Where Are the Renaissance Men In Christendom Today?
The question of “Where are the Renaissance men in Christendom today?” is a legitimate one that needs to be answered. And before the critics roar, this is not just applicable to men, but women as well. However, I will address this topic with the term “men”.
The traits of these men of antiquity, per the Renaissance Man Journal, was of a man that used both the left-brain and right-brain type of thinking. They were men of curiosity, risk-takers, creative men of perseverance and self-discipline; who thirsted for knowledge and new experiences and excelled in physical, intellectual, artistic and social fields (often with expertise in at least one field and exceptional in other fields). Most importantly, they were always learning.
The traits of these men of antiquity ought to be the traits of every man and woman in Christendom. Yet, it is easy to point out that most in American evangelicalism today don’t even have a good, mature grasp on basic doctrines of Christianity. What we have is limited knowledge of God’s Word, and in the spirit of dualism, an excess of vocational knowledge usually based on a humanistic perspective. The perspective we as Christians must start with is from Scripture. Proverbs 1:7 (ESV) says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Knowledge of any kind must start, proceed, and end with the intention of glorifying God from Whom all things come.
So, where are the Renaissance men in Christendom? Where are those that excel physically, intellectually, artistically, and socially in Christendom?
Today we live in an age of monomaths; specialists, experts, professionals. These are people who get stuck in the parameters of one-way thinking with the inability to see the bigger picture, around the corner of possibilities and beyond. They cannot see how two things work relationally or see the similarities between two different things. The struggle with monomaths is that they not only have blinders on, but they also cannot fathom others being more than monomaths themselves. If anyone speaks on a subject outside their “field of expertise” or the monomaths perception of what one’s expertise is, it seems as if the individual is immediately disqualified to discuss it.
I believe that intrinsically, there is a problem here, and it is a predominant problem with society today. Monomaths, without really knowing it, have done something detrimental to society as a whole; this also includes Christians. The idea itself is secular rather than sacred, socialistic or communistic rather than individualistic. The monomath ideology turns individuals with specific callings, abilities, talents, giftedness, and desires, unique image-bearers of God, into nothing more than cogs in the wheel of society.
Don’t believe me? Well, here is what I know. In the United States, young children are frequently asked what they want to be when they grow up. Several things need to be noted from this:
One, this imposes the idea of identity with vocation. Most people struggle with the idea of being anything other than one that works in a particular vocation because today, we are defined by what we do and not the whole being of who we are. Secondary knowledge is considered hobbyist rather than expertise. Men made in the image of God do not find their identity in vocation, but in Christ Jesus and we are created to be more than one dimensional.
Two, I have yet to meet a child who answers the question of future vocation with singularity. I have heard some say they want to be a doctor and a firefighter. I have heard some want to be a mom and an astronaut. Children see the world through simplistic eyes, but they are the ones that see a world of possibility. It is then through these formative years, and often through government-run public socialist education that these children are honed and hued down into one-dimensional cogs in the wheel; monomaths for the purpose and use of the state. In some circles, this even happens through the adoption and carryover of these philosophies into private and homeschool Christian education. They have become but a single-purpose part of an assembly line of society.
I believe this one-dimensional ideology is why we need the rise of Renaissance men and women, who, by their very nature, are polymaths: people with a wide, diverse and exceptional perspective on a variety of areas of life. This goes to the heart of education; education is more than just “academic,” and it is more than the old adage of “reading, writing, and arithmetic.” It is exceptional diversification in many realms of knowledge, yes, including the physical, intellectual, artistic, and social that should be evident in Christendom. Beyond the monomathic thinking of today, they can and often do intertwine. Let’s look at these and individualistically and corporately.
When we speak of the physical, we speak of those who excel in the area of sport, physique/strength, combat (martial arts), flexibility and strength, health and nutrition, and more.
When we speak of the intellectual, we speak of the sciences (biological, natural and philosophical, etc.). We speak of learning, ways of learning, research, ultimately, God’s creation under the literal or philosophical microscope, and more.
When we speak of the artistic, we speak of the art of painting, drawing, dance, theater, writing, reading, and more.
When we speak of the social aspect, we are discussing what pertains to the study of society through both physical and philosophical constructs, history, interaction, culture, and more.
