“You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” - John 8:32
“Exert yourself in the two ways of practice and study. Without practice and study, there can be no Buddhism. You must not only persevere yourself; you must also teach others. Both practice and study arise from faith. Teach others to the best of your ability, even if it is only a single sentence or phrase. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.” - Nichiren Daishonen, “The True Aspect of All Phenomena”
For the student of theology and metaphysics, study is a devotional act. I recall James Cone once said in a lecture that theology is loving God with your whole mind. Nichiren Buddhists emphasize three pillars of Buddhism: faith, practice, and study. My commitment to interfaith study is rooted in a desire for a deeper understanding of my own faith and that of my siblings in humanity. No single religion or tradition has a monopoly on the Truth; Spirit reveals itself to different peoples in different cultural contexts.
There are, generally, two ways by which we approach education. The empirical approach sees the teacher as expert, and the students as blank slates or empty vessels. The teacher has information that the students must internalize. The teacher may expound on the information, relaying it in different ways, and regularly testing the students’ retention through quizzes and exams.
There are countless stories of religious education programs taking this attitude toward young students. When a teacher is particularly insecure, they may have a hard time admitting to not knowing the answer to a student’s question. Some religious institutions do not leave space for dialogue, meaningful engagement, sincere questions, or even doubt. Tragically, such classrooms are so often the place where we are really expected to “learn our place.”
White Christian evangelism so often mirrors this empirical model—an attitude of having a monopoly on the truth and salvific knowledge. The goal becomes winning over the poor ignorant souls from the devil of ignorance so they don’t go to hell. This approach has done more harm to all religious enterprises than perhaps anything else. Every crusade, every holy war, the advance of colonialism, and every form of religious oppression can be reduced to some form of this attitude.
The Socratic method, by contrast, emphasizes dialogue. Socrates argued that the soul is immortal, and all learning is, in fact, recollection. Learning is not a relaying of facts from teacher to student, but rather an unveiling of truth that is the work of both teacher and student. The teacher who embraces a Socratic approach will not just correct the student’s mistakes and tell them what the right answer is. Instead, the role of the teacher is that of a guide, asking the student leading questions and helping them uncover the answer for themselves.
A sacred balance is essential here. A good teacher will need to relay facts, and should not expect students to reinvent the wheel and derive each truth for themselves. It is important for the teacher to maintain humility, recognizing not only that they may make mistakes from time to time, but that they are also always a student, learning in turn from their students.
None of us come into the classroom as blank slates. We each bring with us a lifetime of experience, intergenerational trauma, and ancestral wisdom. The Science of Mind teaches that we are individuations of God—created in God’s image and likeness as co-creators. As such, we are never truly separate from the Divine Mind, because, in reality, there is only One Mind.
Both the Science of Mind and Nichiren Buddhism as practiced by the Soka Gakkai take a balanced approach to education. As we affirm the inherent potential of the individual (as Buddha-nature or Christ-consciousness or "spiritual beings having a human experience"), we encourage individuals to practice with specific intentions and to keep track of how much we practice and how much we realize our intended goals.
For the Nichiren Buddhist, practice means chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and reciting portions of the Lotus Sutra twice a day in front of the Gohonzon. For the Religious Scientist, practice means meditation, affirmative prayer treatment, visualization, and affirmations. In each case, the goal is a greater realization of our potential. We regularly share stories of how these practices have transformed our lives. In the recognition of our true nature, our oneness and our limitless potential, it is Socratic. What we truly seek is never found outside ourselves. In the emphasis on active and consistent practice and tracking goals, it is empirical and demonstrable.
I am an evangelical, in the sense that I am a teacher and preacher with a gospel to share and a strong sense of calling to do that work now. I do not see it as saving souls but as authentically sharing who I am and teaching what has worked for me—what has brought me a lasting peace, what has always brought me back to myself. I am an evangelical, in the sense that the word means “good news,” and I refuse to allow the White Christian nationalists to have a monopoly on that word.
To evangelize, in its truest sense, is to proclaim the Good News that you are already whole, already worthy, and already divine—and so is your neighbor. You are loved, and You are Love. That’s the gospel I carry. That’s the teaching I live.
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