Professors Who Believe: The Spiritual Journeys of Christian Faculty

by Paul M. Anderson (Editor)

Often the university is seen as a hothouse of anti-Christian bias. Every other belief system, no matter how exotic, seems to receive more respect and support than historic Christian belief. Yet even in this environment, steadily and certainly, men and women of faith have continued to hold and grow in their confidence in Christ. Here are the stories of twenty-two such Christian faculty, who tell in their own words the difference that Christ has made in their lives and their work. Respected and accomplished in a variety of academic disciplines, these believers have come to a strong understanding of their faith within their professions. They have wrestled with the issues of a complex world and found meaning and purpose through their spiritual journeys. These very personal stories offer thoughtful models of how faith can not only survive but thrive in the university world.

Genres: Education

238 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Robert Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a mathematician and computer software person in the corporate world, I see the effect of institutional secular thought on the sciences. I have many friends who are scientists, either in the business world or in the world of academia, who are believers that find themselves at odds with their colleagues with an apparent conflict between their faith walk and their scientific work. I couldn’t help but think of these friends of mine as I went through this book. The essays presented give a variety of different viewpoints on how faith and intellect complement each other. While there is not a cohesive argument presented in the book from premise to proof, the essays provide a number of common themes to show how faith can exist in the world of academia, which is ruled by reason.
Anderson introduces the volume with an essay of his own that sets the tone for the volume. His essay “A Common Thread” introduces the experiential nature of the essays as the common thread that pulls all these people together. He argues that science and faith are not antithetical but actually work together. First, religion addresses the questions of the spiritual world while science addresses the physical (Anderson, 1998, p. 16). Secondly, matters of faith can be tested as described by the experiences of Russian cyberneticist, Natasha Gorelova (Anderson, 1998, pp. 16-17). Thirdly, Anderson points out that the arguments against religion as being too subjective are countered by similar subjectivity in the sciences (Anderson, 1998, pp. 17-18). Anderson spends some time, then, showing how the dualistic worldview prevalent in the modern sciences is a relatively new thing and is counter to the historical experiences of scientists of the past (Anderson, 1998, pp. 18-20). Using his own experiences, Anderson describes how his own life proves out the Christian faith and how his religion enhanced his scientific world view to fill in those gaps that science alone could not fill (Anderson, 1998, pp. 20-22). Anderson then sums up the general precepts and ideas of faith that he calls the “common thread” for all the rest of the essays. The Christian faith, according to Anderson, includes an awareness of a Creator, the human state of sin, God’s immense love despite that sin, the futility of attempting to earn eternal life, the gift of God’s forgiveness through Christ’s death and resurrection, accepting and trusting in that gift, and receiving a life characterized by the truth and love found in Christ (Anderson, 1998, pp. 23-25).
With this introductory essay setting the stage, various authors from many different disciplines of the academic sciences offer up their own essays giving testimony to their own faith journey and how they reconcile faith with their intellectual and academic life. Each author brings a part of their own personal journey into their essay, describing their own roots and backgrounds and how they journeyed into an understanding and faith in Christ. For some, they started out with some knowledge of the faith, fell away for a while as they entered into their academic calling, but then returned to the faith with a renewed sense of purpose as they rediscovered Christ. A particularly good example of this is the essay “A Life Journey with Jesus” by Verna Benner Carson where she describes her journey starting from a loving Catholic home and a falling away as she entered college. Her journey from that period of agnosticism, through charismatic Catholicism, to an integration of her faith in every aspect of her academic career is a common story for many of the scientists in this book (Anderson, 1998, pp. 94-104).
