Point no. 6

An authoritarian manner of teaching that does not encourage the learner to explore their own faith.

Christian teaching is primarily peer-to-peer with an attitude of humility. No one is given more importance than the other(s). Some may be more knowledgeable but all knowledge is approached with humility – the motive being to gain the best understanding that can be gained from all parties involved. This form of learning is not only via formal teaching but also through regular and otherwise interaction – primarily as a culture. When adopted, an authoritarian manner of teaching is not facilitative of the above said. This form of teaching speaks down to people, not leading them to explore the faith themselves before believing it. They eventually simply believe things that they are told but which they have not explored, and hence, don’t know themselves first. Though we all have a choice to choose between blind belief and reasoning why we believe, it is such a practice that encourages the latter form of belief.