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The Fabric of Faithfulness: Weaving Together Belief and Behavior
Voted one of Christianity Today's Books of the Year All kinds of important choices are made during the college years. Young men and women explore what they really believe about the nature of the world and the purpose of life. They choose their work. They build friendships or even choose to marry. They develop goals and adopt habits that may very well last a lifetime. Yet late modernity is not a welcome environment for the emotional, intellectual and spiritual formation that occurs during these critical years. Society is increasingly fragmented. And the educational system itself, fragmented and specialized, may disintegrate more than it integrates. Professors, campus ministers, parents, youth pastors and others who are concerned with college students face an immense challenge in these days. How do they help Christian students, during one of the most eventful and intense periods of life, learn to connect what they believe about the world with how they live in it? Drawing on the history of ideas, ethics, sociology and a host of examples from contemporary popular culture, Steven Garber vigorously engages just that question. His book, The Fabric of Faithfulness, is must reading for all those who work on campuses and care about today's students.
222 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
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January 10, 2021
The principles laid out are important and well-articulated, but I would have liked more practical suggestions for applying them.
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January 19, 2023This book makes me sad and hopeful: sad because of how closely my research-glorifying university fits Garber's description of the alienated university, where students are pushed to parrot without any unifying telos to make sense of anything; hopeful because I see how good and necessary a campus fellowship might be to satisfy Garber's maxims for a life of sustained faithfulness.
These maxims are:
1. Develop a worldview that makes sense of the world and your place in it;
2. Find a solid mentor;
3. Immerse yourself community that encourages your convictions.
I began this book to try to make sense of my university classes. After reading, I imagine Garber would counsel me to pick up on what I can to develop a robust, fortified Christian worldview.
As I read this book, I felt uncomfortable, because I worry I've fallen into a mercenary approach to university. But it feels so hopeless to see classes functioning as character-building.
These maxims are:
1. Develop a worldview that makes sense of the world and your place in it;
2. Find a solid mentor;
3. Immerse yourself community that encourages your convictions.
I began this book to try to make sense of my university classes. After reading, I imagine Garber would counsel me to pick up on what I can to develop a robust, fortified Christian worldview.
As I read this book, I felt uncomfortable, because I worry I've fallen into a mercenary approach to university. But it feels so hopeless to see classes functioning as character-building.
June 14, 2025
This book was absolutely amazing, in every sense of the word and I can't recommend it enough to anyone who wants to read it.
May 14, 2007
This is one of my favorite books. Though geared for adults working with teens, college students, and young adults, I think it is great for young people themselves. Why do you get up in the morning? What is the meaning of life? How do we form cares and commitments that are sustainable for a lifetime? These are just some of the thoughtful questions Garber explores in this book as the reader learns about answering the "essay questions of life." He echoes Jacques Ellul's words in advising, "Remember your Creator during your youth: when all possibilities lie open before you and you can offer all you strenth intact for his service." A must-read for any young person seeking to build a life to glorify God, or for any older person who wishes to assist young people in living out the Christian worldview.
July 19, 2013
Steven Garber's book The Fabric of Faithfulness: Weaving Together Belief and Behavior (IVP) came highly recommended, and now I see why. Garber currently leads The Washington Institute in DC, “a place to explore common grace for the common good.”
In working with students over many years, Garber noticed that the university setting is often an environment that allows room for private beliefs and opinions, but it isn’t comfortable with affirmations of public truths, especially ones clearly connected to private, and deeply held, beliefs. Therefore, those students seeking integration of their deepest beliefs with the realities of the world around them are often frustrated, and at times they face a crisis of identity or even a crisis of faith. When integration is thwarted, dis-integrated cynics are born...
- See more at: http://tjhoiland.com/wordpress/2012/0...
In working with students over many years, Garber noticed that the university setting is often an environment that allows room for private beliefs and opinions, but it isn’t comfortable with affirmations of public truths, especially ones clearly connected to private, and deeply held, beliefs. Therefore, those students seeking integration of their deepest beliefs with the realities of the world around them are often frustrated, and at times they face a crisis of identity or even a crisis of faith. When integration is thwarted, dis-integrated cynics are born...
