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How Students at Elite Secular and Christian Universities Understand the Good Life, Purpose, and Self-Worth: Some Surprising Differences

Editor’s Note: This post is the first in a three-part series addressing how we deal with purpose and the good life in Christian higher education.  I remember having a conversation some time ago with the leader of one of the large Christian college partnerships. In the midst of the conversation, I found it surprising that…
August 17, 2026
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How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” – Mark 6:31 It has been nearly ten years since I resigned my position in industry as the CEO…
August 14, 2026
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250 Years Later, What If the Pursuit of Happiness Isn’t the Goal?

In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson asserted that the pursuit of happiness was a self-evident truth and an inalienable right. The concept is everywhere, from advertisements to “happily ever after.” A search for “happy” on Amazon Books produces over 70,000 results and at least as many definitions of that word. We live in a…
August 13, 2026
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Art and Values: The Summer of Zurbarán

It seems that highbrow fine art is in popular demand. The spring auction scene in New York shattered records, doubling last year’s total. (A canvas by Jackson Pollock fetched more than 181 million dollars.) Once-niche contemporary art spaces now charge hefty admission prices, and even fusty traditional spaces now attract tourist hordes. On my recent…
August 12, 2026

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The True Race Part I

These posts conclude a series – done over several years – which examines how Dante’s Divine Comedy sheds light on the world of sport. The first post used the Inferno to illuminate the nature and place of courage in sport. The second post used Dante to examine the doctrine of Purgatory and the implications it…
October 20, 2025
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Book Excerpt from The Christian University & The Academic Establishment

This excerpt from (Excerpted from the concluding chapter of Ron Highfield, The Christian University & The Academic Establishment. Sulis Academic Press, 2025, pp. 195-203. Reprinted with the permission of the author and publisher. To download the full chapter and read the Table of Contents, go to the publisher page for The Christian University.)Book Excerpt from…
October 17, 2025
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Faithful Love for Our Non-Christian Neighbor: Should We Exclude Non-Christians from Key Student Leader Positions?

Christian universities and colleges that accept non-Christian students, which is the majority of Christian universities, always face the challenge of loving our non-Christian neighbors sacrificially while remaining faithful to our love for God (and by extension the institution’s Christian mission). The reason why doing both is so difficult stems from a common human reality: We…
October 16, 2025
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Learning as a Created Good

Recently, a colleague shared a question with me that he often discusses with his students during the first days of the semester. "Do you think Adam knew how to make a guitar?" It is a fun question to ponder, and to listen to students ponder. But, beyond the novelty of the pondering, I think this…
October 14, 2025
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The Antisemitism Epidemic: A Christian Response

On June 1, 2025, 45-year-old Mohammed Sabry Soliman yelled "Free Palestine!" and tossed Molotov cocktails at Jewish participants at an event meant to draw attention to the plight of Israeli hostages. The cocktails burned eight of the participants, with one 82-year-old victim eventually dying. Two months later, on August 27th, a 70-year-old Jewish woman shopping…
October 10, 2025
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Making Sense of Christ Confounded

In my last contribution to CSR, I tried to articulate, as briefly as possible, the “phenomenology of grace.”Mitchell, A. C. (2025, July 22). Revelation and Remembrance: Prayer and the Phenomenology of Grace. Christian Scholar’s Review, Christ Animated Learning Blog. How do persons sense, discern, and abide the world as it’s presented to them? How do…
October 7, 2025
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Learning in AI Time: Institutional Virtues in an Era of Artificial Intelligence

In his 1939 sermon Learning in Wartime, CS Lewis considered whether education should continue amid high-stakes global conflict. Is learning something that should be suspended during a war, saved only for times of peace and predictability? Or does the acquisition of knowledge, learning, thinking, and prudential judgment become more important during moments of upheaval? Predictably…
October 6, 2025