The Idea of a Christian College Arthur Holmes 1975 (rev. 1987)

Chapter 1: Why a Christian College?

3 Common ideas about education  Why do many students attend college?  Vocational goals  Social aspirations  Why did you attend college?

4 The Christian College—Defender of the Faith?  Is it the “defender of the faith” to protect against the liberal teachings of non-Christian colleges?  Indoctrination vs education  safe environment vs learning environment  The questions vs the answers

5 The Christian College—Education + Faith?  Is the Christian college a place to get a good education as well as biblical studies in an environment of piety?  How does this differ from being at a non-Christian college and being involved in religious adjuncts?

6 The Christian College—Training grounds for church-related vocations?  Is the Christian college designed to train people for full-time Christian ministry?  Training versus education  Evaluate this statement: “The educated Christian exercises critical judgment and manifests the ability to interpret and to evaluate information, particularly in light of the Christian revelation” (p. 5)

7 The Christian College—a social extravaganza?  Is the Christian college supposed to be a place for social and extracurricular activity?  Is it the place to find your life partner?  Is it the place to develop your leadership skills?

8 Then why a Christian College?  Evaluate this statement: “Its distinctive should be an education that cultivates the creative and active integration of faith and learning, of faith and culture.” (p. 6)

9 All truth, God’s truth?  Evaluate this statement: “All truth is God’s truth, no matter where it is found... ” (p. 7)

10 What’s the difference?  What is the difference between a Christian who is a scholar and a Christian scholar?  What is the difference between Christianity alongside education and Christian education?

11 The educational distinctive  Integration vs conjunction  Non-Christian universities + adjuncts  Bible institutes and colleges  Seminaries  Education vs vocation

12 The religious distinctive  Dualism vs the Christian worldview  Compartmentalization vs integration  Evaluate this statement: “... Underlying it all was the basic conviction that Christian perspectives can generate a worldview large enough to give meaning to all the disciplines and delights of life and to the whole of a liberal education” (p. 10)

13 The Christian College—a Christian education  Evaluate this statement: “Christian education is a Christian calling” (p. 6).

Chapter 2: Theological Foundations

15 The Foundational Premise  Evaluate this statement: “As a Christian I will be guided by what I believe about God and his purposes for us” (p. 13)

16 The Biblical/Theological Mandate for Christian Education  Creation  The human person  Truth  The cultural mandate

17 The Biblical Mandate from Creation  Gnosticism  Dualistic  Mind vs matter  Sacred vs secular  Results:  Anti-nature, body, matter, world  Tension between faith and culture, anti-intellectualism  Doctrine of Creation:  Sanctity of nature, human history, & culture  Command to preserve and develop

18 The Biblical Mandate from Human Nature  The image of God  To preserve and develop  To worship God  Uniquely human: rational, moral, artistic  Fallen and corrupted, but the mandate remains unchanged  Evaluate:  “The educator’s task is to inspire and equip individuals to think and act for themselves in the dignity of persons created in God’s image” (p 16)

19 The Biblical/Theological Mandate from Truth  God has perfect knowledge of everything we inquire about  2 principles:  1. “All truth is God’s truth, wherever it is found” (p. 17)  2. There is a unity of truth.  Truth does not contradict and is not to be feared

20 The unity of truth  Truth does not contradict and is not to be feared  Biblical revelation is not the exhaustive source of all truth  There should be no tension between reason and revelation  Faith is not a source of knowledge

21 The unity of...  There is a unity of truth.  There is also a unity of  Goodness  Concern for social justice  Beauty

22 The Cultural Mandate  Humanity’s task at creation: preserve and develop  Source of our cultural responsibilities  Hebrew Bible examples  Jesus – his first 30 years  Culture was ordained by God  Psalm 8  Hebrews 2

23 The power of “common grace”  The sun shines on the just and the unjust  God preserves a measure of civil justice, social order, and human love and compassion  There is also a unity of  Goodness  Concern for social justice  Beauty

24 The Biblical/Theological Mandate  Evaluate this statement: “Implicit in the doctrine of creation is a cultural mandate and a call to the creative integration of faith with learning and culture. It is a call, not just to couple piety with intellect, nor just to preserve biblical studies in our school, but more basically to see every area of thought and life in relation to the wisdom and will of God and to replenish the earth with the creativity of human art and science” (p. 21)

25 Coming up... October 4: Fall Break (enjoy!) October 11: Holmes, Chapters 3-4