W. Kenneth Goodson - "Eruditio et Religio" Baccalaureate Service (May 11, 1980)

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-	Duke University Baccalaureate Service	0:03
	May 11th, 1980, Duke Chapel.	0:05
	(organ music playing)	0:10
	(organ music playing continues)	2:59
	(organ music playing)	5:08
	(organ music playing continues)	8:06
	(organ music playing continues)	11:05
	(organ music playing)	12:42
	(organ music playing continues)	15:41
	(organ music playing continues)	18:40
	(organ music playing continues)	21:39
	(organ music playing continues)	24:38
	(organ music playing continues)	28:37
	(organ music playing continues)	31:36
	(choir singing)	33:49
	(organ music playing)	35:08
	(organ music playing and congregation singing)	35:44
	(organ music playing and congregation singing continues)	38:43
-	Be seated.	39:00
	There are a number of people standing,	39:13
	so as you're getting adjusted	39:17
	let me invite those of you who can	39:20
	to move toward the center aisle if you will	39:24
	so that persons who are standing	39:28
	may be seated if at all possible.	39:31
	How lovely is Thy dwelling place, oh Lord of Hosts.	39:59
	My soul longs, yea faints, for the courts of the Lord,	40:04
	my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.	40:08
	Blessed are those who dwell in the house of the Lord,	40:13
	ever singing praise to God.	40:16
	What a joyful, blessed, beautiful moment this is.	40:20
	The beauty of new day, the gladness of a time	40:24
	of worship and celebration.	40:27
	May grace, mercy and peace	40:30
	from the Lord our God be with you.	40:33
	Let us now with one voice confess	40:37
	our sin to the Lord our God.	40:40
	Let us pray.	40:44
	Oh God, in who's mystery we abide	40:47
	and by who's mercy we are redeemed	40:50
	we confess our sin against one another and against You.	40:54
	All our transgressions hidden and open,	40:58
	the evil done and the goodness left undone.	41:03
	We have deceived ourselves about our ourselves,	41:07
	and worn masks, and not trusted in love.	41:10
	We confess that we have been careful with things,	41:14
	careless with persons, adept in taking, awkward in giving,	41:18
	in love with our fears, and in fear of our loves.	41:24
	We confess before You that we are	41:29
	more prone to sin than to obedience,	41:32
	prompt to gratify our bodies, slow to nourish our souls,	41:36
	attached to the pleasure of sins,	41:42
	negligent of things spiritual,	41:45
	wuick in the service of self,	41:49
	slack in the service of others,	41:51
	eager to get, reluctant to give,	41:54
	full of good intentions, hesitant to fulfill them,	41:58
	severe with our neighbors, indulgent with ourselves,	42:02
	helpless apart from You, yet unwilling to be bound to You.	42:07
	Forgive us, lift us up, and heal us this day.	42:13
	We pray in Your holy name.	42:19
	Amen.	42:22
	As we continue in prayer let us offer to God	42:24
	our personal words of confession.	42:28
	Surely the Lord is in this place.	42:51
	How awesome is this place,	42:55
	for this is none other than the house of God	42:57
	and this is the gate of Heaven.	43:01
	Receive now, dear friends, the forgiveness and new life	43:05
	that the Lord our God offers us.	43:10
	As forgiven and reconciled people,	43:14
	let us serve the Lord our God	43:17
	and love one another as God in Christ loves us.	43:20
	Amen.	43:26
	(organ music playing)	43:37
	(choir singing)	43:42
	May I welcome you this morning to this place	46:08
	and to this very special service.	46:11
	A special word of welcome to those of you who graduate	46:16
	and I do want to assure all of you mothers and fathers	46:20
	that this is where they sit every Sunday morning,	46:24
	it's just that they don't always wear caps and gowns,	46:27
	and they don't always have Myrtle Beach suntans either.	46:31
	(congregation laughing)	46:34
	We are delighted to have those who will be honored,	46:37
	not only in this service, but who will be honored again	46:42
	this afternoon by the conferring of degrees.	46:45
	This is your day, this is your occasion,	46:48
	and so we welcome you and we welcome all friends and family.	46:53
	Those of you who have shared in these years with them,	46:58
	given them your love, and support,	47:01
	and watched over and stayed with them	47:03
	through thick and thin,	47:05
	and come now to celebrate this good,	47:07
	and glad, and holy time.	47:10
	We are glad that you are here.	47:12
	Our preacher for the Baccalaureate Services this weekend,	47:16
	for all three of the Baccalaureate Services we are having,	47:20
	is the Reverend Dr. W. Kenneth Goodson,	47:25
	presiding bishop of the Richmond area	47:28
	of the United Methodist Church.	47:31
	Bishop Goodson is a native of North Carolina,	47:35
	he graduated from Catawba College	47:39
	and from the Divinity School of Duke University.	47:42
	He is a man whose life and ministry over the years	47:47
	has shown the significance of the place	47:49
	of the Church in higher education,	47:53
	and of higher education in the life of the Church.	47:56
	A man who has had the highest honors	48:00
	and has held the highest offices	48:05
	that the Church can confer upon anyone,	48:07
