	emphasizes that when a new paradigm of	49:09
	understanding and explanation replaces	49:12
	an old one,	49:14
	there is a switch of allegiance by the	49:17
	community of investigators,	49:19
	by the scientific community,	49:21
	not simply by isolated individuals.	49:23
	There is a collective judgment that the new	49:27
	framework is more attuned to such shared values	49:30
	as simplicity, accuracy, and consistency.	49:34
	Richard Rorty,	49:40
	a well known philosopher who was at	49:41
	Princeton for many years and now at the	49:43
	University of Virginia,	49:46
	has demonstrated in his thinking	49:48
	an acute awareness of the tension between a	49:51
	university's commitment to treat all truth claims	49:54
	as provisional, revisable, and contingent.	49:58
	And the expectation of students, of parents,	50:02
	and of the public,	50:06
	that education will transmit beliefs and values	50:07
	that are enduring.	50:11
	Rorty sees some common ground between	50:14
	those two perspectives.	50:18
	And he sees it in communities of shared values.	50:20
	And in the conversation that constitutes the	50:24
	community that is the life of the mind.	50:27
	That life of the mind,	50:31
	which is really impossible apart from community,	50:35
	is analogous to the life of faith,	50:40
	which is also impossible apart from	50:43
	continuing conversation with both our	50:46
	fellow believers and those who share	50:48
	our questions and struggles.	50:51
	And in both instances,	50:54
	this is a conversation that encompasses	50:55
	the dead as well as the living.	50:58
	The life of the mind,	51:02
	which is the essence of the university,	51:04
	consists, then, of conversation,	51:07
	of discussion, of debate,	51:10
	and occasional consensus.	51:12
	Knowledge has then a moral foundation.	51:17
	It is a foundation that includes respect for	51:20
	one's fellows and their opinions,	51:24
	gratitude for their assistance,	51:27
	and willingness to share and to assist	51:30
	with efforts of others to learn and understand.	51:33
	When reason is subverted by	51:38
	selfishness and egoism,	51:40
	when evidence is under valued or over valued	51:42
	in order to protect one's investment of pride,	51:46
	or to undo one's rival,	51:50
	then the bonds of community are violated and	51:52
	knowledge becomes suspect or contaminated.	51:55
	In this university there is	52:01
	an ongoing conversation.	52:03
	I sense here much more of a community	52:07
	than I sense in any other great university	52:10
	in this land.	52:12
	There is an ongoing conversation	52:14
	across disciplinary boundaries,	52:16
	across school boundaries,	52:18
	it is a conversation with the great voices in	52:20
	the western tradition,	52:23
	but also the great voices from Asia,	52:24
	Africa, and Latin America.	52:27
	It is a conversation that includes the voices of	52:30
	women as well as men,	52:32
	of the eloquent powerless as well	52:35
	as the powerful.	52:37
	Just as knowledge is rooted in a community,	52:41
	and in the values of that community,	52:44
	so is faith.	52:46
	To be a Jew is to be a part	52:48
	of a particular people.	52:51
	Its history, its struggles, its aspirations.	52:52
	To be a Christian is to a part of a community	52:56
	with a collective memory,	53:00
	common rituals and symbols,	53:02
	and a defining lifestyle.	53:04
	In too many contemporary universities	53:08
	the conversational range is artificially and	53:11
	unrealistically narrow in that it excludes or is	53:15
	embarrassed by questions about values,	53:19
	questions about faith.	53:23
	Last June Tom Wolfe gave a typically	53:26
	irreverent and witty address at Harvard's	53:30
	class day exercises.	53:34
	But it was also a thoughtful	53:37
	and penetrating statement which Wolfe predicted	53:38
	that the great task of the 21st century,	53:43
	a task that is already underway,	53:46
	will be that of creating a new	53:49
	framework of values.	53:51
	A new order.	53:53
	New terms for the living a purposeful life.	53:54
	I believe that Wolfe is profoundly correct.	53:58
	This task,	54:02
	which is already underway,	54:03
	will be an exhilarating one that will	54:05
	entail fierce controversy and debate,	54:08
	but the end result of which will be enriching	54:11
	to all of humanity.	54:13
	What better place to carry out that task	54:17
	than right here.	54:21
	Here at Duke,	54:23
	where thoughtful men and women	54:24
	from a variety of intellectual postures and	54:26
	disciplinary backgrounds have been talking about	54:29
	faith and values for a century and a half,	54:32
	and taking stands and assuming risks based upon	54:35
	their values and their commitments.	54:40
	Duke's commitment to increase the number of	54:45
	black faculty and to make its educational	54:47
	opportunities available to a much larger	54:50
	population of minority students is illustrative	54:53
	of how a shared moral concern,	54:57
	based upon the values of a community	55:01
	can become embodied	55:04
	in institutional policy.	55:05
	This university has the strength of community,	55:09
	the intellectual resources,	55:13
	and the seriousness of purpose to be in the	55:16
	forefront of efforts to provide the religious	55:19
	idioms and the moral values that will give	55:23
	ultimate validation and meaning to human life	55:26
	in its individual and collective	55:30