If you look at these base definitions, it is not hard to see how these interact with a Biblical view. It is a strength of great value to be more than one-dimensional. An example of polymathic influence was many of the founding fathers of the United States of America. Amazingly, these homeschooled agrarian plowboys would be the leaders of the armies in the American Revolution. These men were well-read, versed in the art of war, the philosophies behind it, the way that the English wage war, English culture, how they think about combat, and how to counteract and beat the enemy.
The American Revolution came about because these polymaths could organize more than a plantation. They understood economics and commerce, but they also understood the philosophy of man, made in the image of God, having the liberty to not only self-govern but to expand their fruitfulness for the greater good.
In addition to all of this, these men read and wrote extensively on a variety of subjects from agriculture, politics, history and philosophy, scientific discoveries, law, and more. They were more than plowboys with pitchforks, and today, culture would shun them.
Let me share a story with you:
There was a boy. He loved to sing. As a child, his family would stand around a piano on Sunday mornings and sing religious songs before going to church where they would sing more. At a young age of five years, he began to learn piano; a great combination that would stick with him through his many years. At about the age of nine, soccer introduced him to sports, and then around 12 to 13, he began playing football. He continued singing in choirs and such, but the piano waned, for he had no time for it with his schooling and his new love. Over the next few years, he continued with sports and music, but then he added a love for history and was intrigued by biology. He became intrigued by the historical doctrines of Christianity. In the area of sport, he went from football and basketball, now to cheerleading (like the college squads with 14 girls and seven guys) and volleyball, in which he was successful, yet not traditional sports for young men of that day. He continued to learn, and his interests led him into college.
In college, he entered pre-med, but struggled a bit and dropped that endeavor. He had received a scholarship for music and began that path, still with love for history. He also was further introduced to dance, yes, even ballet, and he excelled physically in this area. He continued with his personal religious studies and entered into serving local churches through music and preaching both, which he loved to do. Later he changed his collegiate studies to the study of psychology and sociology unearthing once again his love for both the mind, body and soul; the interworking of God’s creation, and more.
This young man married by this time, and he continued in the pastoral vocation for many years. Later in life, he had a degree and was educated by man’s standards, he was consistent in his pastoral vocation and more. He became interested in agriculture and began raising animals and planted a garden for food to take care of his family and to allow them to have a higher chance of a healthier life. Financial struggles befell him, and he took a job first with a non-profit organization with sales. A short time later, he worked for an oil and gas company using skills from menial labor like mowing to gaging wells and watching over new wells. He then began working in carpentry and construction, where he excelled at both basic repairs but also with buildings and cabinetry and furniture. He still sings, plays the piano, teaches and preaches, is physically active, is versed in the Reformed doctrines and the faith and the Holy Scripture, loves history and is versed in American History, loves science and biology and philosophy and more, loves to read and to write and to discover and to share his knowledge, loves to build with his hands, understands commerce and economics and the value of real currency, studies politics and the nature of societies and still loves to farm.
The person, the man described above, should not exist today according to the monomaths of society, but that man does exist. This person is not hypothetical but real. I am this man, and although I am not an “expert” nor do I have degrees in all these areas, I still have an exceptional understanding of all these fields, and where I am deficient, I educate myself.
You see, I am not a chameleon, but I desire to be a Biblical Renaissance man who excels in various areas, and I teach my children similarly. I was not raised this way, but I believe that it is what God intends for His people.
Adam and Eve were put in the Garden to work and tend it. They didn’t have to plant anything. It was not until the Fall that Adam would live by the toil of his own hands and the sweat of his brow. In doing so, he had to learn and understand and discover the uniqueness and intricacies of God’s creation. He had to be a physical man, an intellectual man, an artistic man, and a social man. The survival of himself, his family, and generations to come were a part of this well-rounded education and knowledge.
Yes, we may be more technologically savvy today, but the individual’s ability to research and understand any subject and be well versed and authoritative on a subject is great. A person does not have to have a degree on the wall to understand these functions. Degrees don’t make great men any differently than licenses and certificates don’t make great preachers and teachers of the faith.
Christians, both men and women, ought to be able to speak with authority on a variety of subjects. When someone chastises them to stay in their own lane as an engineer, literature teacher, a housewife, or as a pastor, I believe that individual is not only in error, but Biblically disobedient. They are propagating a socialistic worldview, and at worst, a dualistic one where God is over the spiritual, but the rest of life and knowledge is devoid of Him.
