Read As You Believe: Redemptive Reading As Spiritual Pedagogy for Integrative Education

Abstract

That religious and theological education today largely neglects reading as a spiritual discipline is a profound pedagogical oversight. The fallout contributes to the bifurcation of intellectual and spiritual formation in education. While the dominant mode of reading in the academy is beholden to the Weberian solitary, detached, and disenchanted ideal, the Christian tradition presents rich resources for an alternative vision. "Redemptive reading" enacts a friendship hermeneutic exercising well-wishing, conversation, and discernment. Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologiae exemplifies this approach. Redemptive reading is a spiritual pedagogy for an integrative approach to higher education.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Note on contributor

Timothy Hanchin is an Assistant Professor in Theological and Religious Education, Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania. E-mail: [email protected]