Are We Asking the Right Question ...

Asking the Right Question . . .

In our last post we mentioned that there are two questions people often ask regarding the “faith-based formative education” of St. Francis College Prep. The first is, “What does that mean?” and the second is “Why is that important?” As we said, these are good questions that deserve good answers. So, we addressed the first question and explained what a faith-based formative education is.

In short, St. Francis recognizes that the high school years are crucial. Students are beginning to decide if there is truth in what they have learned and, if and how such truth should apply to how they live. To help our students in this weighty endeavor St. Francis integrates faith into the classroom to ensure that students are being pointed in the right direction, towards biblical truth.

Today we will address the second question: Why is a faith-based formative education important? Believe it or not, the answer to this second question is found at the beginning of time.

Let’s approach it this way, if there is no God – no creation and no afterlife – then why do we exist? Quite simply, if there is no God then, there is no reason to exist. We just do. As a complicated byproduct of some cosmic explosion that occurred by happenstance without any design or Creator it logically follows that the human race is, by definition, an accident.

As accidents, we have no purpose. In fact, we are the antithesis of purpose. As accidents we only live in the cosmic moment and the only real question we ask is based on personal satisfaction, “What can I do?” And, we judge what we can do on an equally “good” standard because everything is equally accidental. Thus, we get to live by our own rules, like Nero or Hitler.

The converse to this paradigm on life is that there is a God who did create us with a purpose and that His purpose will continue after we live here on earth. That changes things profoundly. It logically leads to an objective form of truth. It separates “good” from “evil” and we can comfortably discern between the acts of a madman and the acts of a saint.

More to the point, for our students we are able to explain that this objective form of truth should shape the way they live. It gives them a standard by which to measure what they have learned and how they will put that learning into daily practice. It gives them purpose and meaning.

Our students understand the need for wisdom, self-control, endurance and justice. They understand that the right question is not, “What can I do?” The right question is, “What should I do?” Having this understanding is more important than ever.

Today, the rule of thumb in industry is, “If we can do it, we should do it.”

Scientific and technological advancements such as cloning and artificial intelligence leave wide-open fields for experimentation and the redefinition of life.

With such ominous advancements close at hand the rule of thumb should instead be, “We can do it, but should we do it?

And this is why a faith-based formative education is important. Our future depends on asking the right question.