	at least can confer upon anyone in this life.	48:11
	He has been a bishop in	48:15
	the United Methodist Church for 20 years,	48:16
	served one term as the president of the Council of Bishops,	48:19
	as president of the Board of Global Ministries,	48:24
	and as president of the Board of Discipleship.	48:26
	He holds honorary degrees from a number	48:31
	of colleges and universities, including Duke University.	48:33
	I believe all of this has happened	48:38
	because one of our own has been	48:42
	a true preacher of the Word through the years	48:45
	and a genuine, caring, loving pastor,	48:49
	as he has related to lay people and clergy in his ministry.	48:53
	He loves Duke University and has given many hours	48:59
	of support and care to the Divinity School	49:04
	and to the University as a member	49:07
	of the Board of Trustees and in other ways.	49:09
	He serves now as a member of	49:11
	the Board of Trustees of the Duke Endowment.	49:13
	He has preached twice already,	49:18
	and will preach for us for this very special occasion.	49:21
	We welcome his wife, Martha Goodson,	49:24
	to this service and back to Duke.	49:27
	We welcome both of you, Bishop Goodson,	49:30
	and we look forward to the Word of God	49:32
	as you will bring it to us for this day.	49:34
-	Let us pray.	49:45
	Prepare our hearts, oh Lord, to accept Your Word.	49:49
	Silence in us any voice but Your own,	49:53
	that hearing we may also obey Your will	49:56
	through Jesus Christ our Lord.	49:59
	Amen.	50:01
	The Old Testament lesson is the first Psalm.	50:04
	"Blessed is the man who walks not	50:09
	"in the counsel of the wicked,	50:11
	"nor stands in the way of sinners,	50:13
	"nor sits in the seat of the scoffers.	50:16
	"But his delight is in the law of the Lord,	50:19
	"and on His law doth he meditates day and night.	50:22
	"He is like a tree planted by the streams of water	50:26
	"that yields its fruit in its season	50:29
	"and its leaf does not wither,	50:32
	"in all that he does, he prospers.	50:35
	"The wicked are not so,	50:38
	"but alike the chaff which the wind drives away.	50:40
	"Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,	50:44
	"nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous	50:48
	"for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,	50:51
	"but the way of the wicked will perish."	50:54
	Will the congregation please stand	50:58
	for the reading of the Gospel.	51:00
	The Gospel lesson is from John, chapter eight,	51:14
	verses 30 though 32.	51:17
	"As he spoke thus many believed in him.	51:20
	"Jesus then said, 'If you continue in my Word,	51:24
	"you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth,	51:28
	"and the truth will make you free.'"	51:33
	Here endeth the Gospel lesson.	51:36
	Amen.	51:39
	(organ music playing)	51:41
	(choir and congregation singing)	51:50
	Be seated.	52:27
	President Sanford has given to me an unforgettable	52:37
	weekend,	52:41
	one that so long as I shall live	52:44
	I will remember and carry in the deep recesses	52:47
	of my own heart and of my own spirit.	52:50
	It not only has been an unforgettable weekend,	52:55
	for me it has been a frightening weekend,	52:57
	for anyone who has been a student,	53:02
	particularly in a theological seminary on this campus	53:04
	for as long as a single semester,	53:07
	immediately sets apart in his own mind	53:11
	and in his own heart the Duke Chapel	53:14
	and believes for the rest of his life,	53:17
	and in my case, for the rest of my ministry	53:19
	that there is no place anywhere on Earth quite like this.	53:22
	It was here that we sat as students.	53:28
	It was here that we brought some of	53:32
	the perplexing ideas of our own mind,	53:33
	and our own heart, and our own spirit,	53:36
	and listened to the quiet refrains of an organ	53:37
	more than 40 years ago as we tried to wrestle out	53:40
	in our minds and in our own spirits	53:45
	and the manner of our own lives	53:47
	and the manner of our own ministries,	53:49
	and all this comes fresh to me again	53:50
	as I come to what has almost come	53:53
	to be my home on a weekend.	53:55
	There will be many who will do far more excellent	54:01
	than I will do in the next 20 to 25 minutes,	54:05
	but there are none who would come to a higher privilege	54:08
	to be here and who would love Duke University more.	54:11
	For more than 40 years of my life,	54:15
	for almost 50 years of my life,	54:19
	I have yelled myself hoarse	54:21
	at the victories of the Blue Devils,	54:25
	and every now and again have gone off alone	54:29
	to cry at their misfortunes.	54:33
	But it's a real joy, and it's a great thrill,	54:37
	and it's a great honor to come.	54:40
	Let me read the text for the morning you would find it	54:43
	as President Sanford read it a minute ago	54:45
	in the 32nd verse of the eight chapter	54:47
	of the Gospel according to Saint John.	54:50
	Jesus said to those who were listening to him,	54:53
	if you continue in my Word then are ye my disciples	54:56
	and you shall know the truth,	55:02
	and the truth will set you free.	55:04
	When Edward Gibbon had completed his famous work,	55:08