- See more at: http://tjhoiland.com/wordpress/2012/0...
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March 19, 2020Șerban Florian, pastor asistent, district Cogealac, CT. 29/10/13
Recenzie a cărții lui Steven Garber, The Fabric of Faithfulness: Weaving Together Belief and Behavior (InterVarsity Press, 2007, ISBN-13: 978-0-830-83319-1). O posibilă traducere a titlului: „Structura credincioșiei: împletind credința și conduita”.
Steven Garber examinează istoria gândirii, pornind de la epoca rațiunii (Age of Reason, care înălțând umanitatea, păstrează totuși pe Dumnezeu ca rege-filozof suprem) către umanismul secular al secolului al XIX-lea (care Îl alungă pe Dumnezeu, nu vede nicio legătură între știință și supranatural, dar ironia este că secularismul nu a condus la umanism, o preocupare sporită față de bunăstarea omului), încheind cu progresul tehnologic al secolului al XX-lea (care a dus la desfacerea ființei umane într-o mulțime de instincte, reflexe și nevroze (afecțiuni ale sistemului nervos provocate de tulburarea dinamicii normale a proceselor nervoase în urma unor solicitări psihice excesive); autorul denumește acest rezultat „desfacere a omului” (the deconstruction of man).
Cartea sa este o reacție față de nepăsarea generației care privește la responsabilitățile vieții moderne și nu face decât să râdă sacadat. Pentru ea, educația nu este decât un pașaport către privilegii (passport to privilege), privilegii profesionale și financiare pe care se așteaptă să le primească de la sine (for granted)
Există totuși tineri care rup rândurile generației lor; ei văd starea jalnică a lumii (the brokenness of the world), reușesc să înțeleagă mersul ei (to make sense of the world) și aleg să facă ceva pentru refacerea ei.
Garber scrie o pledoarie pentru educație. Penttu tânărul care parcurge anii dintre adolescență și maturitate (ani pe care autorul îi denumește „valea scutecelor”, the valley of diapers), educația are scopul:
1. de a forma împreună cu profesia o „unitate funcțională”; astfel încât ceea ce un tânăr consideră a fi „real, adevărat și corect” (real and true and right), și începe să pună în practică;
2. de a crea obiceiuri ale inimii care dau vieții coerență atât în viața personală cât și în cea publică;
3. și de a corela credința cu conduita (telos și praxis). Tânărul face această alegere din trei motive:
a. convingeri (a fost învățat cu privire la o cosmoviziune (sensul inițial este acela de transmitere a imaginilor televizate din cosmos. (după rus. kosmovidenie), însă capătă sensul ulterior de ansamblu de convingeri cu privire la lume) care îi conduce în viață într-o societate secularizată și pluralistă);
b. caracter (a întâlnit un profesor care trăia o cosmoviziune cu care ei începeau să se identifice conștient);
c. și comunitate (de-a lungul vieții au făcut alegeri ca să își trăiască cosmoviziunea împreună cu alții dedicați aceluiași scop).
Recenzie a cărții lui Steven Garber, The Fabric of Faithfulness: Weaving Together Belief and Behavior (InterVarsity Press, 2007, ISBN-13: 978-0-830-83319-1). O posibilă traducere a titlului: „Structura credincioșiei: împletind credința și conduita”.
Steven Garber examinează istoria gândirii, pornind de la epoca rațiunii (Age of Reason, care înălțând umanitatea, păstrează totuși pe Dumnezeu ca rege-filozof suprem) către umanismul secular al secolului al XIX-lea (care Îl alungă pe Dumnezeu, nu vede nicio legătură între știință și supranatural, dar ironia este că secularismul nu a condus la umanism, o preocupare sporită față de bunăstarea omului), încheind cu progresul tehnologic al secolului al XX-lea (care a dus la desfacerea ființei umane într-o mulțime de instincte, reflexe și nevroze (afecțiuni ale sistemului nervos provocate de tulburarea dinamicii normale a proceselor nervoase în urma unor solicitări psihice excesive); autorul denumește acest rezultat „desfacere a omului” (the deconstruction of man).