The integration of faith with the professional career occurs in several of the essays. Mark T. Clark in the essay “Semper Fideles” describes how his background in the marines combined with his academic studies of political science and blended with his faith worked in him to critique the “just war” theory and to write concerning the ethics of strategic war (Anderson, 1998, pp. 119-130). Lousia Hulett in “A Prodigal Child Finds Faith” describes how this integration of her faith into her academic field allowed her to create a new kind of political science course that ended up demonstrating God’s providence when her original field of study became obsolete (Anderson, 1998, p. 134). Marvin Olasky (author of “Marxism and Me”) put his experience and history of activist journalism while he was, literally, a card-carrying communist to editing World magazine and writing books on this history of abortion in the United States (Anderson, 1998, pp. 172-177).
Most of the essays split into one of two categories. While each of them includes a personal testimonial of some sort of their faith journey, there are some for which this is the main purpose of the essay. Patricia Raybon’s “Down by the Cross” is an intensely personal testimonial exploring her history as a young black woman in the south in the 1970’s and her journey into realization that skin-color was not something to be concerned about and how faith and Christianity should transcend such mundane things (Anderson, 1998, pp. 159-171). As described above, Verna Carter’s “A Life Journey with Jesus” is primarily a personal testimonial describing her life journey and what she has done with her faith and how she has used it to influence the field of psychological nursing (Anderson, 1998).
Other essays engage directly the argument that faith and reason have nothing in common. James N. BeMiller in the essay “To God Be the Glory” takes a stance that faith and intellectualism are mutually independent. For him, his faith and his intellect are kept separate as you cannot prove faith by reason. He sees his faith as a gift given by God and not something that you can reason out or understand by applying human intellect. He does see that the world around him reflects the wonders of God, but all his intellect does is show more and more how much he cannot understand (Anderson, 1998, pp. 42-45). In contrast, J. Gary Eden in “Unseen Realities” describes how the very foundations of modern science are dependent on understanding that there is another world in parallel with the physical world. The intricacies and complexities of that physical world point towards the existence of a Creator, culminating in a coming-together of the two worlds in the person of Jesus Christ (Anderson, 1998, pp. 74-79). James P. Keener points out in his essay how even those who don’t claim “religion” have a system of faith and belief in something, even if it is not in a supreme being. “Confessions of a ‘Weird Mathematician’” describes how science, intellect, and reason can all be systems of worship of things. He points out, though, that it is not a matter of whether or not people are worshipping, but whether their objects of worship are worthwhile. As everything has a “first cause”, Keener deduces that God, as that first cause, is the only thing worth worshipping in comparison to the illusion of worshipping the result of the Creator’s acts rather than the Creator himself (Anderson, 1998, pp. 86-93).
Anderson’s collection of essays, while diverse in their purpose, style, and content, is an excellent cross-section of Christian academics within the secular institutions. For the most part, they served the purpose of proving out Anderson’s 7 points that he gave in his opening essay as well as give a defense on the role of human intellect as regards people of faith. However, there are a few essays that detract somewhat from the discussion.
First, while I appreciate the passion and fervor for a strong, reliable faith as exhibited by BeMiller in “To God Be the Glory”, I felt that, in a post-modern era, this was the weakest essay and argument possible. He does give a brief description of how his academic career in carbohydrate research reveals the beauty of creation and gives hints to the God behind it (Anderson, 1998, p. 44). But his statements of faith would be classified by post-modern skeptics as highly dogmatic and too absolutist. His faith testimonial sounds like many people brought up in the church. “My faith has been an inherent part of me throughout my conscious life” (Anderson, 1998, p. 43) as a testimonial does not sound like he has wrestled with any tough problems or given serious thought as to why he believes what he believes. The suspicious person would call this “blind faith” and challenge it strongly.
Secondly, the beautiful poetic essay of Patricia Raybon, “Down By the Cross,” does not seem to engage the academic side of her life at all. I cannot discount the intense emotion and passion as described in this essay and the serious life struggles and psychological and emotional turmoil she experienced. However, this essay could have been written by any journalist or novelist and not necessarily someone engaged in the intensely secular world of the academic institution. There isn’t any mention of her academic profession or of her experiences at the university level of a professor outside of the mention in her biography at the end of the book. While she does give some similar arguments and discussions about how her world view has changed and how her writing and purpose for writing has been influenced by her faith, again, any writer or journalist could say the same thing.