	"The Decline and the Fall of the Roman Empire,"	55:10
	he laid down his pen and he went for a walk in his garden.	55:13
	At first, his emotions were of elation	55:18
	now that the task is over.	55:21
	"But my pride soon humbled," he wrote in his memoirs,	55:24
	"and a sober melancholy was spread over my mind,	55:27
	"by the idea that I had taken an everlasting leave	55:31
	"of an old and agreeable companion."	55:35
	Most of us, I believe, come to Commencements	55:39
	with mixed emotions like these.	55:41
	Happy and exalted, examinations are over,	55:43
	you don't have an eight o'clock in the morning,	55:46
	and there are no more examinations to be done.	55:49
	Hallelujah, 'tis done, that great transaction's done.	55:52
	You're through.	55:56
	(congregation laughing)	55:57
	And you can lay down your pens,	56:01
	and you can go for a walk across the campus,	56:02
	and like Edward Gibbon, you can be	56:05
	delighted and elated that the task is over.	56:07
	But you refuse to take an everlasting leave.	56:11
	You will come again, as I have come again,	56:15
	as others before you and before me have come again,	56:17
	in memory and in person to visit the campus again	56:20
	with our old and agreeable companion.	56:25
	In preparation of a Baccalaureate Address,	56:30
	the temptation is great for one to slip into	56:33
	the role of a teacher and try to make	56:36
	a scholastic approach to the subject.	56:38
	That would be all right for me,	56:41
	for whatever else religion must be,	56:42
	it must always be intellectually respectable.	56:44
	Or I might assume the role of a statesman	56:49
	and it would, I assure you, be a mere assumption,	56:51
	and talk about problems and panaceas of our time,	56:54
	and this would be proper and permissible	56:58
	for I do not know a moment in human history	57:00
	when which there have been more problems	57:02
	and there have been more panaceas,	57:04
	and the human family is crying out,	57:07
	is there any balm in Gilead.	57:09
	But I want you to know that I am	57:13
	thoroughly impressed with the thought	57:15
	that there is no time in my life	57:17
	when I should speak more as a minister of the Gospel	57:21
	than I speak to you now.	57:25
	I did not come to you, I have too much respect for that,	57:28
	and for you, I did not come to you today	57:32
	with a collection of pious platitudes	57:34
	to remind you that you're standing at the crossroads.	57:37
	I do not believe that your generation is standing anyplace.	57:41
	You're a generation constantly on the move.	57:46
	I didn't come to tell you that this is	57:48
	a momentous crossroads event in your own life.	57:51
	If you do not know that now,	57:54
	there is no need in my reminding you of it.	57:56
	I did not come to tell you that these are troublesome days.	58:00
	If you did not know that by now,	58:03
	there is no way that I can explain it.	58:05
	I did not come to remind you that moral values are on trial	58:09
	and that we're once more living	58:13
	in old arena of a new sophistication.	58:14
	If you did not know that,	58:17
	there is no way that I can explain it.	58:19
	I did come to talk to you a bit	58:23
	about your education and about you,	58:25
	and about the human equation in the world	58:28
	where the human equation is not always	58:30
	as important as we would want it to me.	58:32
	I came to talk to you about your life	58:34
	and about your relationship to your generation.	58:37
	Christian education is what Duke proposes to do,	58:42
	at its best must be an impulse,	58:45
	an impulse that shall determine the new	58:48
	and the better world than which we have,	58:50
	and where you have a stake, and where I have a stake,	58:52
	and where I have put out a claim.	58:55
	We fall into the error every now and again	58:58
	of thinking that education is merely	59:00
	the accumulation of facts.	59:02
	This is part of education to be sure,	59:06
	and no rationally-minded man would deny it,	59:08
	but it is only a half truth.	59:11
	Brilliance could be our salvation,	59:15
	but brilliance without morality and dedication	59:19
	could also be our doom.	59:22
	In popular current thought, there are really	59:26
	three ideas of education.	59:29
	One is that it's ornamental,	59:32
	it's the in thing to have a diploma.	59:33
	When I was in school, it was the in thing	59:38
	to have a fraternity pin.	59:41
	And when I came to this university I came out	59:43
	of a small, liberal arts, church-related college	59:46
	that had less than 400 students	59:50
	and there were no fraternities,	59:52
	and all my life I wanted to be in one,	59:54
	and I pledged when I was in theological school,	59:57
	and preachers don't pledge much to fraternities.	1:00:02
	But I did and had a perfectly delightful time.	1:00:07
	And then the time came for initiation and graduation,	1:00:10
	for initiation into the lodge itself,	1:00:13
	and I remember well the initiation fee was $90.	1:00:16
	$90 in 1935.	1:00:21
	$90 would have put a new roof on the chapel.	1:00:26
	It represented a fourth of what my little church	1:00:30
	paid me annually, so I couldn't do it.	1:00:33
	And I set a record,	1:00:38
	I was a pledge for 35 years.	1:00:40