Cartea sa este o reacție față de nepăsarea generației care privește la responsabilitățile vieții moderne și nu face decât să râdă sacadat. Pentru ea, educația nu este decât un pașaport către privilegii (passport to privilege), privilegii profesionale și financiare pe care se așteaptă să le primească de la sine (for granted)
Există totuși tineri care rup rândurile generației lor; ei văd starea jalnică a lumii (the brokenness of the world), reușesc să înțeleagă mersul ei (to make sense of the world) și aleg să facă ceva pentru refacerea ei.
Garber scrie o pledoarie pentru educație. Penttu tânărul care parcurge anii dintre adolescență și maturitate (ani pe care autorul îi denumește „valea scutecelor”, the valley of diapers), educația are scopul:
1. de a forma împreună cu profesia o „unitate funcțională”; astfel încât ceea ce un tânăr consideră a fi „real, adevărat și corect” (real and true and right), și începe să pună în practică;
2. de a crea obiceiuri ale inimii care dau vieții coerență atât în viața personală cât și în cea publică;
3. și de a corela credința cu conduita (telos și praxis). Tânărul face această alegere din trei motive:
a. convingeri (a fost învățat cu privire la o cosmoviziune (sensul inițial este acela de transmitere a imaginilor televizate din cosmos. (după rus. kosmovidenie), însă capătă sensul ulterior de ansamblu de convingeri cu privire la lume) care îi conduce în viață într-o societate secularizată și pluralistă);
b. caracter (a întâlnit un profesor care trăia o cosmoviziune cu care ei începeau să se identifice conștient);
c. și comunitate (de-a lungul vieții au făcut alegeri ca să își trăiască cosmoviziunea împreună cu alții dedicați aceluiași scop).
June 29, 2025
This book is very academic in the first part. The second part used stories of people and interview’s with people.
This is a quote from the book:
…But our thesis is this: during the critical years in which moral meaning is being formed in ways that last, students need to be people who
1. Develop a worldview that can make sense of life, facing the challenge of truth and coherence in an increasingly pluralist world;
2. Purse a relationship with a teacher whose life incarnates the worldview the student is learning to embrace;
3. Commit themselves to others who have chosen to live their lives embedded in the same worldview, journey together in truth after the vision of coherent and meaningful life.
- p. 185
This is a quote from the book:
…But our thesis is this: during the critical years in which moral meaning is being formed in ways that last, students need to be people who
1. Develop a worldview that can make sense of life, facing the challenge of truth and coherence in an increasingly pluralist world;
2. Purse a relationship with a teacher whose life incarnates the worldview the student is learning to embrace;
3. Commit themselves to others who have chosen to live their lives embedded in the same worldview, journey together in truth after the vision of coherent and meaningful life.
- p. 185
March 23, 2021
Clear thesis statement. Flowing paragraphes. Engaging discussion of people and ideas. Wide range of bibliography. Excellent presentation - both firm and humble in its voice. It is a vital reminder of what we are missing in this fallen world. Thank you, Steven Garber. I am glad that my professor Andrew DeCort introduced me to your work in my Christian Ethics class. You, in turn, have introduced me to new authors who I am eager to learn from very soon. God bless you!
January 13, 2020
Definitely one of my favorite authors writing on connecting belief with behavior. This book is primarily aimed at University students and their educators. The author argues for a solid worldview, a mentor that incarnates that worldview, and a broader supportive community. When these are in place, a life of meaning can be sustained in our messy world.
October 16, 2018
What are the Habits that shape a heart? A worldview, a Mentor, and a Community according Steven Garber; A well written book by a well-read, well-formed Christian, this book has a depth and candor I can only begin to appreciate.
April 28, 2020
What the hell even is this? The first 40 pages were good, I guess.
April 29, 2022
Great conversation about developing beliefs and then living them out consistently.
