When the early Church began building its own educational tradition, it faced the challenge of how developing this new Christian revelation should interact with Greek and Roman thinking. They had to ask, as the early Christian thinker Tertullian did, “What indeed does Athens have to do with Jerusalem?”Tertullian, Prescription against Heretics, 1:7. Various Church Fathers…

The earliest universities generally had four different parts. Every student first attended what was called a liberal arts college. In this part, one would learn a wide range of skills with what today are associated with the liberal arts (e.g., mathematics, music, grammar, rhetoric). The other three parts were advanced education in medicine, law and…

Jesus gave us two extraordinary commands: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength,” and “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:29-31). Christian universities exist because we need help with this endeavor, particularly as life becomes more complicated. Even…

I still remember the day when Angela (pseudonym), a female student of color, called me to let me know that she would be transferring to a different institution. Despite it being her senior year of college and only having a handful of courses to finish, she felt that she could no longer continue. As we…

Every college student wants to be successful. What do you need for college success? The Jewish and Christian traditions are quite clear about how you should begin any quest for learning or what the Scriptures call wisdom: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 1:7). In fact, the very first university…

I interview college students as part of my job. When first year students arrive at our university, I have a group of researchers ask them, “What do you think is the purpose of college?” As a professor, I am always disappointed with students limited dreams and desires for college. They dream incredibly small. One recent first…

Mission Christian Scholar’s Review Blog seeks to serve as an interdisciplinary forum for discussing how Christ animates learning.  Audience Due to the easy global reach of the digital medium, our audience will be Christian academics, graduate students, and students worldwide. In particular, we envision becoming a resource and conversation platform for young and developing Christian…

Things that grow big start small. The January Series at Calvin College fits the pattern. More than 30 years ago it began as a lunch-break lecture series for first-year students enrolled in a three-week exploration of “Christian Perspectives on Learning,” with a mix of local faculty and guest speakers. As its founder June Hamersma was…

Editorial note: This reflection from Nicholas Wolterstorff is part of a curated discussion on “Christian Perspectives in Higher Learning.” See David Hoekema’s introduction to that discussion here. Our topic is the remarkable renaissance of Christian thought that has taken place over the past 50 years or so and the role of Calvin College in that…