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Scholarship and Christian Faith: Enlarging the Conversation

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The authors are challenging the narrow definition of "integration of faith and learning" as being too reformed-ish. They intend to "enlarge the conversation" and broaden the definition. They want to include things like integration of "faith and hope" or "faith and love" not just integrating sterile faith and the sterile disciplines. They want to add the hands and heart to the head stuff the integrationists talk about. Written by a wife-and-husband team (Psychology and Church historian) they are provoking a stir in the reformed dominated educational cartel. It is probably good these writers are from an Anabaptist heritage where they are accustomed to being persecuted-I bet the wonderfully brilliant Calvinists who are given to "the life of the mind" will burn Rhonda and Jake Jacobsen at the academic stake! Hint to speed-readers: 80% of the book's contribution is in the first Chapter and 10% is in the epilogue. Great book to read through with other faculty at a book-lunch, that's how I did it. Raises great issues. Now it is time for the non-reformed people to do the heavy lifting of outlining is detail their (our) alternative approach... this book is (like Arminianism) not a true alternative approach--but a complaint against the accepted (reformed) approach. --Keith Drury, Associate Professor of Religion, Indiana Wesleyan University.

A lot of books have been written about Christianity and higher education in the past decade and this is the most positive book by far. The authors manage to be optimistic, insightful, critical, and creative all at the same time without ever moaning about how much the academy is prejudiced against religion. That is totally refreshing, and Martin Marty underscores that point in his foreword. However, this book delivers much more than that. The authors/editors have a chapter on different kinds of scholarship in general (they call these analytic, strategic, and empathic) which have nothing directly to do with faith, but which will be helpful to anyone involved in college or university life. People who might not be interested in reading other books dealing with religion and scholarship should read this one.

This book is a collaborative effort of some faculty and administration from Messiah College. The wife and husband team, the Jacobsens, complied this book, which includes some of their work and the contributions of several others. The structure of the book centers around five chapters written by the Jacobsens. The first four of these chapters have accompanying essays written by others of the group to help illustrate each chapter's theme. Likewise, the prologue and epilogue are from other contributors.

The book's overall goal is to widen the perception of Christian scholarship. The Jacobsens are reacting to the evangelical definition of Christian scholarship, which sees its goal to be the "integration of faith and learning." Our authors seek to educate their readers to the reality that Christian scholarship is anything but monolithic or well defined. Instead, one will find a diverse concept that includes many different traditions and goals.

On the whole, Christian scholarship (as is all scholarship) is limited in scope and effectiveness. It is impossible to know everything about anything and thus scholarship should be a communal effort, both in terms of dialoguing with others in the Christian community as well as those outside this tradition. For the authors of this book, Christian scholarship is a calling, a vocation. Several different definitions are offered but a common understanding of Christian scholarship is it serves the world as one offers to God their gifts of analyzing, applying and empathizing in the pursuit of truth.

Those who are part of a church-related college or university will find this book timely. It does a good job of portraying the many components of Christian scholarship and how one should not seek to limit its scope and appeal with too narrow of an understanding. The need to be informed by others, as well as the goal to reach out and communicate to a vast audience is a suitable corrective to any concept that can seal itself off from our pluralistic society. However, the book does not really deal with the flipside: how does one become a respected voice in our society today and still remain faithful to the gospel message? The point of the book is that Christian schools should not be dogmatic, but if readers are looking for a clear call to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, then this book will somewhat disappoint them. There is never the implication to refrain from sharing one's belief but there is never an explicit call to make Christian scholarship primarily a vehicle for spreading the good news.

This book will present a different view than evangelicals are used to; such an argument will profit those who do read it.