Is education the antithesis of faith?

Question

...generally speaking, of course.

Answer 1

That is a great question. I say yes.

Education is a tool. When used and applied properly it is a scary thing to the people that are hoping to pull the wool over the others eyes.

People in the middle ages pulled themselves out of their misery through education, the more education they got the better off they were.

Today, it seems the state is trying to sabotage the education system and make the people ignorant again in order to be able to subjugate them one more time.

And here we go, round and round.

Answer 2

No dear. There are different kinds of intelligence. The kind of stuff that we can memorize from books is scholarly intelligence. That is like being a tape recorder. A person that is an expert in a field from decades of studies on one subject is inferior to spiritual intelligence which comes from within. The intelligence that we have within springs forth like a fountain. However, for most of us, that fountain is dry. It needs to be turned on.

Many of the saints and sages in India were born with this higher spiritual intelligence without having any formal education. Even the brainest and smartest people would throw them all kinds of questions and become defeated with the profound wisdom of these sages.

Having spiritual intelligence and wisdom is not dependent on education. Mata Amritanandamayi has not had an education beyond the 4th grade, and yet no one has ever been able to win a debate with her because she has an answer to everything. Mata Amritanandamayi is one of the most devoted and pious persons you could meet. She was born enlightened.

All the knowledge in the world is a tiny, tiny drop of the infinite mysteries that God contains. There is a quote in the Bhagavad Gita when Krishna says:

"My dear Arjuna, only by undivided devotional service can I be understood as I am, standing before you, and can thus be seen directly. Only in this way can you enter into the mysteries of My understanding." 11:54

What this means is that when we give God our devotion, then can we begin to understand the mysteries of God. I'm not just saying this on empty air. I have experienced proof that this is true through my personal experiences with devotion this past year.

I am college educated with a B.A. degree. I didn't always believe nor understand God. I questioned many things in the Christian religion and didn't accept the Bible while growing up in that religion. But I was always hungry to understand who I am and have answers to our existence. I knew there was something beyond the physical (metaphysical) because I personally experienced many things that cannot be explained away logically.

I read many spiritual books for many years until I found Hinduism to be so vast in higher wisdom, knowledge and intelligence. It had answers to everything that I had been seeking. Then I came to a much better understanding for the purpose of many religious practices which is another subject altogether.

Answer 3

Of course it is. You cannot be educated in the mechanics of how our natural world works and then still believe that lighting and thunder is cause by some god's wrath, that all things were created in 7 days or any of that other nonsense.

I just finished reading a wonderful book by David Mills called "Atheist Universe". This book is the "thinking person's answer to Christian Fundamentalism" and very neatly and concisely dissects and refutes pretty much all CF arguments.

Another alternative is the simply astounding website called "Why won't god heal amputees". It's sound comical but in all reality this site too very deftly takes to task many CF concepts.

Do not be afraid to stand up for your personal beliefs. At 34 I just this year finally "came out" of the atheist closet to my family. Some took it well, some...not so well but in the end the only thing that matters is that we are happy with ourselves.

As for those who claim that their "faith increased" or that "learning confirmed their faith" you must look at WHERE they learned which can be just as important as WHAT they learned. If they learned at a religious school then everything they were taught was tainted by the religious doctrine of their school.

If, however, they were taught via an authentic scientific philosophy, which is to draw conclusions solely from what they were able to actually interact with then there would be no faith issues.

Again, being truly educated will easily abolish any and all feelings of some hocus-pocus religion which only holds sway via the threat of eternal violence. That's what all religions do really. "Follow our rules or you'll spend eternity in hellfire"

A person far wiser than I once said "We ascribe behaviors to god that we would find deplorable in each other."

Truer words have never been uttered.

Answer 4

No. My Pastor was a Philosophies of Education Professor. So give that one up!

The antithesis of faith is doubt.

And note that it does not just have to do with religion!

Answer 5

Christ tought that those who had worldly wisdom were spiritually weak. It's not that they can't have faith it's that our faith is stronger if we understand how to determine the difference between worldly wisdom and Godly wisdom.

When seeking education, consider your purpose. An example is that most pastors have a Master's degree or higher. They sought education with a humble purpose.

Answer 6

Actually, education and faith are related. I have found that the more I learn, the stronger my faith becomes. I have seen support to Christianity, looked at many of the strongest objections, and taken several classes that talk about this and many other issues. In the end, I find that the more I learn, the stronger my faith becomes.

Answer 7

In many cases researching the knowable, leads to faith in the unknowable. Nobody can know 100% of a topic. There are varrying degrees faith for everything.

Answer 8

Nope....

My faith increased after my education was completed. The more I know, the more I trust in God.

The antithesis of faith, by strict definition, is "disbelief" or "doubt".

Captwassabi below proves my point whether he realizes it or not... It's actually quite amusing.

Answer 9

Only if you "believe" education is the only answer. Then again, that's faith. Both can influence the other, therefore the application of each must be balanced. Are they opposite? I doubt it. Our personal convictions determine their separate values.

I love these types of questions.

Answer 10

No. Knowledge is the antithesis of faith.