April 8, 2014
A Purpose-Driven Life
We’ve all heard about the mission statement. Every business conjures one to varying degrees of success. But why? Everyone talks about mission but have you considered the reason behind it? In truth, mission statements should spell out the purpose behind a company, the principles around which employees can unite and work together.
Sadly, many people never truly comprehend purpose. Many can’t put into words the reasons for why they get up in the morning. As a result, people shift from job to job and belief to belief without much rootedness.
Finding Flourishing
In The Fabric of Faithfulness, Steve Garber pursues the question of rootedness. What creates consistency in the life of an individual? How does one track with the beliefs they form in order to build upon them and flourish in life?
In essence, Garber theologically breaks it down into three elements. A person needs a worldview, a mentor who exemplifies that worldview in the context of a life well lived, and a community of like-minded individuals providing support.
Expressing a life of meaning in these terms, Garber is critical of the current educational system. Most educators thrive at presenting a worldview, but they don’t necessarily follow through with lifelong mentorship and assisting in building a community.
Garber pursues these ideas within the realm of Christianity, but they apply to just about anyone, no matter your vocational and occupational goals.
What Gets You Up in the Morning?
Do you know why you get up in the morning? Do you have someone who models what you want in life? Do you have a group of like-minded friends willing to support you in your goals? These three pillars create the meaning and purpose that allows you to live consistently and flourish.
Too often we bounce from job to job without much thought. Maybe you struggle through a difficult relationship with a co-worker. Perhaps you hate the tedium of your job. Maybe you feel the long hours sucking your soul. These reasons aren’t, in and of themselves, justification to move to the next job. Truthfully, you’ll run into the same issues no matter your work.
But if you can express your purpose through the beliefs you have in the world, reinforce your mission through engaging a mentor, and flourish within a community of support, your job takes on meaning and the 40 hours you spend every week will begin to matter in ways you never thought possible.
Mission statements are a big deal because they are a window into purpose. When you look for a job. Ask for a mission statement, it might be the best way to understand job fit and life fulfillment.
As for The Fabric of Faithfulness, I recommend reading it if you are interested in how ideas stick in the long term.
Originally published at http://www.wherepenmeetspaper.com
We’ve all heard about the mission statement. Every business conjures one to varying degrees of success. But why? Everyone talks about mission but have you considered the reason behind it? In truth, mission statements should spell out the purpose behind a company, the principles around which employees can unite and work together.
Sadly, many people never truly comprehend purpose. Many can’t put into words the reasons for why they get up in the morning. As a result, people shift from job to job and belief to belief without much rootedness.
Finding Flourishing
In The Fabric of Faithfulness, Steve Garber pursues the question of rootedness. What creates consistency in the life of an individual? How does one track with the beliefs they form in order to build upon them and flourish in life?
In essence, Garber theologically breaks it down into three elements. A person needs a worldview, a mentor who exemplifies that worldview in the context of a life well lived, and a community of like-minded individuals providing support.
“Worldviews are not abstractions; they become ideas with legs that have metaphysical and moral muscle, enabling real people to make the hardest choices possible. Mentors are not an interesting idea; rather they become the primary means by which beliefs are interpreted and understood, especially when what one believes is a matter of life and death, when what one believes has consequences for the way the world is and ought to be. Community then becomes the laboratory in which our hopes and dreams become real; we do not keep on keeping on without people of kindred heart and mind pledging their own lives toward the same end, holding us up when the world, the flesh and the devil call into question our core commitments and cares” (21).
Expressing a life of meaning in these terms, Garber is critical of the current educational system. Most educators thrive at presenting a worldview, but they don’t necessarily follow through with lifelong mentorship and assisting in building a community.
Garber pursues these ideas within the realm of Christianity, but they apply to just about anyone, no matter your vocational and occupational goals.
What Gets You Up in the Morning?
Do you know why you get up in the morning? Do you have someone who models what you want in life? Do you have a group of like-minded friends willing to support you in your goals? These three pillars create the meaning and purpose that allows you to live consistently and flourish.