	(congregation laughing)	1:00:45
	Which is a bit abnormal,	1:00:46
	and yet I never was allowed to do it	1:00:48
	because I didn't have the $90.	1:00:51
	And then in due season, when I was the bishop of the Church	1:00:53
	in Birmingham, Alabama 36 years later	1:00:56
	the officers of the Order of Kappa Alpha	1:01:01
	came to me and said, "We would like to have	1:01:04
	"a special initiation and initiate you	1:01:06
	"at long last into the Order,	1:01:09
	"and the National Chapter has given us	1:01:12
	"the privilege of doing it,	1:01:14
	"and your credentials are in order."	1:01:15
	And I was initiated a member of the Lodge.	1:01:18
	And immediately, though long since had I passed its glamor,	1:01:21
	bought myself a fraternity pin	1:01:26
	with all the jewels and all the diamonds.	1:01:28
	You needed one, you should have one, it was necessary to me,	1:01:33
	it was the ornamental part of education	1:01:38
	not entirely to be despised.	1:01:41
	It gave me a status.	1:01:44
	And then there is the feeling that education	1:01:45
	is not only ornamental, it's good to have a college diploma,	1:01:47
	and one that you can hang on the wall and show.	1:01:52
	It is also commercial.	1:01:54
	Every now and again, I get a bit weary	1:01:57
	of the rotary speakers who've been to our club	1:01:59
	to remind us of the advantages of college.	1:02:02
	You can get a better salary than if you did not go.	1:02:06
	I would not underestimate	1:02:10
	the meaning of the importance of it,	1:02:12
	I simply would remind you that education	1:02:16
	is infinitely more than this.	1:02:19
	But there is another idea of education traced back to Plato.	1:02:23
	Education is to create a craving for the good,	1:02:27
	and the true, and the beautiful.	1:02:31
	It is then, it appears to me, part of your task	1:02:34
	to recapture this ideal of education and life,	1:02:37
	and purify it by religious faith	1:02:41
	until it is built into our modern life.	1:02:44
	It is still a sad commentary on American life,	1:02:49
	with all of its towering cathedrals like this	1:02:52
	and with its great halls of learning,	1:02:55
	that we are thrilled and amused	1:02:57
	by the cheap, and the vulgar, and the unclean.	1:02:59
	Cannot fill the movie house unless it's X.	1:03:05
	Your generation would do well to remember	1:03:13
	what my generations seems to have forgotten.	1:03:16
	Woodrow Wilson put it in unusual terms,	1:03:21
	that civilization cannot be saved materially	1:03:25
	until it has been redeemed spiritually.	1:03:29
	The Baccalaureate Service is a unique service in our lives.	1:03:37
	The very fact that a representative of religion	1:03:41
	is invited to have one of the last words with you	1:03:44
	before you graduate symbolizes the truth	1:03:47
	that while religion does not dictate the curricular,	1:03:50
	it does gather up the threads of all the subjects	1:03:56
	and gives them unity, and purpose,	1:04:01
	and meaning for life.	1:04:06
	Now that you're about to receive the long-awaited diploma	1:04:10
	I think there's some obligations on your part	1:04:13
	and I come now to talk to you about your obligations	1:04:15
	rather than our gifts to you.	1:04:19
	I think there are some obligations on your part	1:04:21
	as a result of the education	1:04:24
	that you have received at Duke University.	1:04:26
	I wanted to say four things to you and then we shall go.	1:04:29
	First is the obligation to see clearly.	1:04:33
	Certainly the age in which we live	1:04:38
	calls for men of vision, people of vision,	1:04:40
	for as Daniel reminded us a good many years ago	1:04:44
	that where there is no vision, the people perish.	1:04:47
	While a later prophet reminded us	1:04:52
	that your old men shall dream dreams,	1:04:54
	and your young men shall see visions.	1:04:58
	A nonsense about the feeling that no person	1:05:03
	has a right to a diploma whose soul is locked up	1:05:06
	to all of the magnificent opportunities	1:05:10
	that await him or her when he or she	1:05:12
	walks across the college stage and onto life's stage.	1:05:14
	There is a line which Saint Paul writes,	1:05:21
	which Dr. Moffet translates,	1:05:23
	"The spiritual man is alive to all true values."	1:05:26
	After all, it isn't what you see with the physical eye,	1:05:32
	but that which flashes upon the inward eye	1:05:35
	that inspires our attitudes and gives us	1:05:38
	a wholesome outlook upon life.	1:05:41
	Educated, sure.	1:05:46
	You are now obligated to see clearly.	1:05:49
	I wish every now and again that education and religion	1:05:52
	both could appeal more to young people	1:05:57
	on the grounds of what they're missing,	1:06:00
	rather than on the grounds of what they mustn't.	1:06:03
	Young people have an idea that religion is a straitjacket	1:06:09
	put over them by their elders in order to make them behave.	1:06:12
	Religion and education go together.	1:06:16
	When the University called and asked me	1:06:20
	for a subject for today's message,	1:06:22
	over and over again in my own mind	1:06:24
	I've been wrestling with the seal of Duke University.	1:06:27
	I looked at it again this morning	1:06:32
	as I looked at it again on yesterday.	1:06:34
