We've heard that often enough. It is familiar. The good teacher welcomes questions, treasures questions, can never get enough good, incisive questions. Jesus' disciples called him Rabbi, Teacher. It is the unprepared teacher who dreads questions, the uncertain teacher who fears questions, the teacher fearful of vulnerability who sees questions as threats.
Questions give birth to learning.
At the Jewish Passover feast questions occupy a place of honor. Questions can be troubling in a religious community, however. As human beings we all ask pretty much the same ultimate questions and, one way or another, we negotiate some peace with them even if we don't exhaustively answer them. Then someone raises a hand in class and stirs up the questions once more, and we have to wrestle with them all over again. Reflecting on that discussion, Dr. Gaventa wondered about the way the church welcomes those who are new to Christian faith.