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The word vocation today often refers to one’s work or employment in the world. This secularized, individualistic connotation is discernible from definitions like “a strong feeling of suitability for a particular career or occupation” or the use of the word calling to describe such a “feeling.”Lexico, s.v. “vocation,” accessed 29 November 2020, https://www.lexico.com/definition/vocation. Nevertheless, in…

For-profit businesses dominate the modern economy. But is there any good reason for the Christian to willingly participate in them? Upon first glance, this seems like a silly question. Despite the way it is often practiced, for-profit business enterprises can be a powerful force for good and can have a variety of positive consequences, both…

For many centuries, the belief in God as the Creator and Sustainer of the universe was undisputed in the Western world.For this article, I will use the following definitions: Christians are those who believe that there is someone who created the universe and has been maintaining it ever since; atheists are those who do not…

Introduction Christian higher education finds itself at a significant crossroads. Cultural upheaval, significant shifts in college enrollment, concerns around the enduring value of a college degree, the impact of artificial intelligence, and many other factors swirl about amidst ongoing financial pressures.Michael Smith, “The Public is Giving Up on Higher Ed,” Chronicle of Higher Education, October…

The term “multiverse” has gained popularity in the last decade as a storytelling trope exploring alternate timelines based on different choices characters do, or could, make. Yet, while the term may have found popularity in recent years, particularly due to the popularity of the films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this existential thought process is…

Motivation and Introduction “When we see this man, first of all, the basis of what we know of him is his wheelchair.” This is how he was described by Pipi 皮皮,Pipi 皮皮, “Canque 残缺 ,” in Wozhiwu 我之舞 , ed. Shi Tiesheng 史铁生 (Cheng Chung Book Company, 2004), 254. Pipi 皮皮, formerly known as Feng…

One of the unnoticed losses resulting from the increasing polarization of American culture over the last decade is thoughtful—that is reasoned and biblical—conversation about God’s presence in what is going on. In fact, I want to argue in this article that, in the heat of battles over this or that ethical issue, this Presence has…

Before the public launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022, discussions of AI in higher education were still relatively easy to avoid. While many people had begun to anticipate the impact of emerging AI technologies—some extolling the efficiencies promised by progressively sophisticated algorithms and others speculating apocalyptically about a world where these technologies gradually achieve…

Last year a group of provosts convened to engage in conversations about Emerson’s essay, “The American Scholar.” Over the period of a year, we looked for insights into the role of the Christian scholar by reflecting on Emerson’s description of the ideal American scholar. He admonished the American scholar to break free from the European…

A Tale of Two Emersons In the little New England town where I grew up, two roads were named after Ralph Waldo Emerson—different roads sharing one name. Our split-­level home sat on a half-­acre plot by a meadow; while I lived on this quiet Emerson Road, there was another Emerson Road less than a mile…

In 2011 Pepperdine University hosted a conference in which Francis S. Collins offered the keynote address. His credentials are extraordinary: Collins is an accomplished research scientist, physician, director of the Human Genome Project, and subsequently director of the National Institutes of Health for three consecutive United States presidents. A devout Christian believer, he authored The…

The American Scholar On August 31, 1837, Ralph Waldo Emerson stepped into the pulpit of First Parish Meetinghouse in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to deliver what would become one of the defining lectures of his life and legacy, “The American Scholar.” Harvard University, having celebrated its bicentennial anniversary not even a year before, was a bastion of…

What we choose to eat impacts not only our health, but also contributes positively or negatively towards sustainability and justice. How food is produced determines its impact on environmental sustainability  through pollution, soil erosion, ground water depletion, and biodiversity conservation. A food systems lens looks beyond production to consider the complex social issues linking food…

The contemporary concept of strategy is problematic when viewed from ethical and theological perspectives. This concept arose historically from the political-military context of conflicting interests and maneuvers to gain power. When transferred to the realm of business, the concept retained the assumption of conflicting interests expressed in moves and countermoves attempting to achieve advantages over…

Every business is a social structure. Critical realist sociology tells us that social structures influence the decisions that persons within them make by presenting restrictions (penalties for violating norms) and opportunities (rewards for taking up advantages offered), that frequently alter those nonetheless free decisions. Thus, a business can encourage or discourage virtuous decisions, and over…

“When a person’s virtue is not equal to his position, all will suffer.” When education fails to foster virtue in professional and especially business schools the world is in peril. This essay addresses some of the significant challenges in educating practically wise business professionals. Universities need to recover a Thomistic view of practical wisdom that…

Over the past two decades, the Faith & Work movement has highlighted the potential impact of Christians in business when they serve and work with purpose. To achieve this, a framework for Biblical business practice is needed. This paper integrates Biblical foundations with business research to create a wisdom-based framework for impactful business strategy. By…