Fundamental or ornamental? Humanities in robust communities

June 15, 2026

Kirsten Birkett

It happens, occasionally, that Christian parents ask my advice as to what their child should study at university. I usually advise parents to encourage their children to study ancient philosophy. I’ve never been met with the response, ‘Oh, of course, good idea.’ Usually it’s a polite silence and smile. The only time I had a parent take it seriously, her objection was, ‘But then they won’t study cultural Marxism’. 

But that’s my point, in a way. This parent understood that a philosophy such as cultural Marxism is very important for going forward in today’s society, but I want to take that further. You see, a student studying ancient philosophy will study cultural Marxism, but in the shape of the difference between phusis and nomos—what is fixed by nature and what is social convention—and what happens when rhetoric is used by sophists instead of philosophers. All this is in the ancient sceptics. If they study Plato’s dialogues they will also encounter questions of gender, sexuality, beauty, ethics and how to organise society. They will see different sides to all these questions and how to evaluate and answer arguments, or the lack of them. And, hopefully, they can do it in a context that avoids the highly emotive and polarized political atmosphere of current debates.

I can understand most parents' polite dismissal of my ideas. Ancient philosophy and classics might seem the most abstruse, distant, overly specialised and useless of subjects to study. But I would like to argue that humanities like these are what will save our society.

Why the humanities matter

In an age increasingly defined by technological acceleration, data-driven decision-making, and economic pragmatism, the humanities can appear to some as a relic of a slower, less efficient past. Degrees in literature, philosophy, history, or the arts are often questioned for their ‘practical value’, especially when compared with fields that promise clear vocational paths and measurable (moneyed) outputs. Yet this kind of assumption misunderstands both the nature of human flourishing and the kinds of wisdom required to sustain a healthy society. The humanities are not ornamental; they are fundamental.[i]

Within Christian communities, a similar tension can arise. While faith traditions have historically been deeply intertwined with philosophy, art, and textual interpretation, contemporary church cultures sometimes drift toward either anti-intellectualism or narrowly utilitarian approaches to knowledge. In such contexts, Christians trained in the humanities may feel marginal or underutilised. This is a loss not only for those individuals but for the vitality of the church itself.

People trained in the humanities are essential for the well-being of society as a whole and uniquely valuable within Christian communities. The humanities cultivate habits of mind and heart that are indispensable for navigating complexity, nurturing moral imagination, and most importantly sustaining God’s word. It is hard to imagine a part of Christian maturity that will not benefit in some way from study of the humanities.

What the humanities do

What do we mean by ‘the humanities’? They are disciplines typically based on texts. Humanism was a movement of the sixteenth-century Renaissance that celebrated the ability to seek out the original meanings of texts, in a (sometimes misguided) rejection of the commentary traditions of the Middle Ages. Alongside ‘the humanities’, people often talk about ‘the arts’—those ways of expressing human ideas through visual, dramatic or musical means such as painting, sculpture, theatre, song or musical instrument. Unlike disciplines primarily oriented toward technical problem-solving, the humanities focus on the skills that go to thinking about and understanding life and culture: interpretation, meaning, ethics and the fullness of the human condition. They train people to ask not only ‘How does this work?’ but also ‘What does this mean?’ and ‘What ought we to do?’

Humanities students learn to read carefully—whether texts, images, historical events, or cultural phenomena. This involves layers of comprehension: recognising layers of meaning, detecting assumptions, and understanding how context shapes understanding. In a world saturated with information, the ability to discern significance is more valuable than ever.

It also involves ethical reflection. The humanities immerse individuals in enduring questions: What is justice? What is a good life? What do we owe one another? Through engagement with diverse voices across time and space, students develop a moral vocabulary and a capacity for ethical reasoning that resists simplistic answers—an ability to follow reason and truth regardless of whatever the loudest contemporary voices happen to be saying.

This is becoming more important than ever. Current social and political debate is saturated with ethical certainty, usually backed up by almost no solid reasoning and little historical understanding. Most people do not think about moral reasoning until they are faced with a serious issue—infertility, an aged parent in pain who wishes to die, a same-sex attracted child. Many, in the emotional demands of the moment, do not know how to think through an issue, so they revert to whatever the current socially dominant voice is. Sadly Christians are as prey to this as anyone else.

