The art of critical thinking

[temporal1]

My impression is that conservative Christian schools in particular do not teach critical thinking.

From what I have observed there is a tendency to teach the students "what to believe" rather than to give them the tools they need to help them determine what they SHOULD believe.

Self-paced learning does not generally allow for discussion, where critical thinking will come into play.

And as concerns our Bible schools, just look at a list of their courses.
You will see a long list of this & that book of the Bible,
as opposed to something like survey courses for the New & Old Testaments, and then a Bible Study METHODS course, generally focusing on a single Bible book, but in an illustrative way more than as an attempt to teach the content of that particular book.

Neto, i think of you as a credible critical thinker.
i read your posts - as an interested student would (to be sure, as i read much of MD-MN.)

i question this, though.
to begin, i believe you, 100%, that you have witnessed and/or experienced what you describe.
however, there must be more to the story.

else, why are there consistent reports about home schools, faith-based schools, and other private schools, that reflect these children go on to do well in college/university acceptance, and are welcome in the workplace?

one public acknowledgment of this came from obama in his early term, when he commended these shools (and other faith-based services, such as disaster relief, and adoption services) .. there was talk of offering vouchers so that all, or more students could participate.

early in my MD days, Robert spoke of the significant temptation to accept such vouchers; problem being, loss of control, which, of course, immediately defeats the purpose, would compromise the very foundation that made up the stated goal!

the state wants to take what they deem valuable from these alternate schools and services, "remove with surgical precision" the spirit and heart, then expect the patient to survive!

your sentence (i put in bold) if the word, "know," were to replace "believe," would aptly describe today's (gov indoctrination centers) .. i agree with Franklin, below, about the sorry state of today's DOE.

so, while i do not believe you are mistaken about what you describe, i doubt it's "universal," with important evidence to the contrary, esp when compared with present DOE, which i believe to be truly guilty of the problems you point out, replacing faith beliefs with biased political agenda.
(my best effort to describe what i witness.)

One reason that I, as a non-Christian, post to this forum is because this is the ONLY forum on the internet where there is any critical thinking at all.

Modern culture has lost the ability for critical thinking.
I also participate in an Islamic forum, but Islam does not encourage critical thinking.

Critical thinking means thinking that criticizes ideas. Learning critical thinking means learning to criticize ideas.

There is no Christian version of this, it is a general skill.

Not everyone should be taught critical thinking, only those who have an aptitude for it.
Poor critical thinking is worse than no critical thinking.

To teach critical thinking, teach something wrong and have the student criticize it.
I can (wrongly) mathematically prove that 1=2 in various ways and then ask the student to find the flaw in the reasoning.

When I homeschooled my children, I used original source material for American history and this often contained 2 sides of an argument.

I would have my child pick one side and I would argue the other side.
When he/she lost the argument, we would switch sides and repeat.

After switching several times, he/she would see both side of the argument which is critical thinking because it means being able to criticize (and defend) both sides.

Resonates.

Franklin, when i stumbled onto MD, i felt i'd found an oasis of thought, unlike i'd ever experienced.
for me, as a Christian who read and believed Scriptures, here i found others who read scriptures, were otherwise engaged in the real world, as students, housewives, the home bound, business people, first responders, engineers, teachers, pastors, missionaries, and advanced scholars .. and believed.

(so, for me) the combination of critical thinking you cite, with faith-at-center; with faith thriving, not systematically being diminished+removed, is the combination that accounts for MD's relative longevity on the all-new internet.

the internet enables folks to readily interact and discourse in ways never before.

prior, for practical reasons, there was little or no such exchange. nothing to compare with MD-MN (which we much take for granted.) we humans quickly forget "where we came from."

it's quite interesting, now adding your unique perspective to the mix.

this thread is bringing out the critical thinkers, thinking critically about themselves, which one might expect.

i believe it's also a bedrock trait of Christians, to examine their/our own hearts for failures, as Jesus instructed.

where you use the word, "aptitude," for critical thinking, i would use the word, "gift" for critical thinking. these words also reflect how there is more-than formal education. it reflects how+why many without advanced formal education are able to compete very well, in spite of that difference.
there is more than the tangible.
for me, as a believer, i find scriptures speak to these realities that seem to confound some non-believers. many want so badly to deny and eliminate the intangible, instead of embracing it, finding peace in it.

[Neto]

My impression is that conservative Christian schools in particular do not teach critical thinking.

From what I have observed there is a tendency to teach the students "what to believe" rather than to give them the tools they need to help them determine what they SHOULD believe.

Self-paced learning does not generally allow for discussion, where critical thinking will come into play.

And as concerns our Bible schools, just look at a list of their courses.
You will see a long list of this & that book of the Bible,
as opposed to something like survey courses for the New & Old Testaments, and then a Bible Study METHODS course, generally focusing on a single Bible book, but in an illustrative way more than as an attempt to teach the content of that particular book.

