Comments for The Christian University at http://www.thecatholicthing.org , comment 1 to 6 out of 6 comments http://www.thecatholicthing.org Tue, 21 May 2013 11:25:35 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/the-christian-university.html#comment-8417 Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a "seriously Christian" educational institution. I challenge you to find such an institution proclaimed as such in the Holy Bible. Theology, under any auspices, is a man made exercise to exegete Biblical principles. A man's seriousness has nothing to do with the truth of his relationship to God through Jesus Christ. It therefore follows that a serious Christian institution of higher learning is no more hallowed than a secular academia, despite the romantic notions to the contrary. Christian courses in civil engineering are not superior to secular civil engineering. There is only one kind of Christian knowledge and that is knowledge of Christ. "None can come to the Father..." says it all. Supremacy is in Christ Jesus. He alone is the "academia" we seek. Much of the error and sin of modern man is tied to the institutionalization, and may I say, the fetishization of Christian identity. Learning is a human activity. It does not serve us to get into the game of judging one institution more serious about Christ than another. This is divisive and self-defeating, because it is sinful and counter to Christ's teachings. neither Christian nor secular educational institutions are appropriate places for Christianity to flourish. Christianity is not academic knowledge. It is identity with Christ. It is achieved, once and for all, by complete surrender to Jesus, the only "serious" activity that He requires. - Paul Sat, 08 Oct 2011 14:50:27 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/the-christian-university.html#comment-8355 Wouldn't Newman amend Professor Beckwith's thesis to: A Christian school regards theology as a legitimate academic discipline that COMPLETES AND PERFECTS the other academic disciplines? A truly Christian university would teach not only history, but also the theology of history; not only physics, but also the theology of physics; etc. While having every member of every department so competent and committed might be too idealistic, surely every Christian university could have at least one member in each department who is competent and committed enough to synthesize Faith and Reason as Reason is expressed in that particular discipline. - Martinkus Mon, 03 Oct 2011 03:03:11 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/the-christian-university.html#comment-8350 Thank you Marie and Prof. Beckwith. Let us take this logic to the next step. If it doesn't matter whether the school is Evangelical or Catholic, would a Yeshiva suffice as well? After all, the teaching would not be "neutral" and the teaching would be grounded in a theology. Of course, this theology excludes the Trinity and does not agree that Christ was/is the Messiah, but the teaching would not be secular. I thought the purpose of a religious education was to teach and learn the Truth. - Manfred Sat, 01 Oct 2011 20:36:04 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/the-christian-university.html#comment-8349 Marie is correct. Thank you! - Francis J. Beckwith Sat, 01 Oct 2011 18:54:36 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/the-christian-university.html#comment-8341 I don't think Prof. Beckwith's presentation was cloudy at all. His point, if I am understanding him correctly, is that while secular universities often portray themselves as bastions of academic freedom, the truth is that secular education is impoverished. It is impoverished due to the refusal to engage with theological insight. Rather than a "neutral" position, the secular university "deliberately excludes" a worldview grounded in the legitimate academic tradition of theology. This fact can be established regardless of whether one is speaking of an Evangelical or Catholic school, as the problem is really one of atheism and scientific elitism. - Marie Fri, 30 Sep 2011 20:02:05 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/the-christian-university.html#comment-8336 Thank you for an interesting article, Prof. Beckwith. If I am correct, Trinity Law School is an Evangelical Christian Law School which I am not sure was made clear. The matter becomes cloudy when you cite, perhaps innocently, John Henry Cardinal Newman and his Idea of a University. Was he writing of a Catholic University or a generic Christian University? I believe it was the former. The quote I prefer from Newman is "To be deep in history is to cease to be a Protestant." Many of the problems the true Church faces today began with the Reformation. As a result,the secular world looks upon religion as problematic and we all live with the result. - Manfred Fri, 30 Sep 2011 11:05:09 +0100