	A round circle and over the top of the circle two words:	1:06:36
	Eruditio et Religio.	1:06:39
	In the center of it a cross.	1:06:46
	Eruditio.	1:06:53
	How cold facts would be unless appropriated by a warm heart.	1:06:56
	How cold and unreasonable religion can get	1:07:00
	when it becomes unfounded on reality.	1:07:03
	Eruditio, all that you've learned, and all that you know,	1:07:07
	and all that you've accumulated,	1:07:12
	and all that you've brought together.	1:07:13
	As I came down the aisle, even this morning,	1:07:16
	as well as yesterday, I saw the disciplines	1:07:18
	out of which you have come, now to face your graduation.	1:07:21
	Among you there are engineers, and there are scientists,	1:07:27
	and there are physicians, and there are nurses,	1:07:31
	and there are theologians, and there are ministers	1:07:35
	and there are undergraduates	1:07:38
	getting their Baccalaureate degree.	1:07:39
	All of us are here together.	1:07:41
	Eruditio, what do you know?	1:07:45
	Well that is an inadequate question	1:07:51
	that can only bring an inadequate answer.	1:07:53
	Eruditio et Religio, not only what do you know,	1:07:58
	but who are you,	1:08:01
	and what is the faith that motivates and propels your life.	1:08:05
	What are the ideals	1:08:11
	that you would bet your life on?	1:08:15
	You see, the right and the wrong use of knowledge	1:08:22
	is strikingly illustrated in the life of Aaron Burr.	1:08:25
	Two well-known American characters,	1:08:29
	one would be Aaron Burr, and one would be Abraham Lincoln.	1:08:31
	Aaron Burr, one of the most brilliant minds	1:08:35
	that America has ever produced,	1:08:38
	still stands as one of Princeton University's	1:08:41
	highest academic accomplishments.	1:08:43
	But Aaron Burr was morally bankrupt.	1:08:46
	Abraham Lincoln, educated by the light of a pine knot,	1:08:51
	using borrowed books in a leaky cabin,	1:08:57
	broadened his spirit and deepened his sympathies	1:08:59
	that he became one of our best-educated men.	1:09:02
	I only came to remind you	1:09:07
	that there is no education without character.	1:09:10
	That's the message of the seal of your university.	1:09:16
	That not only is the obligation to see clearly,	1:09:23
	there is the obligation on the part	1:09:26
	of the intelligent man to think.	1:09:28
	Henry van Dyke was right when he said,	1:09:31
	"To think without confusion clearly should be	1:09:33
	"one of the prime goals of life."	1:09:36
	Man, with his mind has mastered the forces of nature	1:09:40
	and has made them his slaves.	1:09:44
	He touches the soil and makes it	1:09:48
	provide him food and nourishment.	1:09:50
	He speaks to the hills and they give up	1:09:54
	their ore and their precious gold.	1:09:56
	He commands the winds and the clippers	1:10:01
	carry him to the end of the Earth.	1:10:04
	He speaks to the lightning	1:10:08
	and his voice is heard in a hundred places.	1:10:11
	Ah, men,	1:10:17
	what potential thou hast.	1:10:23
	We lived once in Birmingham, Alabama	1:10:36
	and the department stores of that lovely city	1:10:40
	have an annual sale day,	1:10:43
	and they make you think they're reducing	1:10:47
	everything they have to a bare nothing,	1:10:48
	and maybe they are,	1:10:51
	and on that day annually I took	1:10:54
	my teenage high school daughter shopping.	1:10:57
	We'd gone over to the department store	1:11:04
	and had accumulated all the bargains	1:11:06
	that the Visa and the Master charge allow you to have.	1:11:13
	(congregation chuckling)	1:11:17
	And then we started out the door and there was a counter,	1:11:19
	a counter full of miscellaneous things.	1:11:25
	And then there was a counter	1:11:32
	that had a beautifully printed sign on it.	1:11:35
	I leave it with you.	1:11:41
	The sign said,	1:11:44
	"If dreams were for sale,	1:11:47
	what would you buy today?"	1:11:57
	A dream of a world at peace,	1:12:06
	a dream of a world of order,	1:12:10
	a dream of a world of moral decency,	1:12:14
	a dream of a world when men shall beat their swords,	1:12:20
	and the plow shears, and their spears,	1:12:22
	and their pruning hooks.	1:12:25
	I dream of a world when the nasty word of disease	1:12:28
	shall no longer frighten our people.	1:12:32
	I only wanted to ask this class,	1:12:40
	if dreams were for sale,	1:12:43
	what would you buy?	1:12:47
	Mere intellect is never enough,	1:12:56
	for another obligation of education	1:13:00
	is nobility of character.	1:13:02
	Brilliant intellect may be just as cold as an icicle	1:13:06
	and quite as useless.	1:13:09
	The greatest danger we face in the world today	1:13:11
	is that our minds may outrun our spirits.	1:13:14
	Look in the field on atomic research.	1:13:19
	We're thrilled to think of its possibilities for mankind,	1:13:22
	we shudder to think of its possibilities for history.	1:13:25
	I climbed the narrow, little steps in houses of Parliament	1:13:33
	more than a dozen years ago to hear Mr. Winston Churchill	1:13:37
	address the English government on England's preparation	1:13:40
	against the atomic bomb.	1:13:44
	The little man who so deeply mastered the English language	1:13:49
