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When Dr. Addleman wrote asking me if I might speak at a pre-­conference event for the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities gathering, he suggested the title: “What Age are We Living In?” I’m a historical and cultural sociologist, and in my writing and teaching, I like working with a big canvas. His suggestion offered…

Thanks to John Addleman, for inviting me to be a part of this conversation. I am Joe Creech, and it’s my privilege to serve as the executive director of the Lilly Network of Church-­Related Colleges and Universities. John asked me to say just a word about what that organization is. Since 1991, the Lilly Network—formerly…

If you want to know what an academic institution truly believes about itself, don’t start with its mission statement. Open a tenure file. Look at which publications are held in esteem, which grants are praised, and which writings are dismissed as mere filler. Long after we articulate our institution’s vision and mission, it’s those decisions…

How can Christian intellectual institutions—institutions dedicated to pursuing and understanding the good, the true, and the beautiful in the name of Christ—respond to an age of nihilism? That is the question raised by Dr. Hunter’s address, and it is the question I want to take up. In some ways, this can seem like a question…

Social media use is growing around the world. There are currently 5.41 billion people using social media globally with about 63% of the world’s population actively using at least one platform. Social media platforms are popular among marketers as well, spending $247.3 billion on social media advertising globally in 2025, and comprising 30% of all…

While Samford University has long been committed to the integration of faith and learning, a coordinated, university-­wide emphasis began in 2021 through Academic Affairs’ Faculty Success Center with the launch of its Faith and Learning Initiative. A year-­long process led a faculty taskforce to develop four emphasis areas—personal spiritual growth, vocational exploration, pedagogical integration, and…

The School of Public Health at Samford University encompasses four departments: Public Health, Social Work, Nutrition and Dietetics, and Healthcare Administration and Informatics. The mission of the School of Public Health is to prepare students to become servant leaders by demonstrating the love of God through nurturing the emotional, intellectual, physical, and spiritual health of individuals and communities. While there are differences that…

The Moffett & Sanders School of Nursing (MSSON) was built on a foundation of excellence in nursing education and a mission to meet the needs of people through Christ-­centered service. Started by the Birmingham Baptist Association in 1922, the school’s name honors the nurse leader, Ida V. Moffett. Moffett helped transition the nursing program to Samford…

How does one rightly comprehend the imago Dei? That Latin phrase, imago Dei, or image of God, is a summation of Genesis 1:27, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” From a physical standpoint, humans clearly look and behave differently…

It is a privilege to communicate the connections between pharmacy education and the image of God. Initially, one may not think that these could be linked; however, the ties between these two topics are strong. To set the stage, overviews of the profession as well as the imago Dei will be offered. The Pharmacy Profession…

Faith-learning integration is a well-worn pedagogical topic, especially at many Christian institutions, but the discussion is surprisingly underdeveloped in the field of biblical studies. Yet even where the conversation is taking place with the most energy, it is complicated by uncertain terminology and is often mired in an over-emphasis on the cerebral. Despite these circumstances,…

Christians who want to think critically about artificial intelligence (AI) may benefit significantly from C. S. Lewis’s writings. Lewis is well known for his various novels and works on Christian thought. His novel That Hideous Strength: A Modern Fairy-Tale for Grown-Ups provides helpful guidance for technology, grounded as it is with biblical-theological assumptions. About the “Space”…

Imagine a precocious, driven, and empathetic undergraduate student. She has discovered a passion and a talent for biochemistry, and wants to apply to graduate school to pursue agronomy, with the goal of returning to her rural community home after graduation. She loves science and nature; she is also a committed Christian. She has a vague…

Was Nicolaus Copernicus a heretic? His heliocentric model, published in 1543 in his book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres), proposed that Earth rotates about its own axis and revolves around the sun, as do the planets. The question of heresy seems pointless because heliocentrism is now the cosmological air…

In 1890, not long before his apparent suicide, Vincent van Gogh painted a picture of a church. Van Gogh had recently moved to the town of Uver from san-­remy-­de-­provence, where he had been in a mental institution. In Uver, van Gogh hoped to receive help from Paul Gachet, a doctor known for his compassion toward…

The speakers stood in the free speech quad and were accompanied by towering ten-­foot signs. The signs condemned homosexuality with Bible passages—painted in crimson red—as support. At a progressive public university, they immediately attracted a crowd looking for a verbal fight. The confrontation happened right outside the communication building where I was starting my master’s…

In a passage sure to strike many moderns as charmingly quaint, Augustine confesses genuine puzzlement upon observing one of Saint Ambrose’s reading habits: “When he read, his eyes travelled across the page and his heart sought into the sense, but voice and tongue were silent.Augustine, Confessions, ed. Michael P. Foley, trans. F. J. Sheed (Hacket,…