144 Chapter 3 As an introduction, Wolterstorff (2004) returns, in his essays edited by Stronks and Joldersma (2004), to the Biblical vision of ‘what constitutes flourishing and of our appointed destiny’ (pp. 22–23). It is not a vision of ‘disembodied individual contemplation of God’; rather, it is one of individual and communal shalom—a vision of flourishing together. This flourishing is based on justice: ‘Justice is the ground floor of shalom’ (Wolterstorff, 2004, p. 23). However, at the same time, it goes beyond justice, incorporating correct relationships in general, ‘whether or not those are required by justice’ (Wolterstorff, 2004, p. 23). It leads to a fundamentally inclusive shalom community wherein God’s laws for our multifaceted existence are obeyed. This community is a delightful and fundamentally inclusive community, which means that it welcomes strangers and pays special attention to the widow, the orphan and the poor because they are humans and have rights: To dwell in shalom is to find delight in living rightly for God, to find delight in living rightly in one’s physical surroundings, to find delight in living rightly with one’s fellow human beings, to find delight even in living rightly with oneself (Wolterstorff, 2004, p. 23). According to Stronks and Joldersma (2004), this conception of shalom ‘combines a Reformed confessional Christianity with an increasingly radical social conscience and progressivist pedagogy’ (p. vii). They described how Wolterstorff’s vision of education developed over time from a more intellectualist, liberal arts approach to one framed by concerns for social justice in the context of educating more than just the mind. Wolterstorff rejected the maturation, socialisation and humanisation models of education, instead calling for the teaching of justice and shalom. He did so because he found that none of the mentioned models ‘responds adequately to the wounds of humanity—in particular, the moral wounds; none gives adequate answer to our cries and tears’ (Wolterstorff, 2004, p. 22). The ‘overall goal of Christian collegiate education’ should be to help students to practice justice, while the ‘goal for which Christian educators are to teach is that our students be agents and celebrators of shalom, petitioners and mourners’ (Wolterstorff, 2004, p. 24). The moral wounds of a world full of injustices must be present in the curriculum of the Christian college. Students must not only be taught about justice but for justice. ‘The graduate whom we seek to produce must be one who practices justice’ (Wolterstorff, 2004, p. 24). To prepare students for the world means enabling them to be ‘agents of shalom’ (Wolterstorff, 2004, p. 34). This means that they become responsible agents before God. ‘We are given an office, a mandate, with respect to the world, with respect to each other, and with respect to God. This is definitive of
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