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The University in the Modern Age
P. Kopa, Prague, July 18, 2026
General Overview
The Modern Age is based on a series of profound changes in politics, economics, culture, and religion that mark a break with the Middle Ages and paved the way for the contemporary world. Many historians date its beginning to the fall of Constantinople (1453) or Columbus’s voyage to the Americas (1492), and its end to the French Revolution of 1789, which ushered in the Contemporary Era.
At the same time, the secularization of the West gradually sidelined the Church and its moral principles, particularly in the academic sphere. Even today, quite a few intellectuals still believe that a person becomes good as soon as they receive an education regarding the values expressed in the law of the state.
This Voltairean and naive view of man has overlooked what Christians have always known through divine revelation: that man possesses an evil DNA in his nature, called original sin, which inclines him toward vice unless he combats it through the decision not to sin. And only the Church founded by Christ has the means to ensure victory in this struggle: her teachings and her sacraments.
It is striking how Christian institutions have failed to take advantage of the many opportunities the “modern world” offered to protect the world from harmful ideas and ideologies. Christian culture has always formed people in the essential and fundamental virtues that enable harmonious social coexistence. This is the source of the West’s greatness.
However, the rationalist mindset that emerged with the Enlightenment in universities—separated from Christian principles—has led to their dismissal as relics of the past. Yet these are necessary conditions for coexistence at every level.
The Christian virtues are the seven remedies that cure the seven deadly sins: the virtue of humility cures pride, generosity remedies greed, chastity counteracts lust, gratitude opposes envy, temperance moderates gluttony, patience counteracts anger, and diligence combats sloth. This means that each of the seven vices can be purified by practicing the corresponding virtues.
Christians will only be able to face the challenges of the modern and contemporary world if they declare war on these moral vices. It is a pitched battle—a war on seven fronts—that can only be won through faith and a direct, personal relationship with God. This applies to modern educational systems, specifically to higher education, which trains social leaders in all sectors.
For this reason, no educational institution should ignore the transcendent dignity of the human person, lest it bring about great disasters on both a personal and institutional level: fraud, adultery, corruption, etc. Given the above, it is perfectly understandable that the university emerged in the 12th and 13th centuries in the shadow of the great cathedrals—in Paris, Salamanca, Prague, and Rome—with the aim of educating people in such a way as to foster harmonious social coexistence and relations among peoples.
Cardinal Newman’s Vision
Newman did not believe that theological studies should focus solely on God, but rather that they should be open to a pluralism of subjects, with theology as the “queen of the sciences.” This centrality is demanded by divine revelation. Therefore, this is not a superficial claim, one that currently negatively affects most university “curricula” across all disciplines, including those of religion and theology in non-denominational schools.
To be a professional requires knowledge far broader than that of one’s own trade or craft. Becoming useful in any way other than as a paid repairman or in some other technical activity always reflects the purpose of the university education received.
It is true that some professors, even full professors, are sincere in their work. However, there is a higher sincerity that requires “faculty” to identify with a purpose that transcends mere instruction. This is because instruction, in and of itself, is like teaching a monkey to fetch bananas, and it need not include the fair distribution of the bananas. Furthermore, the only connection to ultimate truth is that God created the bananas, and this may not be expressly included in the course. https://thinktanklatam.org/la-importancia-de-las-humanidades/
The teaching of theology can be just as superficial—and almost certainly will be—unless there is that kind of moral seriousness that would be present in a life of prayer oriented toward a transcendent purpose.
It is not merely a matter of teaching theology and religion—subjects not taught at any secular university—but of conveying supernatural wisdom in a manner entirely different from how knowledge is conveyed in contemporary university life. An academic course has no value unless one can recall it with at least a modicum of gratitude after having left it behind.
Or perhaps the university merely serves as entertainment, as can be seen in the lives of the freshmen and first-year students I have encountered, whether their place was secured by a scholarship or by their father’s money.
There is no longer a good institution for academic learning, if there ever was one. A reading about university life in the Middle Ages will convince anyone that students have long since ceased to be cut out for learning, preferring instead various forms of violence.
Trump Does Not Fund “WOKE” Universities
https://thinktanklatam.org/5557/
Universities are an unfortunate invention when they are not inspired by the Christian spirit. It makes sense that Donald Trump would cut funding to some of them, closing down some of the most elite schools. The economic case for this is indisputable; there are trillions of dollars to be saved.
Average vocational training is best fostered through specialized trade schools that students must pay for. And there is no need for public subsidies; however, most trades will benefit from traditional apprenticeship arrangements, if the trade is truly worth preserving.
Source: David Warren on Saturday, June 13, 2026, in The Catholic Thing.