Too often we bounce from job to job without much thought. Maybe you struggle through a difficult relationship with a co-worker. Perhaps you hate the tedium of your job. Maybe you feel the long hours sucking your soul. These reasons aren’t, in and of themselves, justification to move to the next job. Truthfully, you’ll run into the same issues no matter your work.
But if you can express your purpose through the beliefs you have in the world, reinforce your mission through engaging a mentor, and flourish within a community of support, your job takes on meaning and the 40 hours you spend every week will begin to matter in ways you never thought possible.
Mission statements are a big deal because they are a window into purpose. When you look for a job. Ask for a mission statement, it might be the best way to understand job fit and life fulfillment.
As for The Fabric of Faithfulness, I recommend reading it if you are interested in how ideas stick in the long term.
Originally published at http://www.wherepenmeetspaper.com
December 31, 2008
Kelly O told me to read this book years ago, and I finally am getting around to it. But, I've only read the introduction, so you'll have to check back later to know what I think of it.
*****
I finally finished this book over Thanksgiving break, and I was totally blown away by it. Everyone in the world of education should read this book - I get why Kelly bugged me about reading it for so long! Basically the author is talking about what makes a faithful life and the role that education plays in that. How do we make sure that students understand that what happens in the classroom MUST have an impact on the rest of their lives?
One of the ideas that I found most intriguing was that he thinks that no one under the age of 40 is old enough to have developed consistent patterns of faithfulness. He's not saying that younger people can't be faithful - not at all. But he is saying that it takes living through a good portion of your life - and dealing with all of the crap that comes out of transitioning to life after college - to be consistently faithful. He's saying that you can't evaluate a person's faith by a one time snapshot, rather you need to see it over a long period. Throughout the book, as he discussed the ways that culture, education, and faith are influenced by each other, he wove stories of faithful people. But no one he interviewed for the book was under the age of 40.
It was interesting to me for two reasons: one insofar as I am a teacher, and the other insofar as I am a twenty-something going through exactly what he's describing my students will be going through. So I felt like I had two questions running through my head as I read it. How am I living a faithful life? How am I helping to communicate to my students how they can lead faithful lives? I think that this is where I appreciated his idea about having to survive the long haul to develop faithfulness. The twenties are REALLY hard years and it's comforting to know that I'm not expected to have everything figured out - that this time in my life is about doing my best to love Jesus and seeing what experiences He gives me to grow me and teach me about being faithful to Him.
I don't know that his ideas are necessarily revolutionary - he talked a lot about the necessity of having/being a mentor-teacher, and he talked a lot about how the style of education in the US puts a barrier between learning and life that needs to be overcome. He also discussed a lot about culture and its impact on faith - in this he was somewhat reminiscent of Francis Schaeffer. So there were a lot of ideas in the book about which I'd thought before. But he hashed them out thoroughly and put them together in a coherent way that laid out what it takes to make it happen - to see students care deeply about the world around them and not distance themselves from the needs they see in it.
*****
I finally finished this book over Thanksgiving break, and I was totally blown away by it. Everyone in the world of education should read this book - I get why Kelly bugged me about reading it for so long! Basically the author is talking about what makes a faithful life and the role that education plays in that. How do we make sure that students understand that what happens in the classroom MUST have an impact on the rest of their lives?
One of the ideas that I found most intriguing was that he thinks that no one under the age of 40 is old enough to have developed consistent patterns of faithfulness. He's not saying that younger people can't be faithful - not at all. But he is saying that it takes living through a good portion of your life - and dealing with all of the crap that comes out of transitioning to life after college - to be consistently faithful. He's saying that you can't evaluate a person's faith by a one time snapshot, rather you need to see it over a long period. Throughout the book, as he discussed the ways that culture, education, and faith are influenced by each other, he wove stories of faithful people. But no one he interviewed for the book was under the age of 40.
It was interesting to me for two reasons: one insofar as I am a teacher, and the other insofar as I am a twenty-something going through exactly what he's describing my students will be going through. So I felt like I had two questions running through my head as I read it. How am I living a faithful life? How am I helping to communicate to my students how they can lead faithful lives? I think that this is where I appreciated his idea about having to survive the long haul to develop faithfulness. The twenties are REALLY hard years and it's comforting to know that I'm not expected to have everything figured out - that this time in my life is about doing my best to love Jesus and seeing what experiences He gives me to grow me and teach me about being faithful to Him.
