On Education and Salvation

James V. Schall, S.J. On Education and Salvation The university is a peculiarly mediaeval institution in point of origin. Athens, Alexandria, Rhodes, and other centres of the ancient civilisation possessed places ofhigher education which attracted young men from distant lands. But they had little in common widi universities as we know diem. . . .The division of teachers and of students into faculties, the ordered system ofcurricula and ofcorresponding degrees, the government of the university society, are all forms of development which took shape in mediaeval times. The very name "university," i.e., universitas or guild, is a reminder ofthe fact, since guilds were a characteristic feature ofmediaeval society.The technical name for a university was Studium generale, within which the universitas, or guild, whether ofteachers or ofscholars, built up the university life. J. W. Adamson, 192 ? The title of this essay relates, in some general way, to the famous passage in Scripture where the young man, who had obeyed LOGOS 2:2 SPRING I 999 ON EDUCATION AND SALVATION all the commandments from his youth, boldly, even brashly, asks Christ:What must I do to be saved? After listening to Christ's unexpected answer, we are told that the young man, much sobered, went away"sad,"for he had many possessions (Luke, 1 8: 1 8—23).This rich young man, be it noted, did not ask whether he needed to know anything to reach eternal life. Evidently, he already knew and kept the Law and its requirements. Nor did Christ give him any new teachings , but reminded him of the ancient commandments of his own tradition. But He did give him something to "do." The young man was, in a sense, to free himselffrom the burden of his riches, which were not said to be evil in themselves. In other words, the young man probably could pay for his own college education . Christ does not tell him to hasten off to work for a doctorate at Athens, or Alexandria, or Rhodes, or even Jerusalem. But neither did Christ ask every rich man He encountered to take the same path that He offered this particular young man, though He did warn everyone that riches might prove difficult for salvation. Some speculation used to arise about whether this particular rich young man, because he refused the invitation, only to go away sad, saved his soul. Since current theology is full ofspeculations about whether in fact anyone loses his soul, no matter what his deeds or beliefs, it seems rash to think that the young man's choice had any everlasting consequences. Christ simply said, "if you will. . . ." We have in fact no reason to think that this young man did not go back to his home to lead the kind ofgood life he had been used to living. Still one wonders about his life had he chosen to follow Christ as invited; the apostles seem to have had a similar choice.The implication surely is that something ultimate is lost by the young man's choice and lost not merely for him alone. The rich young man was not being offered something utterly indifferent or unimportant for himself or others. No doubt, down the ages, his graphic choice resulting in his going away "sad" inspired other rich young men to leave their riches and follow Christ.The Christian world, at its high51 Í2 LOGOS est, seems somehow suffused with invitations and not merely commands , yet with invitations that make an enormous difference whether they are accepted or not.The world is filled with something more than duty and justice. // John Paul II is fond ofciting the similar passage about this rich young man found in the Gospel of Matthew (19:1 6—2 1 ; Veritatis Splendor, Ch. ? and 2). In Matthew, the young man wants to know what"good" he must do to be saved. He wants to know something concrete he can do, some "good." And this "good" is not any sort of good but rather the good he must do to attain eternal life. Some good things he can clearly abuse. He wants to know how what is good is to be related to his end. Christ reminds him...