learning

One of the most interesting differences between Protestant culture and Catholic culture is in the role of learning. Let me recall that in Prot culture each man is supposed to search directly for truth whereas in a Cath culture this task is reserved to authority which, in turn, is supposed to teach the common man what truth is all about.

Thus, the common Prot man sees learning as a means to reach truth; the common Cath man looks at learning as a means to imitate authority, ultimately as a means to become an authority himself. This has several implications.

The first, which has already been noted, regards independence of thought. The Prot man learns in order to become a free man whereas the Cath man learns in order to conform to authority. In the first case, the goal of learning is truth; in the second, it is conformity.

The Prot man displays his learning by presenting new ideas which he submits to discussion by other men. The Cath man displays his learning by quoting authorities which admit of no discussion. Quoting is the distinctive feature of the learned man in a Cath society. Originality is the distinctive feature of the learned man in a Prot society.

The Prot man reads Socrates, Plato or Aristoteles in search for clues that might help him reach the truth. The Cath man reads the same authors as authorities to be quoted. Thus, for the Prot man learning is thinking, more than reading; for the Cath man learning is reading, more than thinking.

In a discussion between a Prot man and a Cath man the innovative side is always the Prot man. He puts forward his ideas as hypotheses to be tested in the discussion with others. The Cath man always responds with quotations from some authority. He has no thinking of his own.

In a Prot society learning is an inner, deeply personal experience that enables each man to reach truth and become a distinctly free human being. In a Cath society learning is an external, institutional experience to appease authority or to achieve authority.

In a Prot society a public discussion is usually a calm, civilized affair as everybody is there to learn from others in order to be able to reach truth for himself. In a Catholic society it is more often a tumultuous affair where each man tries to display his learning in order to be seen as an authority. In a Prot society the debaters are friends or companions pursuing the same end where each one of them is trying to get some help from all others in his search for truth. In a Cath society, by contrast, the debaters see themselves as rivals, if not enemies, where each one is mainly concerned with affirming his authority over all others.