	struggles and achievements.	55:33
	(church organ music)	55:45
	(music drowns out voices)	56:28
-	Let us unite in this historic	59:41
	confession of the Christian faith.	59:42
	I believe in God, the Father Almighty,	59:45
	maker of Heaven and Earth,	59:49
	and in Jesus Christ, His only son, our Lord,	59:51
	who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,	59:55
	born of the Virgin Mary,	59:57
	suffered under Pontius Pilate,	59:59
	was crucified, dead and buried,	1:00:01
	He descended into hell,	1:00:04
	the third day He rose again from the dead.	1:00:06
	He ascended into Heaven and sitteth on the	1:00:09
	right hand of God, the father Almighty.	1:00:12
	From thence He shall come to judge the	1:00:15
	quick and the dead.	1:00:17
	I believe in the Holy Spirit,	1:00:19
	the Holy Catholic Church,	1:00:21
	the Communion of Saints,	1:00:23
	the forgiveness of sins,	1:00:25
	the resurrection of the body,	1:00:27
	and the life everlasting, Amen.	1:00:29
	The Lord be with you,	1:00:33
Congregation	And also with you.	1:00:35
-	Let us pray.	1:00:36
	Be seated.	1:00:37
	Oh come Thou wisdom from on high	1:00:46
	and order all things far and nigh	1:00:48
	to us the path of knowledge show	1:00:51
	and cause us in her ways to go.	1:00:55
	Ever living and ever loving God,	1:01:00
	in this season of hope and expectancy	1:01:03
	we pray for the needs of others.	1:01:05
	Oh, come Emmanuel,	1:01:10
	help and comfort the victims of the	1:01:13
	tragic earthquake in Armenia.	1:01:15
	Oh, come Emmanuel,	1:01:18
	silence the guns and turn toward peace	1:01:21
	the people of poor ravaged near east,	1:01:23
	and Northern Ireland and Central America.	1:01:26
	Oh, come Emmanuel,	1:01:31
	comfort all those who enter the Christmas season	1:01:33
	in pain because of recent loss or bereavement.	1:01:37
	Oh, come Emmanuel,	1:01:44
	the Lord of health and wholeness,	1:01:45
	and stand beside those who are sick or in pain.	1:01:48
	Oh, come Emmanuel,	1:01:55
	speak this Advent to those who feel that they are	1:01:57
	losing their faith or suffer	1:02:01
	confusion of the mind.	1:02:04
	Oh, come Emmanuel,	1:02:08
	as you have come to us in the	1:02:13
	Christ of Bethlehem,	1:02:15
	come to us,	1:02:17
	convince us of your presence and nearness	1:02:20
	as you stand beside us,	1:02:23
	we pray for all those in need,	1:02:27
	knowing that You are the Lord	1:02:31
	who came and stood beside us.	1:02:33
	Oh, come Emmanuel,	1:02:37
	Amen.	1:02:40
	In this season of giving we are reminded of	1:02:44
	God's gifts to us.	1:02:46
	Let us offer ourselves and our gifts to God.	1:02:48
	(church orchestra music)	1:03:24
	(music drowns out voices)	1:04:02
	(church organ music)	1:10:18
	(music drowns out voices)	1:10:55
-	Gracious God,	1:11:58
	we thank You for the gift of this university,	1:12:00
	of the gift of opportunities to study and	1:12:03
	to achieve and to know,	1:12:06
	and most of all we thank You during this	1:12:08
	season of Advent for the gift of Your dear Son,	1:12:10
	our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.	1:12:13
	Our Father, who art in Heaven,	1:12:16
	hallowed be Thy name.	1:12:19
	Thy Kingdom come,	1:12:21
	Thy will be done on Earth	1:12:23
	as it is in Heaven.	1:12:25
	Give us this day our daily bread,	1:12:27
	and forgive us our trespasses,	1:12:29
	as we forgive those who trespass against us,	1:12:32
	and lead us not into temptation,	1:12:35
	but deliver us from evil,	1:12:38
	for Thine is the Kingdom and the power	1:12:40
	and the glory forever, Amen.	1:12:42
	(church organ music)	1:12:49
	(music drowns out voices)	1:13:31
	(church organ music)	1:16:32
Pastor	And now may the grace of our Lord	1:17:21
	and Savior, Jesus Christ,	1:17:23
	be with you and abide with you	1:17:25
	now and always, Amen.	1:17:26
	(church choir vocalizing)	1:17:32
	(church organ music)	1:17:59

Item Info

Title:

John W. Chandler - "Faith, Knowledge, and Community" (December 11, 1988)

Description:

The history of the relationship between faith and reason, knowledge and religion, in the universities of this country has seen great shifts and changes. What is clear, however, is that both faith and knowledge are born and flourish in community. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Sermon start time: (Part 1) 28:08. Sermon end time: (Part 1) 55:38.
Key quotation: “That life of the mind, which is really impossible apart from community, is analogous to the life of faith, which is also impossible apart from continuing conversation with both our fellow believers and those who share our questions and struggles.”

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4f18sv82

Date:

December 11, 1988

Speaker:

Chandler, John W.

Biblical Book:

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 VHS-0111
ref8541_apg
uachapelsermaud
duke:321399
dcrmv001108
ark:/87924/r4f18sv82
9db4f50f-13a1-44f4-9d2e-c678c691f315

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

Format:

Provenance:

The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

CC BY-NC 4.0

Rights Note:

This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the Creative Commons license indicated here. For more information see https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

Sponsor:

Sponsor this Digital Collection

Transcript

Item Info

Duke University Archives

More Info & Options