I don't know that his ideas are necessarily revolutionary - he talked a lot about the necessity of having/being a mentor-teacher, and he talked a lot about how the style of education in the US puts a barrier between learning and life that needs to be overcome. He also discussed a lot about culture and its impact on faith - in this he was somewhat reminiscent of Francis Schaeffer. So there were a lot of ideas in the book about which I'd thought before. But he hashed them out thoroughly and put them together in a coherent way that laid out what it takes to make it happen - to see students care deeply about the world around them and not distance themselves from the needs they see in it.
December 3, 2025
Are you grappling with integrating your Christian faith with your education or vocation? This book is a rare gem, not just for Christian teachers but for all Christians who are striving to live faithfully.
Garber, a seasoned educator and the director of The Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation, and Culture, brings his wealth of experience to this book. He opens with a thought-provoking question (18):
"… is there a spirituality of learning that grows out of the gospel of the kingdom? Or to press the point: if the Christian vision of life and the world is true, what ought learning to be like?"
A key to a wholesome answer to this question lies in another question (22):
"… do I have a telos [an ultimate goal] that is sufficient to meaningfully orient my praxis [practice as distinct from theory] over the course of life?"
While this book is primarily aimed at faculty and students in the learning environment, its principles are not confined to those settings. They are transferrable and can empower you in all aspects of life.
Garber’s quotation of Stanley Hauerwas resonates with the thesis of this book (160):
"The story of God does not offer a resolution of life’s difficulties, but it offers us something better—an adventure and struggle, for we are possessors of the happy news that God has called people together to live faithful to the reality that he is the Lord of this world."
I recommend this book to all Christians, especially those who teach or are wrestling with how to live faithfully in our modern (or post-modern) culture.
This review first appeared in 'living theology' at https://www.johnbmacdonald.com/.
Garber, a seasoned educator and the director of The Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation, and Culture, brings his wealth of experience to this book. He opens with a thought-provoking question (18):
"… is there a spirituality of learning that grows out of the gospel of the kingdom? Or to press the point: if the Christian vision of life and the world is true, what ought learning to be like?"
A key to a wholesome answer to this question lies in another question (22):
"… do I have a telos [an ultimate goal] that is sufficient to meaningfully orient my praxis [practice as distinct from theory] over the course of life?"
While this book is primarily aimed at faculty and students in the learning environment, its principles are not confined to those settings. They are transferrable and can empower you in all aspects of life.
Garber’s quotation of Stanley Hauerwas resonates with the thesis of this book (160):
"The story of God does not offer a resolution of life’s difficulties, but it offers us something better—an adventure and struggle, for we are possessors of the happy news that God has called people together to live faithful to the reality that he is the Lord of this world."
I recommend this book to all Christians, especially those who teach or are wrestling with how to live faithfully in our modern (or post-modern) culture.
This review first appeared in 'living theology' at https://www.johnbmacdonald.com/.
February 25, 2014
This is a great read for those that are really looking to integrate their faith and work.
Written by the Director of the Washington Institute of Faith, Vocation and Culture he lives and works in maybe the most challenging environment there is to challenge people to live out their faith in the midst of the work they do.
This book is being read by out college kids and I think will challenge them in ways they will respond to as they are experiencing the faith of their parents is not what they want to believe in. If you are working with college age or young adults this book will challenge you to new ways of ministry with an old foundation that still is the best in the world.
I recommend you read this slowly and reflect on what it has to say to you in your current context and the desire to travel the journey of faith with our younger generations.
Written by the Director of the Washington Institute of Faith, Vocation and Culture he lives and works in maybe the most challenging environment there is to challenge people to live out their faith in the midst of the work they do.
This book is being read by out college kids and I think will challenge them in ways they will respond to as they are experiencing the faith of their parents is not what they want to believe in. If you are working with college age or young adults this book will challenge you to new ways of ministry with an old foundation that still is the best in the world.
