Christian Scholarship

George Marsden wrote a book back in 1997 and titled it, The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship. In that book, he took on this idea of Christian scholarship, and why it would be considered outrageous. His little book contains some important points that should be discussed more openly.

At one point in his book, Marsden writes,

"It is the puzzling phenomenon that among so many academics who are professing Christians, all but a tiny minority keep quiet about the intellectual implications of their faith." Marsden goes on to ask the question, "what is it about the dominant academic culture that teaches people they must suppress reflection on the intellectual implications of their faith."

I personally do not think the academic culture, as dominant as it may be, should be able to suppress anything Christ-centered if it is truly Christ-centered. I believe the problem is not the dominant culture but the splintered western faith. Marsden writes that "even in church-related schools, however, the pervasive reach of the dominant academic culture is evident among the many professors who insist that it is inappropriate to relate their Christianity to their scholarship." Why?

Is it not appropriate to root one's scholarship in one's own worldview? This, in my opinion, is the first sure sign of a segmented faith that is not equipped to withstand the storms on the horizon. Every other faith is allowed into academia except Christianity. Why? Maybe, it is because, in the name of tolerance and grace, we, now, are afraid to stand for Christianity because, deep down, we believe it is kind of lacking those two things. I mean... it does say in Acts 4:12 that there is only one way to salvation... the cornerstone which is Jesus Christ. Wrong thoughts! What we don't understand is that everyone else believes they have the way too, only they are not afraid to stand for it.

Christianity is presented as anti-tolerant and elitist, and as a worldview that rejects the university mantra of acceptance and tolerance. The academy, as it is called at the university level, wants you to believe that they teach, mold and shape students to accept all faiths universally. That is not true.

Marsden makes this important point for us here as he writes, the "American university culture is still shaped by a powerful impulse toward homogeneity and uniformity." They would like you to believe that all thoughts and ideas are welcome, but the simple truth is they are not.

Marsden does point out that part of our current problem is the past dominant rule of Christianity at the academy, and the many mistakes made by those in Christ. But, instead of improvement and a system of checks and balances, we have the dominant role being taken over by the secular side of things. This, in turn, has done nothing but make a bad problem much worse.

The secular humanist worldview has pretty much had its way for the last 50 years or so. One of the reasons for this is that many people ascribing to this worldview made the claim that the Christian worldview was old and archaic and in need of repair. The case was made, and then the attack was launched, and slowly, the Christian worldview was replaced. So, my question is this: how are we doing? Look at the changes over the last 50 years and answer the question yourself. You might not like the answer you get. Blessings!