This post was written by Patrick Rist on October 15, 2007
Academic Initiative is proud to announce the publication of a major work in area of academic integration, edited by, and with contributions from William Lane Craig, an adjunct senior research fellow with Academic Initiative, and Paul Gould, an AI staff worker. The Two Tasks of the Christian Scholar: Redeeming the Soul, Redeeming the Mind (Crossway Books, ISBN 9781581349399) will prove to be an invaluable tool for propelling the integrative task forward. In the next two Antecedents, we are posting an interview with Paul that was conducted by Crossway Books (available in its entirety here) in which he explains the reasons for the book and outlines its content.
Crossway Books & Bibles (CBB): What are the two tasks of Christian scholars within secular academia, and where did the idea for this book come from?
Paul Gould (PG): On September 13, 1980, the great Lebanese ambassador and Christian statesman Charles Malik joined Billy Graham and 10,000 others for the dedication of the new Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College. With passion and prophetic vision, Malik implored evangelical Christians in America to engage in two great tasks: “that of saving the soul and saving the mind.” The idea for the book actually grew out of a conference held during the summer of 2006 by Faculty Commons, the faculty ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ seeking to honor and renew Malik’s call to these two great tasks of redeeming the soul and mind. Through much interaction and lively debate among over four hundred Christian faculty at this conference, the idea of a book addressing the “two tasks” for our day and age within the university and culture at large emerged.
CBB: An important question throughout this book is: What does Christ think of the university? How would you respond at this point in time?
PG: This is an important and difficult question. Perhaps the safest answer is to say, “A great deal!” I would be wise to leave it at that—but alas, you asked, so here I go. For starters, like any other human institution, Christ sees the university as flawed due to the corruptive influence of sin. Just witness the rampant denial of truth and objectivity as well as the marginalization of or outright hostility toward Christianity. But surely, Christ would want to say more. It is well known that many universities in this country were founded by Christians for the training up of Christians to serve and advance the gospel. This fact points to the importance of the university—to us and to Christ—even though universities are no longer primarily seen as institutions that cultivate moral, intellectual, and spiritual virtue. Instead, universities have become more like trade schools, teaching students how to perform a certain function or role so they can get a particular job someday, entirely neglecting a person’s character. I think, too, that Christ is grieved over the university—and now I am really in deep—both because of Christians and non-Christians.
CBB: How do you believe Christian scholars are grieving him?
PG: It seems that many of us—and I speak of myself here as well—have wavered or lost the passion that once burned bright in us as young PhD students to view the university as a mission field. As a result, many (not all!), Christian professors are content to go silently about their work—teaching, engaging in research and scholarly publications—without ever thinking through how a Christian worldview might impact their scholarly work or life. Even more glaring is a neglect of a “missional” attitude: the university is an incredible mission field, and Christian professors need to see it as such.
CBB: What are some of the ways you believe Christ grieves for non-Christians within secular academia?
PG: The university is bent on “forming” its employees into its own image and vision of greatness hence, many university professors have become fully formed in their character and convinced of their own self-sufficiency and lack of a need for a Savior. In my research I came across an interesting study that basically shows that the more prestigious the institution (read “the more one can take pride in his or her accomplishments and acclaim”), the less one is interested in spiritual things. I believe this grieves the heart of Christ, not only because it is for them, too, that he came to “seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10), but also because it is these very same professors who are the gatekeepers of thought in our culture—what is plausible to them will be taught as plausible to their students. Thus, we must engage the university, for as Malik implores in his speech (which is reprinted in the book), if we lose the university, we lose Western civilization. And, I would add, we lose the fertile ground in which the gospel message can be planted and nurtured and find ready hearts.
Editor’s Note: We’ll post the rest of this interview later this week. To order the book from Amazon, go here.
Part 2
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