Neto, i think of you as a credible critical thinker.
i read your posts - as an interested student would (to be sure, as i read much of MD-MN.)

i question this, though.
to begin, i believe you, 100%, that you have witnessed and/or experienced what you describe.
however, there must be more to the story.

else, why are there consistent reports about home schools, faith-based schools, and other private schools, that reflect these children go on to do well in college/university acceptance, and are welcome in the workplace?

one public acknowledgment of this came from obama in his early term, when he commended these shools (and other faith-based services, such as disaster relief, and adoption services) .. there was talk of offering vouchers so that all, or more students could participate.

early in my MD days, Robert spoke of the significant temptation to accept such vouchers; problem being, loss of control, which, of course, immediately defeats the purpose, would compromise the very foundation that made up the stated goal!

the state wants to take what they deem valuable from these alternate schools and services, "remove with surgical precision" the spirit and heart, then expect the patient to survive!

your sentence (i put in bold) if the word, "know," were to replace "believe," would aptly describe today's (gov indoctrination centers) .. i agree with Franklin ... about the sorry state of today's DOE.

so, while i do not believe you are mistaken about what you describe, i doubt it's "universal," with important evidence to the contrary, esp when compared with present DOE, which i believe to be truly guilty of the problems you point out, replacing faith beliefs with biased political agenda.
(my best effort to describe what i witness.)
....

I was thinking just about Bible teaching, not so much other subjects, and projected my impressions about that area of study onto the whole educational approach. Not good of me, and I apologize, especially to educators in private schools. And maybe even in Biblical studies, with the repetition of studying book after book, the principles of Biblical interpretation are conveyed to the student. I do, however, think that an organized approach could be as effective.

[temporal1]

I was thinking just about Bible teaching, not so much other subjects, and projected my impressions about that area of study onto the whole educational approach. Not good of me, and I apologize, especially to educators in private schools.

And maybe even in Biblical studies, with the repetition of studying book after book, the principles of Biblical interpretation are conveyed to the student.

I do, however, think that an organized approach could be as effective.

thank you so much!
probably others understood, i was puzzled. as you can tell.

[Bootstrap]

Critical thinking is one kind of discernment.

But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

In everyday language, critical means "judging severely and finding fault", so a lot of people are surprised when they encounter phrases like "critical appreciation". In critical thinking, the word "critical" mean careful analysis in order to see what is of value, and it is often appreciative, recognizing what is good in greater depth.

For a Christian, critical thinking can often focus on asking what it really means to live out the things at the heart of our faith. Is this Christlike? How can you tell? Is this biblical? Why do Christians have different understandings of this, and is there a good way to determine which understanding is right? Is this really genuine love? As Christians, how should we be affecting the world around us? Should we focus on protecting ourselves from the world or on being salt and light - or can we do both at the same time? What is the relationship between the Kingdom of God and the politicized Christianity that surrounds us?

Maturity comes from constant practice in discerning good from evil. Some people are very discerning but not very intellectual, they are more emotional or intuitive. I think we need a balance of these different kinds of discernment in the Body of Christ, and we need to understand that critical thinking is just one valid way of discerning.

Some people resist any kind of discernment that might call our wineskins or spiritual status into question. That's dangerous, it can turn us into self-righteous Pharisees. As Christians, we need our deeds to be exposed by the light, that's what discernment is all about. But light can be threatening.

All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.

To me, humility involves rejecting the notion that I have any spiritual status, and assuming that I need the light to shine on me and expose what is wrong. It involves rejecting the notion that what I say is necessarily right, and letting the facts sort themselves out in a discussion. If we examine things in the light - intellectually or in other ways - our sin will be exposed.

[Wade]

Two kingdom theology is important to teach.

For example after having digestive issues for 25 years with no help from our medical system but rather more suffering. It might be important to teach that the worldly kingdom can do good but they would rather look for gain to self. In Canada our medical system is governed by the government and super rich pharmaceutical companies lobbying every chance they can to sell their drugs to make money (doctors have told me pharmaceutical companies have them come in every week to sell the newest drugs and giving away free vacations, ski passes, etc. to those that do.) Wrong kingdom.

Seeing what kingdom those spreading information and who you are seeking help from are a part of can be helpful in critical thinking, at the same time I don't think I would have loved ones with me right now if the doctors wouldn't have intervened at times... And neither can we discern the heart, or where the person is heading in...

[KingdomBuilder]

I believe critical thinking requires a healthy dose of weariness, but not to the point of malicious suspicions.

[temporal1]

I believe critical thinking requires a healthy dose of weariness, but not to the point of malicious suspicions.

right. "critical thinking" is not criticizing.