In a piece by Stanley Hauerwas, he uses one of his excellent anecdotes to illustrate the divide between medicine and religion. Interestingly enough the experience of the seminary student is exactly what I regret about how I approached my Theology degree, the consumerist influence in education stifles it, in retrospect I wish someone had told me I had to study many areas I am now totally ignorant in.
"…when someone goes to seminary today, he can say, "I’m not into Christology this year. I’m just into relating. After all, relating is what the ministry is really about, isn’t it? Ministry is about helping people relate to one another, isn’t it? So I want to take some more Clinical Pastoral Education courses." And the seminary says, "Go ahead and do it. Right, get your head straight, and so on." A kid can go to medical school and say, "I’m not into anatomy this year. I’m into relating. So I’d like to take a few more courses in psychology, because I need to know how to relate to people better." The medical school then says, "Who in the hell do you think you are, kid? We’re not interested in your interests. You’re going to take anatomy. If you don’t like it, that’s tough."
Now what that shows you is that people believe incompetent physicians can hurt them. Therefore, people expect medical schools to hold their students responsible for the kind of training that’s necessary to be competent physicians. On the other hand, few people believe an incompetent minister can damage their salvation. This helps you see that what people want today is not salvation, but health."