	and around whom the hopes of the free world	1:13:54
	were written for a while,	1:13:57
	looked out at his colleagues in Parliament and said to them,	1:13:59
	"We are gathered here to discuss ways of	1:14:04
	"protecting ourselves against atomic annihilation.	1:14:09
	"May I say to you that the only guarantee	1:14:14
	"against atomic annihilation	1:14:18
	"is in the character of the people who have the bomb."	1:14:23
	Just as sure as I can be,	1:14:32
	as I stand here with you this moment,	1:14:35
	that character and knowledge together are our only hope.	1:14:37
	As I am that knowledge without character	1:14:42
	can seal our doom and bring the end	1:14:44
	of decent civilization as we understand it.	1:14:47
	Eruditio et Religio.	1:14:49
	What do you know?	1:14:55
	What manner of person are you?	1:15:00
	What do you believe?	1:15:06
	In the middle of it there is a cross	1:15:09
	reminding us of the only solvent personality	1:15:13
	in the history of the world's bankruptcy.	1:15:19
	Education also imposes upon you, and I say it only briefly,	1:15:27
	education imposes upon you	1:15:32
	the obligation to serve sacrificially.	1:15:34
	You have been trained in one of America's great universities	1:15:40
	by one of America's great faculties,	1:15:47
	what are you going to do with it?	1:15:55
	Day before yesterday as we were riding here	1:16:06
	I was quietly in my own mind celebrating	1:16:11
	the 114th anniversary	1:16:16
	of my father's birth.	1:16:21
	Long since has he gone to what Dr. Paul Green	1:16:26
	referred to last night as the Celestial City.	1:16:28
	He grew up out on the mud banks	1:16:35
	of a little river in North Carolina	1:16:37
	known as the Catawba River	1:16:38
	where the opportunities for advancement were not much	1:16:40
	and his education consisted of an occasional day	1:16:44
	in a one-room building where an itinerant teacher	1:16:48
	would come by and stake out his claim.	1:16:52
	I grew up in a town in the state that had the first,	1:17:01
	we thought it was, the first million-dollar high school.	1:17:05
	Our high school had a short-wave radio station,	1:17:13
	it had the makings of elevator shafts	1:17:17
	at each end of the hall,	1:17:19
	we had private lockers and revolving cafeterias,	1:17:21
	and everything that 50 years ago a modern high school had.	1:17:25
	People came from far and wide to see it	1:17:32
	and one day I took my father to see it.	1:17:38
	We rode in front of its yellow brick structure,	1:17:43
	and I parked the family car, and said, "There it is."	1:17:47
	Then I looked at my dad and said to him,	1:17:54
	"Old fella, what would you have given	1:17:59
	"to have gone to a school like that?"	1:18:05
	And I could tell that I'd hurt him,	1:18:10
	and all the regret of his life flashed to the surface.	1:18:14
	But he was too much the man to reply.	1:18:21
	So after a while we rode on	1:18:24
	and in a few moments he laid his hand	1:18:29
	upon my knee as I drove,	1:18:32
	and he said, "Son,	1:18:36
	"may I remind you, and you never forget,	1:18:40
	"that to whom much has been given,	1:18:46
	Duke University has given you itself,	1:19:01
	blue and white will ever be yours,	1:19:09
	the Blue Devils will ever be yours,	1:19:13
	the brains and the intellect	1:19:17
	of the faculty and the administration will ever be yours.	1:19:20
	I only wanted to remind you	1:19:27
	that to whom much is given,	1:19:31
	much shall be required.	1:19:37
	Would you bow your heads for a moment?	1:19:44
	In the beauty and in the quietness	1:19:51
	of this lovely place	1:19:55
	we commit ourselves to all that is good,	1:20:03
	fine,	1:20:07
	decent,	1:20:09
	and whatsoever things that of good report	1:20:13
	enable us to think upon those things.	1:20:17
	may we never forget	1:20:29
	that in the midst of them is a cross	1:20:34
	and he who hangs upon that cross is in the midst of history.	1:20:38
	Hear our prayers through Jesus Christ our Lord.	1:20:44
	Amen.	1:20:51
-	Will you stand please?	1:21:00
	With one voice let us affirm what we believe.	1:21:14
	We believe in God, who has created and is creating,	1:21:19
	who has come in the truly human Jesus	1:21:24
	to reconcile and make new.	1:21:27
	We trust God who calls us to be the Church,	1:21:30
	to celebrate life and its fullness,	1:21:35
	to love and serve others,	1:21:38
	to seek justice and resist evil,	1:21:41
	to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,	1:21:44
	our judge and our hope.	1:21:48
	In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us.	1:21:51
	We are not alone.	1:21:58
	Thanks be to God.	1:21:59
	The Lord be with you.	1:22:02
-	And with your spirit.	1:22:04
-	Let us pray.	1:22:06
	Be seated please.	1:22:07
	Oh Lord, our God,	1:22:18
	it is good to come to a moment such as this,	1:22:22
	a moment of recognition, of accomplishment,	1:22:27
	of joy and celebration.	1:22:31
	We give thanks to You, oh Lord, for all that has been good,	1:22:34
	enlightening, maturing, and enriching in this place.	1:22:39
	These have been times and days filled with change,	1:22:45
	with questions, with unease, with good times, and sad times,	1:22:48
	with work and rest, with action and reflection,	1:22:54
