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ERIC Number: EJ1124511
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1536-3759
EISSN: N/A
The Relative Good of Work: Reconsidering Vocation Eschatologically
Vos, Pieter
Christian Higher Education, v16 n1-2 p11-22 2017
Vocation, interpreted as the calling of every individual believer to serve God in ordinary life, has been an important feature of Protestantism. However, not only has the notion of vocation gradually disappeared from the late modern understanding of work and profession, the identification of vocation and work has also been criticized by theologians such as Karl Barth, Miroslav Volf, Jacques Ellul, and Gerrit de Kruijf. From their eschatological perspective, these theologians hold that because our true vocation is to be citizens of God's kingdom, work is a relative good or even a necessary evil. Although this criticism is in various respects justified and relevant, it tends to overlook the particularity of callings included in the Protestant conception of vocation. Therefore, an alternative approach is presented, in which vocation as a particular calling from God's side can be reconnected to everyday life, including the life sphere of work and profession. From this approach, this article explores the implications for discerning vocation in the practice of Christian higher education as a communal practice of discernment of one's callings, as related to the primary calling to be a citizen of the kingdom of God, and as aimed at the common good.
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A