I think Anderson could have had a better book with a greater impact if it were not for those two essays. However, there are several essays that I think really did the best work at describing how Christian faculty apply their faith within the secular institution. Again, I can’t help but point out the essay by Verna Carter. Not only did she give a biographical story of how her faith was formed, but she showed how that faith could be applied even in the semi-hostile environment of secular universities. She demonstrated the patient love necessary to work within the institution, trusting God to guide her in making choices as well as smoothing the way for her to engage the spiritual world into the world of nursing. While the institution can be hostile towards believers, Carter showed that a faithful life, lived out in trust and love, can overcome even that level of hostility.
Several other essays engaged the question of intellect and faith. Keener’s essay on mathematics is my personal favorite (Anderson, 1998, pp. 86-93). It is very easy for someone enveloped in the world of pure logic that describes mathematics to get trapped into thinking that such logic is all that is necessary. Keener described how even that pure logic must give way to the existence of God. Logic dictates that everything must have a cause and a beginning. The logic itself is not the cause; it just describes and points to a cause. Mathematics does not control the universe; it simply describes what is already there. And for a mathematician to think that somehow mathematics can fix the problems of human kind is delusional and a sin of pride. Keener pulls no punches. He does not denigrate intellect as applies to matters of faith. He simply puts it in its proper place as something that describes but not the One in control.
I’m not sure that this book would convince a die-hard atheistic intellectual that Jesus is the answer and that God exists. As various authors in this book point out, there is a certain pride and obstinate mindset that happens within the intellectual world. Kenneth Elzinga in “Christ the Anchor, Christ the Servant” puts it best when he says, “Many highly educated people do not follow Jesus because they don’t want to. To follow Jesus is, first and foremost, to admit that one needs help – an anchor, a savior a redeemer…It is to admit that all our degrees and credentials and honors and accomplishments we accumulate are not going to save us from the central problem we have in God’s eyes – our rebellion against him.” (Anderson, 1998, p. 109) Many of the essays that described a personal journey through academia to find Christ after they had already tried to do things on their own reflect this same concept. Intellect and academic achievement was seen as the ends itself and, when it did not work out, they found that they were empty and needed something else. Christian faith filled that emptiness and, only in retrospect, can they see their folly.
For this book to meet that same need, someone would have to already be at that empty point. I think this is the case with most people in our post-modern culture. Arguments and reason are not going to convince people that Christianity has anything to offer. Even experiential stories as many of these essays are will not convince people because of the subjective nature of such stories. For someone to come to Christ through this book, they would need to follow that same journey. There needs to come a time where they find that they have a need that what they are currently engaged in is not filling and they feel a call to explore what Christianity has to offer. If they are a person of scientific mind and find intellectual pursuits to be fulfilling, then this book would probably mean something.
For me, as a person of science, this book reinforced some things that I was already convinced of as regards the relationship between my faith and my intellect. I have been asked in the past how I, as a mathematician, can believe something as illogical as Christianity. As many of these authors did, I explained my own life experiences and described how my journey has led me to where I am. But I also used my mathematics. One of my favorite equations is the equation . Outside of professional mathematics, that may seem like a lot of gobbledy-gook. But it is probably the most beautiful thing in that 5 of the most important constants in mathematics are related so closely. For the universe to have such order in its most fundamental laws, even when there is so much that is chaotic, says to me that there is something more than just what I can see and feel. To hear other professionals from geography to politics to mathematics and to chemistry describe similar observations simply adds another piece to the mosaic that is my faith. Science and religion, as this book points out, are not in conflict. Each reinforces the other. Those who are called to such academic pursuits are in a unique place to share this relationship with the people they meet as they live out their vocation.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