	with movement and with calm.	1:22:59
	Times, oh God, that have bound us to one another	1:23:02
	in friendships that will last forever,	1:23:06
	that have stirred us and stretched us in such helpful ways	1:23:10
	that we dare not go back to our old selves,	1:23:15
	old thoughts, and old ways.	1:23:18
	Times filled with long days,	1:23:21
	difficult and yet rewarding hours of study,	1:23:24
	and struggles that have brought	1:23:28
	deep and lasting satisfaction.	1:23:29
	Times spent searching, oh God, for self,	1:23:33
	for others, for truth, and justice, and right.	1:23:37
	Times, oh God, for those who graduate	1:23:42
	that have reshaped, remolded and remade life.	1:23:45
	Help us all now to know that Commencement	1:23:50
	is not end, but beginning.	1:23:53
	That the end of this experience	1:23:56
	is where we being all over again.	1:23:58
	We give thanks for the efforts of all teachers	1:24:03
	who's lives have influenced these who graduate,	1:24:06
	for a staff of deans, counselors, president, and others	1:24:10
	who really do care about each one,	1:24:14
	for the support that has come from family, and friends,	1:24:18
	and often even from strangers unaware,	1:24:21
	for the commitment each graduate has had	1:24:25
	to reach this point in life,	1:24:27
	for their long hours of work and study,	1:24:30
	for determination and perseverance,	1:24:33
	and now for the much inner satisfaction which they know.	1:24:35
	Oh God, for each one make of learning a lifelong experience,	1:24:41
	make of serving a lifelong action,	1:24:48
	make of sharing a lifelong desire,	1:24:52
	make of being obedient to You a lifelong commitment.	1:24:55
	With gratitude that You have brought us this far	1:25:01
	we pray for Your help in the time to come	1:25:05
	that all our lives may add to the fullness,	1:25:08
	the goodness, and the wholeness of this world	1:25:12
	and of all we meet along the way.	1:25:16
	We pray, oh God, in the name of him who came	1:25:20
	teaching, learning, serving and loving,	1:25:24
	and hear us now as we pray together.	1:25:29
	Our Father, who art in Heaven,	1:25:32
	hallowed be Thy name.	1:25:36
	Thy kingdom come,	1:25:38
	Thy will be done,	1:25:39
	on earth as it is in Heaven.	1:25:41
	Give us this day our daily bread	1:25:44
	and forgive us our trespasses,	1:25:47
	as we forgive those who trespass against us,	1:25:49
	and lead us not into temptation,	1:25:53
	but deliver us from evil.	1:25:56
	For thine is the Kingdom, and the power,	1:25:58
	and the glory forever.	1:26:02
	Amen.	1:26:04
	(organ music playing)	1:26:17
	♪ Alleluia, amen, amen, alleluia, amen ♪	1:26:22
	♪ Alleluia, amen, amen, alleluia, amen ♪	1:26:28
	♪ Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, amen ♪	1:26:33
	(choir singing continues)	1:26:39
	♪ Alleluia, amen, amen, alleluia, amen ♪	1:26:47
	♪ Alleluia, amen, amen, alleluia, amen ♪	1:26:53
	(choir singing continues)	1:26:59
	♪ Alleluia, amen, amen, alleluia, amen ♪	1:27:22
	♪ Alleluia, amen, amen, alleluia, amen ♪	1:27:28
	♪ Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, amen ♪	1:27:33
	(choir continues singing)	1:27:39
	♪ Alleluia, amen, amen, alleluia, amen ♪	1:27:46
	♪ Alleluia, amen, amen, alleluia, amen ♪	1:27:53
	(choir continues singing)	1:27:58
	♪ Alleluia, amen, amen, alleluia, amen ♪	1:28:21
	♪ Alleluia, amen, amen, alleluia, amen ♪	1:28:38
	♪ Amen ♪	1:28:44
	♪ Amen ♪	1:28:47
	♪ Alleluia ♪	1:28:50
	♪ Amen ♪	1:28:54
	Will you join with me now as we offer to God	1:29:10
	a unison prayer of gratitude and of hope.	1:29:13
	Let us pray.	1:29:18
	Almighty God, who has granted us place	1:29:20
	and part in this university,	1:29:23
	hallow to us now this day when we dedicate ourselves	1:29:26
	to the life and work to which You have hear called us.	1:29:31
	That we may remember with gratitude	1:29:36
	the families and friends who have cared for us.	1:29:39
	We ask Your presence, oh God, that in the life ahead of us	1:29:42
	we may keep faith with those	1:29:48
	who have love us, and trusted us,	1:29:50
	and whose hopes follow us.	1:29:53
	We ask Your presence, oh God,	1:29:55
	that we may enter with good courage and constant purpose	1:29:58
	upon the tasks which await us.	1:30:03
	We ask Your presence, oh God,	1:30:06
	from all sense of strangeness, and loneliness,	1:30:09
	and from the fear that we may fail	1:30:13
	and may find no friends.	1:30:15
	Good Lord, deliver us	1:30:18
	from neglect of the opportunities which are all about us,	1:30:21
	and from distrust of our ability to meet	1:30:25
	the duties of each dawning day.	1:30:28
	Good Lord, deliver us, that the example	1:30:31
	of wise and generous people who have gone before us	1:30:34
	here at this university may save us	1:30:38
	from folly and self-indulgence.	1:30:42
	We ask Your presence, oh God, most especially	1:30:45
	that You would show to us and to all people	1:30:50
	the way of love in a time desperately in need	1:30:54
	of persons who care.	1:30:57
	We ask Your presence, oh God,	1:31:00
	these things and whatever else	1:31:03
	You see needful and right for us,	1:31:05
	we ask in Your holy name.	1:31:09
	Amen.	1:31:11
	(organ music playing)	1:31:14

