Studia Theologica No. II (IV) / 2017
Teacher or educator? A theological approach to the theologian’s role as an educator
Associate Professor Dr Nicolae Xionis Taking as its starting point Jesus Christ’s instruction to his disciples not to call themselves ‘rabbis’ or ‘teachers’, this article examines the role of the theologian in education in the light of Christ’s teaching as the one true Teacher, in contrast to the model of the scribes and Pharisees. Drawing on the thought of Saint Basil the Great and pedagogical anthropology, the author argues that the theologian cannot be an educator in the classical sense, but only a pedagogue who facilitates the disciple’s encounter with Christ, who is both the source and the substance of the pedagogical good. The reader comes to understand that the theologian–disciple relationship transcends the usual didactic hierarchy, both standing on an equal footing as brothers in Christ and disciples of the one Teacher.