Creative love in education: deriving educational values based on expanded apophatic theology
This article explores the possibility of integrating theology and critical thinking to create a unique form of educational love that generates applicable and transmissible educational values. The central argument is that a synthesis of extended apophatic theology and critical thinking can be the fou...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2025
|
| In: |
Journal of Religious Education
Year: 2025, Volume: 73, Issue: 2, Pages: 285-299 |
| Further subjects: | B
apophatic theology
B Critical educational theology B Creative love in education B Pedagogical philosophy |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article explores the possibility of integrating theology and critical thinking to create a unique form of educational love that generates applicable and transmissible educational values. The central argument is that a synthesis of extended apophatic theology and critical thinking can be the foundation for a comprehensive framework of educational values emerging from an innovative concept of educational love. This framework draws upon the insights of Rabbi Yedaiah Penini, a 13th-century rabbinic sage. This article introduces the concept of Creative Love in Education by expanding apophatic theology and aligning it with principles of social critique. This form of love stems from an acknowledgment of the constraints of human consciousness. It fosters a relational dynamic in which teacher and student mutually contribute to shaping their intellectual and existential identities. Within this framework, educational values are not predetermined prerequisites for educational love; they emerge through recognizing the other as a constitutive agent in forming individual consciousness. The practical implications of this model include reconsidering teacher-student relationships, assessment methods, and pedagogical interaction and encouraging reflective discourse and collaborative knowledge construction. By situating Creative Love in Education within the realm of critical theology, this article demonstrates how this concept reconciles the tension between the need to preserve the student’s authenticity and the obligation to impart transformative values. The concluding discussion addresses the challenges associated with implementing this approach in institutionalized education and proposes directions for future research. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2199-4625 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of Religious Education
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1007/s40839-025-00263-6 |