	(organ music)	0:04
	(background singing)	1:22
-	And now, without bowing heads or closing eyes,	2:21
	May I offer you, in the name of the Lord, our God,	2:24
	this word of blessing.	2:27
	Go now, in peace, my friend	2:31
	and as you go may you find fulfillment in serving,	2:35
	joy in loving, satisfaction in giving	2:42
	and peace in believing. And may the love, peace, and joy	2:48
	of God be with you and with those whom you love	2:55
	this day and forever.	3:01
	[Choir Singing Amen]	3:06
	[Organ Music]	4:20

Item Info

Title:

W. Kenneth Goodson - "Eruditio et Religio" Baccalaureate Service (May 11, 1980)

Description:

Sermon start time: 52:37. Sermon end time: 01:20:52.
Knowledge without religion can cause great harm. Our faith gives us the foundation to use our knowledge to make the world a better place. (Abstract created by Duke Divinity School staff.)
Key quotation: "Eruditio et Religio, not only what do you know, but who are you, and what is the faith that motivates and propels your life.

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4gt5fw0m

Date:

May 11, 1980

Speaker:

Goodson, W. Kenneth

Liturgical Calendar:

Easter

Biblical Book:

John

Chapter and Verse:

Subject:

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-1091
ref7394_lo7
uachapelsermaud
duke:320541
dcrau001970
ark:/87924/r4gt5fw0m
66890333-6654-437e-b7da-6cab7b894bd7

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Duke Chapel Recordings

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Duke University Chapel recordings

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Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

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Provenance:

The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

CC BY-NC 4.0

Rights Note:

This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the Creative Commons license indicated here. For more information see https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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W. Kenneth Goodson - "Eruditio et Religio" Baccalaureate Service (May 11, 1980)

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Duke University Archives