Study of the humanities also gives students a head start in understanding others. By encountering lives, cultures, and experiences different from their own, those trained in the humanities cultivate empathy. This is not sentimentality but disciplined imagination—the ability to enter into another’s perspective while maintaining critical awareness. In a hurting world where churches need to be pastoral communities, being able to imagine another’s world and speak truth into it is a crucial skill.

The humanities also, crucially, encourage learning from our past. The humanities situate the present within a larger story. They reveal patterns, ruptures, and continuities that shape current realities. This historical consciousness guards against the arrogance of assuming that our moment is uniquely enlightened, or that progress is inevitable.

And in all of these, studying the humanities involves learning how to express ideas clearly. Clear thinking is inseparable from clear expression. Humanities training emphasises writing, speaking, and debate—skills that are essential in every domain of life, from leadership to collaboration.

Why society needs the humanities

These capacities are not luxuries. They are prerequisites for a functioning, humane society.

Public discourse

Democratic societies depend on citizens who can evaluate arguments, detect manipulation, and engage in reasoned debate. Without these abilities, public discourse deteriorates into slogans, outrage, and misinformation.

Humanities-trained individuals are equipped to analyse political rhetoric and media narratives. They are able to recognise historical analogies and misuses of history, and (hopefully) engage opponents charitably while maintaining critical standards. In this sense, the humanities act as a kind of civic infrastructure. They do not produce roads or software, but they produce the kinds of citizens who can responsibly use and govern such systems.

Directing our future

We want technological success to serve humans, rather than be an end in itself. We therefore need people who can evaluate the moral dimension of technology, and realise that technological innovation is not self-justifying. The fact that something can be done does not mean it should be done. We also need those who can adapt technology to fit humans, not the other way around. For both these reasons, questions about artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, surveillance, and economic automation require more than technical expertise. They require ethical judgment, philosophical clarity, and cultural awareness.

People trained in the humanities bring ethical frameworks for evaluating consequences and principles, especially if they understand how ethics can be grounded. It can also help us with sensitivity to human dignity and the risks of reductionism, and an awareness of how technologies reshape relationships and identities. Without such perspectives, societies risk becoming efficient but inhumane—optimised for productivity at the expense of meaning.

And is not that precisely what we are finding now? We might rejoice that such lack of meaning is driving people to rediscover church. But we want our churches to be the places that preserve and encourage meaning, not copy society in a rush to shallowness.

Remembering our past

Every society tells stories about itself. These stories shape identity, values, and aspirations. The humanities are the custodians of this cultural memory, preserving literature, art, and historical narratives that might otherwise be forgotten.

This preservation is not antiquarian nostalgia. It enables societies to learn from past successes and failures and so understand the difference between useful innovation and a mere love of novelty. A society that loses its memory becomes shallow, reactive, and easily manipulated.

It can also make great strides towards mutual understanding of one another. Polarisation is one of the defining challenges of contemporary life. Political, cultural, and ideological divisions often deepen because people lack the tools to talk to, rather than past, each other. Study of the humanities can foster habits that counter this trend. It can teach close reading of opposing arguments rather than caricature; appreciation for complexity over binary thinking; and patience in dialogue. While they cannot eliminate disagreement, they can make disagreement more constructive and less destructive.

The humanities in Christian communities

While the humanities are valuable for society broadly, they have an even more key role within Christian communities.

Scripture

Christianity is, at its core, a faith rooted in a text, which God chose to write through human authors. It is inherently ‘humanistic’ in the sense that it engages language, history, philosophy, and art. The Bible is not a single, uniform text but a collection of writings across genres, languages, and historical contexts. Interpreting it well requires precisely the kinds of skills cultivated by the humanities.

Christians trained in literature, history, and languages can recognise genre (poetry, narrative, prophecy, epistle) and read accordingly. This training helps readers understand historical and cultural contexts, and so reach the real meaning that the texts’ authors were trying to convey. This leads to richer, more faithful engagement with Scripture and reduces the risk of misinterpretation.

The reformer, John Calvin, was aware of this, and those trained at his Geneva Academy studied not only Scripture, theology, preaching, Hebrew and Greek, but also the writings of Aristotle and Cicero, ethics, philosophy, logic, rhetoric and disputation. These were not considered optional extras but important preparation for a life of ministry of the Word.[ii]

Christianity also has a long and complex intellectual history. Across centuries, thinkers have wrestled with questions of doctrine, ethics, and philosophy. Ignoring this tradition robs us of the insights of our fellow Christians, their mistakes as well as their faithful application of Scripture. When we study our own history, we realise what a cloud of witnesses we have on our side. This historical awareness fosters humility and is of immeasurable benefit.

