The Shema as Total Meaning of Reality: Tradition, Freedom, and Verification in the Pedagogy of Deuteronomy

Authors

Paavo Tucker, Lipscomb University

Abstract

This paper will analyze the pedagogy of Deuteronomy in conversation with the educational theory of the Catholic scholar Luigi Giussani. Giussani argues that tradition – as the total meaning of reality, which from a Christian perspective is rooted in the living presence of Christ- should be taught by a process of verification that guides the student, through the exercise of freedom and inquiry, into personal conviction that the tradition coherently accounts for reality. Reading the pedagogy of Deuteronomy through the lens of Giussani’s theory of education will highlight ways in which the instruction of Moses in Deuteronomy initiates the next generation of Israelites into the tradition of Yahwism in a way that allows for the freedom of verification to result in conviction in the veracity of the tradition.

DOI

10.7252/Journal.02.2022F.12

Recommended Citation

Tucker, Paavo (2022) "The Shema as Total Meaning of Reality: Tradition, Freedom, and Verification in the Pedagogy of Deuteronomy," The Asbury Theological Journal: Vol. 77: No. 2, p. 340-415.
Available at: https://place.asburyseminary.edu/asburyjournal/vol77/iss2/13