From His heart and mine ... For Christian academics and students

The university is a vital place for Christians to make an impact, for it is in this academic context that the current (and perhaps, more importantly, future) thought-life of our nations are shaped. Professor Charles Malik has said,

The university is the most important institution in the Western world, indeed in the whole world. Leaders of government, church, industry, business and the media are all either graduates of universities or of schools whose teachers are themselves graduates of universities and whose textbooks are produced by such graduates. Even the ordinary citizen and the parents and children at home, regardless of whether they are or have been students of universities, are perpetually bombarded by university influence through the impact of the media. Man today never finds himself outside the direct or indirect influence of the university ("The Intellectual and Spiritual Crisis of the University").

William Lane Craig has said,

“The contemporary Western intellectual world,” writes the noted philosopher Alvin Plantinga, “is a battleground or arena in which rages a battle for men’s souls.” Christian academics, especially those who teach at secular institutions, are the Church’s front-line in this battle.

This is a front which is absolutely crucial for the advance of the Kingdom of God in our day. Why? Simply because the single most important institution shaping Western culture is the university.

WRITINGS BY AND FOR CHRISTIAN ACADEMICS

Faculty Commons: The faculty ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ

Academic Initiative: Uniting Faith and Scholarship: This is the homepage of Faculty Commons' Academic Initiative, an interesting, intelligent, thought-provoking site with articles, resources, and a very nice blog called Antecedents. This really makes you think about the place of Christians in University life.

Monday Ministry Minutes: A short, practical, thought-provoking piece every Monday.

Journeys with Jesus: Notes to myself

Weekly thoughts by Dr Dan Clendenin, who is an InterVarsity Faculty member at Stanford University. I like this one in particular.

Three Heavens - Our Home

by Patricia H. Reiff, Chairman, Department of Space Physics and Astronomy, Rice University. A beautiful piece which evokes all the wonders of space, rooted in the Bible and in solid scientific fact, by a scientist who loves Physics, Astronomy, and God. [This article is a longer version of the one which appeared in Professors Who Believe, ed. by Paul Anderson (1998).]

Birth of a troubled conscience

by Glenn Tinder, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

Can we recapture the Ivory Tower?

by Gene Edward Veith, who argues that recapturing the climate of thought in universities is important because universities shape the culture well beyond their ivy-covered walls, by legitimising the study of all sorts of morally questionable subjects, for instance.

Thoughts on a lighthouse

Christian academics are uniquely positioned to be God's light on a hill.

Touching your world: Reaching out to the university community

Unseen Realities

by J. Gary Eden, who is a faculty member of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Illinois, Urbana. [This article is taken from Professors Who Believe, ed. by Paul Anderson.]

What is a Christian Professor?

On Being a Christian Academic

by William Lane Craig, Research Professor, Talbot School of Theology. [This is an excerpt of his longer booklet of the same title.]

= = = = = = = = = = = = =

DEVOTIONALS, CHRISTIAN GROWTH, EVANGELISM

The Bible Gateway - searchable online bible in the various translations

Our Daily Bread - Daily Devotionals

RBC Ministries home page

How do I grow and mature as a Christian?

Answers to tough questions

ChristianAnswers.Net presents EffectiveEvangelism.com

A very useful site containing, among other things, possible answers to difficult questions that may be asked when you try to share your faith with others. Also has a section to help new Christians grow in the faith.

Leadership U website

Associated with Campus Crusade for Christ, this is a great resource base that describes itself as "a multi-disciplinary vehicle to help reach professors, students and other thinkers with the best in Christian thought on a variety of compelling issues". See especially the articles that they have in the areas of: the life sciences, and physical science and mathematics.