Wisdom

Modern culture often equates knowledge with information. But the Christian tradition has long emphasised wisdom—an integrated understanding of how to live well in relation to God, others, and the world. Wisdom is a deeply learned craft of living, as we come to understand the complex world of relationships and how to apply God’s word as we negotiate it. The humanities contribute to this by encouraging reflection on meaning, suffering, and virtue, integrating the emotional, intellectual, and moral dimensions of life.

Worship

Worship is the whole of life lived in obedience to God, not just what happens in church—something that Christian traditions often forget. But those who do concentrate just on church know that Christian worship has always been shaped by the arts: music, poetry, visual imagery, and architecture.

But it is not just a matter of what happens in church. How do we make our whole lives cross-shaped and God-shaped? This will not happen by accident. It happens by filling our minds with God’s word. A mind used to deep reflection, disciplined reading and critical thinking is ready to study Scripture seriously and absorb it.

Christians trained in the humanities can contribute to more thoughtful and biblical liturgy and help communities express their faith in ways that resonate emotionally and aesthetically. They can help train others in speaking the truth in ways that genuinely communicate with others, and in turn understand the responses of others. Evangelism uses words; we benefit when we are trained in how words work.

Cultural analysis

This enrichment is not superficial; it reflects the belief that truth is not only propositional but also embodied and expressed. At the same time, we do not accept all that culture gives us. Christian communities are continually negotiating their relationship with broader culture. This involves discerning what to affirm, critique, or resist.

The humanities provide tools for this task. They help us with cultural analysis that goes beyond surface reactions or pure instinct. They enable us to have an awareness of underlying assumptions and narratives, and teach us to engage thoughtfully rather than reactively. This leads to a more confident and less defensive posture – one that neither withdraws from the world nor uncritically adopts its values.

Risks of excluding the humanities

Understanding the value of the humanities becomes even clearer when we consider what is lost in their absence. A society that sidelines the humanities risks becoming technocratic, prioritising efficiency and control over meaning and dignity. It risks being ahistorical, repeating mistakes due to lack of perspective, or worse, thinking that our own thought is necessarily the best. It also, as we have sadly seen, risks being polarised and lacking the tools for genuine dialogue.

Such a society may achieve short-term gains but will struggle with long-term coherence and resilience. We may solve all sorts of technical problems and make life physically easier; but we run the risk of losing our understanding of why life matters at all.

When the humanities are undervalued within the church, other problems can emerge. Suspicion toward scholarship, biblical knowledge and critical inquiry can lead to a defensive, insular faith that struggles to engage with complex questions. A narrative that insists that pastors do not need intellectual training notably hurts the intake of theological colleges which leads to poorly educated, even biblically illiterate pastors.

It hurts how we read our Bible, too. Without attention to context and genre, Scripture may be read in overly simplistic or distorted ways, and can descend to proof-texting and sad lack of understanding. This is a real danger. Scripture is literature, and it takes time and effort to grow skilled in understanding its real depths. It is true that the immediate message of salvation is open to all, and the Spirit will enlighten minds to understand his word, but this is no excuse for failing to educate our minds to grow in knowledge and understanding.

Without the humanities, we risk failure to benefit from the wisdom of other, perhaps wiser, Christians. There is a point to studying other theologians. We are saved into community, and that community is more than our immediate church gathering or city. It helps to study the reflections of faithful Christians around the world and across the ages. They are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Their reflections on God are part of how we grow.

These outcomes are not inevitable, but they are more likely when the humanities are absent or marginalised.

Faith and the life of the mind

At their best, the humanities and Christian faith are not in tension but in partnership. Both are concerned with truth, meaning, and the human condition. Both invite reflection, interpretation, and transformation.

Integrating the humanities into Christian life involves valuing intellectual inquiry as part of discipleship. There is a strong thread throughout the New Testament that emphasises the importance of right knowledge and thinking (consider Romans 12:2; 1 Corinthians 13:11; 2 Corinthians 10:5; and Philippians 4:8, for starters). Thoughts matter. Christians should be those who encourage questions rather than fearing them. We need to recognise that, as Augustine so amply demonstrated and Anselm encapsulated in his exhortation, faith seeks understanding, not just assent.