I recommend you read this slowly and reflect on what it has to say to you in your current context and the desire to travel the journey of faith with our younger generations.
February 28, 2008
A study on what Eugene Peterson calls "a life of congruence," one's life being consistent with one's beliefs. An academic study, Garber's main points, 1 - developing a worldview, 2- having a mentor who lives this worldview, and 3- finding a community that pursues with you to live their worldview. The more I think about it the more I see the truth in his observations, not only in my life but in the students I work with. His research is thorough, illustrated in his impeccable selection of quotations. Highly recommended for anyone working with college students or those in college.
January 30, 2016
This was an academic book discussing what the author purports as the three keys to enduring faith beyond college: a clearly developed worldview, a mentor, and a community of mutual support. It was a riveting work to me, though Garber is far from succinct in drawing his conclusions.
If you enjoy philosophy and thinking slowly through problems, this is a great read. If you are in college ministry looking for simple tips, focus on providing the three things I mentioned above (the thesis of Garber's book) and look for focused books on those three topics!
If you enjoy philosophy and thinking slowly through problems, this is a great read. If you are in college ministry looking for simple tips, focus on providing the three things I mentioned above (the thesis of Garber's book) and look for focused books on those three topics!
February 27, 2008
I had to read this for class...totally worth it!
An intense read that captivates heart and mind. It truly made me sit back and contemplate the power and importance in having an integrated worldview. Definitely a must-read for those who question the complexities of life.
P.S. don't be afraid to need to sit by a computer or dictionary as not many terms, people are previously identified by the author. Oh and have fun pronouncing the Russian names!
An intense read that captivates heart and mind. It truly made me sit back and contemplate the power and importance in having an integrated worldview. Definitely a must-read for those who question the complexities of life.
P.S. don't be afraid to need to sit by a computer or dictionary as not many terms, people are previously identified by the author. Oh and have fun pronouncing the Russian names!
January 9, 2012
helpful, practical & delightfully well-written. garber articulates the struggle of connecting belief with behavior in the university setting with refreshing clarity. if you're a student, teacher, professor, parent, campus minister or recent grad, i would HIGHLY recommend this accessible 'academic study' of a book. i'm willing to bet it will be one of the best things I read in 2012.
October 13, 2007
Excellent book once you get used to Garber's style. I very much enjoyed his perspective, observations and historical points of consideration. I could read it several times more and get more out of it each time.
September 16, 2008
Brilliant and gripping! A great challenge to find and help others find a sustainable worldview and community to match. Especially relevant for college age to twenty-somethings and helpful for those engaged in young adult ministry.
May 6, 2009
This book focuses on how contemporary higher education contributes to the erosion of the idea of absolute truth in modern consciousness. The author gives examples of people who live with integrity, as well as those who have succumbed to the pragmatism of modernity.
January 16, 2010
I read this one a few years ago. It would make a nice gift for a graduating high school senior or college freshman as it deals in a thoughtful way with how to live a faithful Christian life during those crucial college years.
April 1, 2010
Read this book with students throughout the semester. Perfect for the college years, although applicable to many other times in life. Overall, I think it was helpful for students but maybe a bit repetitive. Thinking about using portions for next semester.
July 9, 2012
One of the most influential books I have ever read. This book challenges me to live out a life that connects with the things I believe. A must read for all college students and those working in higher education.
October 7, 2016
Moving. Thought-provoking. My reading of this book...over a period of several months...opened the way to numerous conversations with my kids, friends, and colleagues about faith and its formation during the college years. A must read for Christian educators.
June 12, 2015
Nearly twenty years from its publication, this book still has profound relevance to the plight of university students struggling to meaningfully connect belief with behavior amidst the crises of postmodernism. Highly recommended.
January 17, 2008
My life is changed becaus of this book. Can't say enough about it. incredibly insightful - becomes more so with each passing year. This book gives me a faith I can live within.
February 23, 2012
I want to re-read this book. It was chock-full of thought-provoking ideas and knowledge about the university's role in a college student's life.
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