TWENTY-TWO CHRISTIAN FACULTY IN SECULAR UNIVERSITIES TALK OF THEIR EXPERIENCES AND LIVES

There are few "big names" among the contributors to this volume: best-known are perhaps Marvin Olasky [author of books such as 'The Tragedy of American Compassion'] and Edwin Yamauchi [author of books such as 'The Stones and the Scriptures'].

The Introduction to this 1998 book states, "The authors of these essays are members of the faculty at major secular research universities and are accomplished and respected in their profession. They have wrestled with these issues of life in our increasingly secular and complex world, and they have found meaning and purpose and value, the essence of life, in their Christian faith. Each essay is an account of an aspect of the author's own experience of Christian faith and its relevance to the academic enterprise, life in general and his or her own life. These essays are not theological treatises." (Pg. 12-13)

One essayist admits, "Millions of people have claimed that Jesus has revealed himself to them in response to actions of honest surrender that are analogous to my own experience. If Christianity is basically on the right track, we expect this to happen. This is not to say that millions couldn't be self-deceived or couldn't be deceived as a group. Millions could, myself included... However, if Christianity is basically true, we would expect interaction between God and humans to take place. That is the Christian claim and it is an extremely important claim about the nature of human existence in the universe. If nothing ever happened, then either Jesus doesn't care or Jesus doesn't exist. In that case we need to face the cold reality with a stiff upper lip. It can be done. Millions of people face the starkness of a meaningless universe with courage. But I don't think it's necessary or conforms to the realities of our existence." (Pg. 72)

Another says, "I sometimes marvel at the freedom that I have experienced as a Christian faculty member in a secular university. Part of that freedom stems from the value that the university places on diversity. It tolerates all beliefs and practices, including Christian ones. But this tolerance means nothing if we fail to act on it. I continually pray for boldness in my faith so that I may express beliefs, act in a manner consistent with those beliefs, and communicate respect and love for people who do not share my Christian faith... I am convinced that our colleges and universities desperately need Christian faculty to shine the light of Christ into the darkness that envelops many campuses... to be a fool for Christ is to offer real hope to searching students and faculty." (Pg. 104)

Another essayist admits, "It is not easy to speak about Jesus in a world dancing between a modernism that worships humanity and reason and a postmodernism that denies the existence of universal truth. How do I persuade students that the quality that makes us human is our soul or spirit, which does not emerge simply from the brain or result from psychological needs to please or reject our parents and others? I remind students that most of them are in college today because they acted on faith. They believed that a college education was important. They took on faith the beliefs of their parents, friends and counselors. We are creatures of faith... This describes part of the scientific method. We assume rationality, explanations, and axioms---rules we assume to be true without a priori proof in order to study the actions or consequences that follow from them... We act on faith and could not function without it." (Pg. 135-136)

An essayist who teaches philosophy observes, "I discovered early on that interest in the rationality of Christian belief may well not be welcomed in American churches that embrace mere Christianity. One reason for this is the impact of the privatization view within the church, which in many ways reflects the general culture... Another reason for this lack of interest is a slide that scholars and nonscholars easily make from (i) not everything about God can be known to (ii) God is incomprehensible to (iii) nothing can be known about God... Still another reason is the diminution that has occurred in much of American Christianity, for which conversion and evangelism, sometimes supplemented by social action, exhaust Christianity." (Pg. 212)

This is an interesting--if not particularly "earth-shaking"---collection of essays, that will probably be of most interest to Christians (students AND faculty) in secular settings.

[Craig MacKinnon · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a wide variety of essays in this book, varying both in length and subject. Some of the essays are personal ones on how the author became a Christian, some are on the integration of Christianity into the classroom (explicitly or implicitly), and some are expositions on Christian theory (the need for a personal relationship with Christ, for instance). The quality also varies widely, or rather, the value of a given essay to a particular reader will vary widely. I found the personal reminiscences to be most interesting. Those essays that dealt with the "theology" of Christianity were not nearly as good as a group. I think this is because people who are not theologians (or philosophers) are out of their element when writing in philosophical terms. They seem a little amateur, and overlap significantly (not surprising, since many Christians will have similar ideas on what is important). A second disappointment was with the number of essays involving the relationship between being a Christian and teaching in a secular university. The title of the book lead me to believe there would be more essays on this topic, but usually the fact that the author is a professor is irrelevant or of insignificant importance to the essay.

The most pleasant surprise of this book is the wide variety of backgrounds of the authors. There are people from numerous denominations, from Roman Catholics to biblical fundamentalists to African American Baptists. This variety is important and, I think, necessary, because there is far too much internecine squabbling amongst Christian denominations - this book makes clear that different methods of worship work for different people, and variety can serve to strengthen the Christian community, not weaken it. The professional disciplines of the authors also vary widely, from English literature to nursing to astronony.

Generally, this book is interesting, if suffering from some repetition. This is probably the nature of such an anthology, as I assume the authors were given a wide latitude on subject matter.

[Frank Peters · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very good and very encouraging. The vast majority of the essays were well written and deeply personal. I have read a number of similar books in the past, but this is the best I have read of this genre.

[Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good collection of academically trained Christian believers. It is fitting to find that many came to faith both by the all too typical route (questions, impressions, seemings paired with the spiritual disciplines and person of Jesus) coupled with academic reasoning.