This kind of integration also, in turn, benefits the humanities. Christian perspectives can offer a vision of human dignity grounded in theological commitments that provides the reason for the instincts that many feel. The Bible gives a framework for hope that transcends purely secular narratives. Christian history has a rich tradition of thought that engages deeply with philosophical and ethical questions. The relationship is mutually enriching when approached with humility and openness.

Practical implications

Recognising the value of the humanities is one thing; embodying it is another. Both society and Christian communities can take concrete steps to include and benefit from humanities-trained individuals.

In society generally

Let us support educational systems that include robust humanities curricula. Encourage your children to do arts degrees. Vote for the retention of arts and humanities funding. If you have any influence in universities, schools or other educational institutions, argue for teaching history, literature, and philosophy.

Also, if you are in a position to do so, you might try encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration between technical and humanistic fields. Demonstrate what humanities have to offer the scientific viewpoint. Include humanities perspectives in policy discussions, especially on ethical issues.

In church

I remember coming across a group of young, intelligent, energetic Christian students who were all preparing for technology careers. No doubt they would have carried them out honestly and with good hearts; and certainly we need STEM workers too. But what struck me was their response when asked had they ever considered studying history. They laughed hilariously. It was a ludicrous suggestion, ridiculous, not even to be considered. The idea that there might be wisdom in studying the past was totally foreign to them. They wanted to take up useful careers. They wanted to be able to support their families and do something that helps society. Anything from the arts faculty should therefore, in their minds, be absolutely avoided.

Can we challenge this attitude in our churches? Encourage jobs in the humanities as legitimate forms of service? Encourage young people to believe that thinkers, even about abstruse, not immediately practical subjects, are useful?

There could be other ways of encouraging humanities engagement in church. Christians could get together for book groups, philosophy seminars, theology afternoons. You could ask for discussions and question times with the minister, and other forums for intellectual engagement. Can the people with theology degrees take time to teach some odd topics to the interested? Perhaps we could even have some ancient philosophy?

The humanities are not peripheral but integral. They may not feel immediately useful; but Christians of all people should see how important they are.

We need the humanities because we are human. We need to train our minds to be creative, reflective, critical and aware. We need to retain the ability to keep understanding what life is about, not just how to make it more comfortable.

AI won’t do it! Part of the reason that humanities educations seem pointless is that so many jobs involving writing and creativity can now be done more cheaply by AI. So many avenues of employment in humanities—copywriting, editing, and journalism to name a few—are being shut down. And indeed, large language models can be surprisingly—even disturbingly—good at producing useful copy.

But it can never become our default. These models bring together what others have already thought about and written. It needs to be evaluated; sometimes what they produce will be right, sometimes it can be appallingly wrong. Without education, humans will lose the ability to make this kind of judgement when faced with convincing-sounding, authoritative text. Moreover, after a while such models simply become parasites on our own old thinking. They will merely summarise past knowledge, without understanding how to speak it afresh. It is not, actually, intelligence; it is certainly not wisdom.

I am sure that sooner or later many technical jobs will go to AI and robots as well, and most of the common tasks humans concern themselves with, and earn livings by will be accomplished by advancing technology. In such a case, what will be needed is a way of conceptualising a new societal pattern that still serves people. Deep and informed thinkers will be needed to work this out. It's not something we can leave it to the uber-rich tech bros. This is not their priority.

The value of the humanities lies not in their immediate utility but in their enduring relevance. They form people who can think critically, feel deeply, communicate clearly, and live thoughtfully. These qualities are essential for a society navigating rapid change and persistent challenges. For Christian communities, the humanities are even more than valuable—they are natural allies. They deepen engagement with Scripture, connect believers to their intellectual heritage, enrich community, and enable wise cultural engagement. To exclude the humanities is to impoverish both society and the church. To include them is to invest in a richer, more fruitful, and more faithful future.

 

Kirsten Birkett actually started with a science degree, but saw the error of her ways and moved to history and philosophy of science. She also has degrees in education, medieval history and is now studying the early monastics. She is Publications Manager for Church Society, UK.

 

Image Credits

Coëtivy Master (Henri de Vulcop?) (French, active about 1450 - 1485), illuminator. Philosophy Presenting the Seven Liberal Arts to Boethius, about 1460–1470. Details from decorative border. Digital image courtesy of Getty’s Open Content Program (Public Domain). 

 

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