Framing and Painting:
Relating Domains of Knowledge

Exercise. Lesson: Ephesians 3:7-12.

I. Some Models of Relating Various Domains of Knowledge

Domination:

Warfare: Disciplines strictly compete for legitimacy (Fundamentalist Christianity v. psychology and evolutionary biology; 'the New Atheists' v. theology).
Imperialism: One field governs the others as a castle governs a realm (ecclesiasticism; secularism).
Reductionism: A discipline is a local dialect of a universal language (Gordon Kaufman, E.O. Wilson).
Fusion: Disciplinary boundaries become trivial or dissolve in some visionary's grand synthesis ('cultural studies').

Detente:

Fragmentation: A DMZ, compartmentalizing and neglecting what is outside one's disciplinary territory (Stephen Jay Gould's 'non-overlapping magisteria').
Collaboration: Disciplines work together ad hoc for reasons of their own.

Domestication:

Sphere sovereignty: Disciplines are coherent but autonomous, with different domains (Abraham Kuyper and Dutch 'pillarization').
Pragmatism: Fields are appropriated eclectically, for some purpose marginal to all (Constantinianism, HERI survey of students' goals, Franklin Pierce College).
Cynicism: Anti-intellectualism, uncritical skepticism, apathy towards all fields of learning (Homer Simpson, Kymer Rouge).

A sub-text: Power relationships proliferate,

with no stable outcome and no particular pattern.

II. Two Kinds of Knowledge

general revelation (e.g., 1 Kings 4:29-33)	special revelation (e.g., Jonah 1:1-2)
e.g., Solomon's ordinary discoverable knowledge	e.g., Jonah's received apocalyptic knowledge

Education in these disciplines forms good judgment, awakens receptivity to wisdom,
and qualifies practitioners for spiritual discernment (Matt 12:42).

III. 'Lesser' and 'Greater' Knowledge

"Something greater than" both arrives with Jesus (Matt 12:41):

"The signs of the times" (Matt 16:1-3) display the Kingdom's in-breaking on the missional frontiers of both kinds of knowledge.
Failures to discern are due to the inadequacy of disciples, not their disciplines (Matt 16:4).

So: The Kingdom of God is an obscure framework, of the eschatologically new becoming present in the realms of the old.

the old:	the new:
'lesser': penultimate	'greater': ultimate
blatant; familiar	obscure and mysterious; news
indirect rule through natural/social powers (Matt 12:22-24)	God's direct Kingdom rule (Matt 12:28-32)
consistent? formative; 'wisdom'	surprising? transformative; 'foolishness'
Academic fields, including religion, 'paint' or 'flesh out' whatever they are suited to exploring.	Christian theology 'frames' other disciplines in faithful discernment of the Kingdom of God.

Righteous power relationships among the disciplines resemble Ephesians 5:21's 'mutual submission.'
Ephesians 3:7-12 describes Paul's evangelizing of "the boundless riches of Christ."

IV. Framing's Implications for Relating the Disciplines

Interdisciplinary inquiry or learning is dialogical:

Framing and painting (or fleshing out, or building) do not follow an all-purpose formula or list of steps.
They interact dialogically among the relevant disciplines from the context of particular church traditions.

Interdisciplinary inquiry has criteria for success:

Such as coherence, completeness, insight, elegance or beauty, and especially fruitfulness.

Interdisciplinary inquiry is an unpredictable challenge:

Dialogue will not be easy.
Agreement will not just fall into place among disciplines that have often developed in competition, conflict and isolation. 
A finding will suggest a new direction here or pose a problem there; director(s) will need to prioritize among endless possible directions.

These biblical passages demonstrate that the connections we develop among disciplines, including our moral philosophies and ethics, definitively shape persons and generations.

How well adapted to the Kingdom’s character are various models of Christian education?
How are these fields and relationships envisioned in a given setting (whether Christian or secular)?
How might your setting be shaping you and your community as learners? as disciples? as church members?

Some of my own interdisciplinary projects:

interdisciplinary 'prayerful theology’
science and the Holy Spirit/pneumatology
interpreting Islam in Christian perspective
moral/spiritual theology and social sciences/scientific professions
homosexuality in Christian perspective
ethics and literature/arts
biology, theology, and Christian life.

A question for you: Which environments, fields, are healthy contexts for your formation and transformation?