Can someone be an athlete and excel at philosophy or art? Can a man be a pastor and excel as a mechanic or in science? Can a woman be a housewife and excel in biology or marketing or even the drafting/engineering field (Proverbs 31:10-31)? I believe that the only thing that hinders any individual is choosing to elevate schooling over education. Schooling is a one-dimensional approach to knowledge where we end up being part of a cog in the wheel. Education is a multi-dimensional approach to learning which allows the individual to not only have a greater understanding of the creation around him but speak with authority on a variety of areas and bring them under the dominion of Christ’s Kingdom.
This is why my pastor friend, Jason Garwood of Cross and Crown Church in Warrenton, Virginia, can speak authoritatively on the subject of vaccines from an ethical/judicial standpoint as a Gospel imperative in a recent sermon. Garwood is not saying that because he is a pastor, therefore you must listen to him as an expert on vaccines. What Garwood speaks about is the imperative that we must research from a Biblical ethical/judicial standpoint to ascertain whether vaccinations are lawful in the eyes of God or at least whether forced vaccinations are lawful in the eyes of God’s Law-Word. The objection to him preaching on this subject was that he was not an authority on the subject because he was not an expert in that field. Summarily, the world-renowned doctor he used to fact-check his work before preaching on the subject, was not an expert because she was not in that particular field of research.
This is monomathic thinking at work: an expert is only an expert in the field they are currently researching if they have a degree in that field and can only authoritatively speak if they are researching that particular area. Why can’t someone research a particular area or subject on their own and not only be informed but speak with authority on that subject? How long does someone have to spend researching before they can speak with authority on a subject? Does a degree, a piece of paper, and ultimately an expensive participation trophy give more authority than someone who does the footwork and research for themselves?
I believe, and I could be wrong, but the heart of the issue is one of pride. Some perceive knowledge to separate people and elevate people in regards to worth or value to a society by what they know or what they do and when individuals outside a particular field educate themselves, the experts begin to feel obsolete or rather, simple men, like the rest.
Now, what I am advocating is this: we need more polymaths, Renaissance men and women that excel in multiple areas. I am not advocating that we do not need people who put most of their emphasis on research, and for them to stop doing so. We need unbiased, Biblically ethical/judicial research in all areas of medicine/science, law, and more.
If we as Christians believe that the earth is the Lord’s and everyone and everything in it (Psalm 24:1-2) belongs to Him, and if we believe that he has knit us together with purpose (Psalm 139:13), and He has established when and where we are to be born (Acts 17:26), and if we believe that He has gifted the body of Christ with not only abilities but the fruit of His Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12-13, Galatians 5:22-23), then He can gift His people with a full-orbed worldview, excelling in a variety of areas. For knowledge begins and ends with God (Proverbs 1:7).
So yes, a pastor can speak with authority on the ethical/judicial imperative for the Christian regarding the subject of vaccines, just as much as he can on politics or education or morality or justice.
So yes, a restaurant waiter can hold a real-estate license and can learn about installing a gas line in a house and do it properly and excel at all three. He can even learn about welding and work on larger pipelines.
So yes, a man can be an author, and he can be a farmer who raises his own animals (which includes knowledge of animal nutrition, biology, health1, marketing, and butchering). This man can excel in theology and the historic doctrines of the faith. This same man can understand and excel in the designing of homes or buildings, drafting and engineering them, constructing the foundation and building and finishing the structure out (including electrical, plumbing, HVAC, etc.). This man can speak with authority on all issues, from human health to animal health, and the correlation between the two, and at the same time speak with authority regarding structures and their wind-load/pressure rating regarding hurricanes and beyond. And this man can do all these things expertly from a Biblical imperative of an ethical/judicial worldview, while never having a piece of paper on the wall.
Therefore, we need Biblical Renaissance men and women, bringing a wider perspective and not only develop the individual as a man or woman but give the individual the tools to succeed in every area of life. We need to intentionally put ourselves in situations that will challenge us, give us new perspectives, and teach us something new; always allowing these experiences to educate you toward future applications. Be curious and never stop improving yourself as you press the crown rights of King Jesus into every sphere of life under heaven.
[1] This includes knowledge of vaccinations, antibiotics, hormones, etc. and how they affect the consumer, minor medical procedures that include castration, fertility, genetics, gestation, and birthing.