When we receive a manuscript that looks promising for publication, I often ask its authors to keep two things in mind as they work on revisions. First, I ask them to make it clear why people should care about their topic, reminding them that the bulk of their readers will not likely be in their field. However, their readers are Christians who, being steeped in the liberal arts tradition, are broadly curious and will likely read their piece because they want a deeper understanding of God’s general revelation. To that end, I ask our authors to keep “the main thing the main thing” and to be careful about using jargon or arguing some insider point of contention that waylays their primary point.
Secondly, I ask them to imagine they are writing to Christian scholars fifty years from now. What do they want these future colleagues to make of their writing? I don’t expect the pieces to be timeless. Well-written articles in this journal are not blind to their own “presentism.” Like the books of the Bible, we want the articles we publish to be written both to their present audience and for a future great cloud of witnesses. Because the articles in this issue are deeply situated in their context, I believe they will be of interest to future scholars in understanding how some Christians were grappling with important issues of our time.
It is easy to argue that how we understand food, its consumption, and its mass production may be one of these most basic questions. In our lead article, Philip Grabowski, associate professor of sustainable development at Taylor University, addresses these issues in “Eat Lovingly: Christian Ethics for Sustainable and Just Food Systems.” He writes, “To eat lovingly means to strive to ensure that the side-effects of our consumption of food show honor, respect, and care for God, self, others, and creation. However, many Christians are unsure how to eat in a way that is not only healthy but also supportive of sustainability and justice.” The paper focuses on how our relationship with (1) God, (2) self, (3) community, (4) “others,” and (5) the environment informs how ethical eating practices and ethical creation care can demonstrate love.
Strategy has been a key component of any MBA degree for almost fifty years. In “Reorienting Strategy to Shalom,” Kent Miller, chairperson and professor in the department of management at the Eli Broad Graduate School of Management of Michigan State University, explains how the field of strategy has its roots in the planning of military campaigns. In contrast, Miller puts forward a new, more positive, and encompassing framework for strategy: “Instead of neglecting the ontology of conflict, Christians can engage it as a context for theological reflection and responsive action. Doing so raises possibilities for strategies that encompass stewardship and generosity, which hold meaning in situations characterized by scarcity and loss.” Building on the biblical concept of shalom as “alignment with God’s character and activity,” he adds that “leading strategic change involves articulating its purpose and guiding coordinated implementation steps. The process imposes disruption in organizations and industries, not chaos, and moves toward a coherent alignment of diverse interests and activities.” He goes on to argue that transformations of conflict resolution, distributive justice, discerning the Holy Spirit’s activity, our relationship with God, and even significant personal change are all possible when strategy takes a shalom orientation.
As Christian academicians, what are we to make of the demonstrations and demands of students (and their faculty allies) that have roiled some of America’s most prominent universities since the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023? How does the antisemitism expressed in many of the protests bode for Christians in future ideological (and perhaps not so ideological) conflicts? In this issue’s Perspectives piece, Baylor faculty David Lyle Jeffrey, emeritus distinguished professor of humanities and literature, and Jeff Levin, university professor of epidemiology and population health and professor of medical humanities, address the underlying past and present antisemitism and anti-Jewish rhetoric found on American campuses. As Christian and Jewish collaborators, respectively, they appeal to those who teach at religious schools to be more intentional in addressing the interdependencies of living out our Jewish or Christian faith with each other, asking, “Are those of us who teach and conduct research in religious colleges and universities willing and able to take up the task of creating an alternative academic culture, one in which the mutual interests and mutual obligations of Jews and Christians are taken into account and developed toward an ethical praxis consistent with our convictions about the authority of Holy Scripture?” They end their piece with examples and the benefits of their own religious collaborations.
Over the past two years, many of the most-read blogs on the Christian Scholar’s Review website have been about artificial intelligence. For example, Calvin University’s professor of computer science, Derek C. Schuurman’s blog titled “ChatGPT and the Rise of AI,” has received over 11,000 views since its publication in January 2023. Last fall, Houghton University hosted a panel discussion of seven of its faculty across multiple fields to address the implications of AI technology for Christian liberal arts higher education. Unsurprisingly, there was a broad array of engagement, trepidation, and perceived implications for this rapidly developing technology. Alison Young Reusser, associate professor of psychology, asked if we would consider publishing a transcript of the discussion. I upped the ante and asked if the participants might reflect on their own and each other’s thoughts on the topic three months after the panel. All were game, so we are pleased to present their short essays and the transcript of their original discussion. In addition to Young-Reusser, thanks to Brandon Bate, associate professor of mathematics; Peter Meilaender, dean of religion, humanities, and global studies and professor of political science; Jesse Sharpe, associate professor of English; Sara Massey, associate professor of music education; Laurie Dashnau, professor of English and writing and director of Houghton’s writing center; Craig Whitmore, assistant professor of education, and David Huth, professor of visual communication and media arts for their thoughtful essays.
It is safe to assume that today’s thoughts on issues associated with food production and consumption, corporate strategy, antisemitism, and AI will not be the same beliefs held by the future generation of academicians currently crawling into toddlerhood. I hope and pray that some among them will find the genesis of new thinking in these timely and perhaps timeless articles.
In our book reviews:
- W. Bodenhamer, associate professor, College of Christian Studies at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, reviews Jacob L. Wright’s Why the Bible Began: An Alternative History of Scripture and Its Origins (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2023).
- Larry G. Locke, professor and associate dean, McLane College of Business at University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and Research Fellow at LCC Interna- tional University, reviews Robert F. Cochran, Jr’s. The Servant Lawyer: Facing the Challenges of Christian Faith in Everyday Law Practice. Foreword by John Inazu. (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2024).
- Louis Markos, professor in English and scholar in residence, Robert H. Ray Chair in Humanities at Houston Christian University, reviews Landon Loftin and Max Leyf’s What Barfield Thought: An Introduction to the Work of Owen Barfield (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2023).
- Jenell Paris, professor of anthropology and criminal justice at Messiah University, reviews Darrell L. Whiteman’s Crossing Cultures with the Gospel: Anthropological Wisdom for Effective Christian Witness (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2024).
- Jacob Randolph, assistant professor of the history of Christianity at Saint Paul School of Theology, reviews Matthew Barrett’s The Reformation as Renewal: Retrieving the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2023).
- Matthew Renfrow, professor of kinesiology and dean of natural & applied sciences at Taylor University, reviews the edited book by Perry L. Glanzer and Austin T. Smith, Stewarding Our Bodies: A Vision for Christian Student Affairs (Abilene, TX: Abilene Christian University Press, 2023).
Thanks to our book review editor, Steve Oldham of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor for curating these reviews.
