What are the Essential Studies for an Intellectual of the 21st Century?

As I understand it, the question is, what does one need to know in order to be an intelligent and well-cultured individual in this day and age? I don’t think this question deals with Christianity or spirituality directly in the sense of becoming a transformed individual. As a Christian, then, the first question to me is, should we seek to be intellectuals in the first place? Does such a thing have any importance or significance in the kingdom of God?

We agree that intellectual pursuit — the formation of the mind — has an important place, to some degree, in our practical Christianity. When we broaden our minds, our ability to interact, relate, sympathize, and empathize with people broadens as well. With increasing ability to relate and interact with people, our range of potential influence broadens, and with our range of influence our potential to impact and lead those around us widens. We are all leaders on different levels, and we could all stand to open our minds in some areas. I think that the pursuit of truth in all its multiplicity will lead us to an understanding of its simplicity and inter-connected-ness. The most important pursuit of an intellectual and incidentally a Christian, is the pursuit of truth. This is why the most important discipline for an intellectual of *any* age is philosophy. Love of wisdom and truth. Everything area of study is rooted here. The basis upon which all other studies are founded upon and the way that they are connected is philosophy. Thus, philosophy is the foremost study of the intellectual.

As Christians, I think that the first subset of philosophy that we need to study is theology. Obviously our theology plays an essential role in interpreting everything else – and we could even say it is our foundation for philosophy in some sense. Regardless of which one we say comes first, these two disciplines for us as Christians are intricately and inextricably connected. It would be an interesting discussion to have though… which discipline comes from which discipline. But theology and philosophy are the foundations of every other study.

If the first tier of studies is Philosophy and Theology, the second tier of studies I would see to be Music, Poetry, Art, Literature, and History. These areas of thought or studies–whatever you want to call them–have existed pretty universally across all cultures throughout all of history. Music is human-structured sound. Poetry is human-structured language. Art is human-structured matter. Literature is human-structured lifeflow (stories). History is the record of what has come before us. I feel like studying all of these things as they manifested themselves throughout history and across cultures is important. Again, studying multiplicity in order to find the simplicity of truth. These things I think are pretty much universal throughout history, and this is why I think they’re the next most important set of studies after Theology and Philosophy.

Now comes the third and last tier of studies. These are all important, certainly, but they are much more specific to our day and age and our present culture. Thus, in the grand scheme of things, I think they have less value, but this is why when we asked the initial question we specified ‘of the 21st century.’ To be a well rounded intellectual in our age, I think an understanding of the following sciences and disciplines is necessary. Psychology and Sociology – the science of the human mind and human society. This gives us insight into the way people act and helps us to better remedy their problems, or at least to understand them. Computers – the science of data and how to use technology and to be able to use current technology well. This is important because computers run most of current technology, and a good portion of our lives as well. They are powerful tools that we ought to understand. Current events – the political atmosphere and state of things. This is certainly a necessary area for a well-rounded intellectual to be familiar with. I think it’s also necessary for an intellectual to be familiar with the popular art and entertainment industry – Movies, TV shows, Music, Internet culture.