Toward a Biblical Philosophy of Christian Higher Education

Transcription

1 Tward a Biblical Philsphy f Christian Higher Educatin All cllege-bund students and their parents have t face the decisin t attend a Christian r nn- Christian cllege r university. Thse wh take the time t pray and think thrugh this decisin will ultimately make a better chice than thse wh d nt. The fllwing is ffered as fd fr thught. One f the majr reasns t attend cllege is because yu believe it is Gd s will as He prepares yu fr yur future vcatin. A cllege educatin is therefre part f His plan t develp yur character, yur wrldview, and yur intellectual abilities. This will prepare yu t enter yur chsen prfessin where yu will use yur Gd-given gifts and talents t serve Gd and yur fellw man. One key questin t ask when making this critical decisin is, what cllege r university is the best fit fr me? Yu will want t search fr these three vital aspects: 1. A strng learning envirnment- One f the best ways t discern this area is t talk t current students and prfessrs, preferably during a cllege visit. 2. Gdly, charactered, rle mdels t fllw- Yu may find rle mdels in peers, prfessrs, r fellw athletes, s make sure that there are thse n campus that inspire yu and encurage yu tward yur call t Biblical ideals. 3. A cmmunity f like-minded believers- If yu are at a distinctively Christian cllege, yu will need t get int a small grup fr fellwship, encuragement and accuntability. If yu are at a nn-christian cllege yu will mst likely find this cmmunity in members f ne f the campus Christian ministries such as Intervarsity, Campus Crusade fr Christ, r the Fellwship f Christian Athletes. Fllwing are fur reasns why yu shuld cnsider attending a distinctively Christian cllege: 1. Cntinued develpment f yur Biblical wrldview- Let s face it; high schl graduates d nt yet have a fully develped Biblical wrldview. The Nehemiah Institute, based upn wrldview test results frm 1988 t the present, cncludes that each year Christian high schl students are thinking less Biblically and mre like humanists r scialists. Students in Christian clleges have the pprtunity t gain an understanding f their subject frm a distinctively Biblical perspective. Philippians 2:8 urges, Beware lest any man spil yu thrugh philsphy and vain deceit after the traditins f men, after the rudiments f the wrld and nt after Christ. Subjects will either be taught frm the perspective f Christ r the ppsite perspectivewhether humanist, scialist, materialist, new-age r ther wrldviews. As believers, we have a duty t cntinue t learn the Biblical perspective n all f life, t take every thught captive t the bedience f Christ. (II Crinthians 10:5) Just what wrldview perspective shuld students expect t find n cllege campuses? Obviusly it will vary, as prfessrs vary greatly in their persnal wrldviews. Yu will find thse wh espuse the Biblical wrldview, as well as humanists, evlutinists, new-agers, multi-culturalists, Marxists, scialists, cnservatives, libertarians, and thse wh practice syncretism, mixing

2 wrldviews. Studies indicate that, in general, cllege prfessrs are liberal. A Washingtn Pst article(march 29, 2005)reprted the results f a study indicating that at nn-christian clleges 72% f prfessrs were liberal, 84% favr abrtin and 67% say that hmsexuality is acceptable. Hwever, sme prfessrs will be fine with the students understanding, but nt adpting, their psitins n cntrversial r wrldview tpics such as diversity, religin, multiculturalism, feminism, civil gvernment s rle and jurisdictin, ecnmics, etc. Many will teach their curses with their pre-suppsitins latent rather than vert, thus giving the impressin that they are fair and balanced. Sme will be flaming liberals wh truly believe that they have a mandate t make sure that students wrldviews need t change and cnfrm t their truth, which is t them the abslute truth. Fr example, Richard Rrty ( ), prfessr at UVA, Stanfrd, and Princetn, was quite plain n his view f the rle f the prfessr: The fundamentalist parents (i.e. Christian parents) f ur fundamentalist students (i.e. Christian students) think that the entire American liberal establishment is engaged in a cnspiracy. These parents have a pint. When we American cllege teachers encunter religius fundamentalists, we d nt cnsider the pssibility f refrmulating ur wn practices f justificatin s as t give mre weight t the authrity f the Christian scriptures. Instead, we d ur best t cnvince these students f the benefits f (humanistic) secularizatin. Rather, I think these students are lucky t find themselves under the benevlent Herrschaft (teaching) f peple like me, and t have escaped the grip f their frightening, vicius, dangerus parents. (Rbert B. Brandm, ed., Rrty and His Critics) Rrty believed that his gal was, t arrange things s that students wh enter as bigted, hmphbic, religius fundamentalists will leave cllege with views mre like ur wn. What percent f cllege prfessrs are like Rrty? Will my child encunter such blatant in yur face challenges t their Biblical wrldview? Yu just dn t knw, but preparatin fr, r avidance f this pssibility, is a must. Will all Christian clleges prvide a distinctly Biblical perspective in all curses? Of curse nt; this will vary by cllege and prfessr. Sme clleges take Biblical wrldview integratin very seriusly, while thers leave it up t each prfessr. T truly knw, yu must d yur hmewrk when yu research, t determine what the cllege will prvide in this area. 2. Cntinued develpment f yur faith- D yu, as a Christian parent, want t ensure that yur sn r daughter makes it thrugh cllege with his r her faith intact? Of curse yu d! There are a number f studies that indicate that many f ur yung adults either cmpletely lse their faith, r experience little spiritual grwth during the cllege years. One may be tempted t reasn, I have a slid Christian faith at age 18, s I dn t need any additinal Christian educatin. The research says therwise. The Natinal Study f Cllege Students Search fr Meaning and Purpse reveals that cllege freshman are vulnerable: 79% believe in Gd, 69%

3 pray, and 81% attend religius service; hwever, 57% questin their religius belief, 52% disagree with parents abut religius matters and 65% feel distant frm Gd. If these students are in an envirnment where their faith is nt encuraged, r even wrse, discuraged, it is easy t see why they wuld regress spiritually, rather than grw. A UCLA Higher Educatin Research Institute study by Steve Hendersn and Gary Railsback cncluded that ver half (52%) f prfessed brn again freshman, wh attend a public university wuld lse their faith by graduatin. Specifically, they wuld have nt attended a religius service in the past year and n lnger identify themselves as prfessing Christians. This means that there is a ne in tw chance that yur child will have a significant spiritual challenge in cllege. Christian clleges, by design, build students up in their faith, rather than inculcate skepticism. 3. Avidance f pressure tward sinful habits and lifestyles- Accrding t the Natinal Institute n Drug Abuse, apprximately 41% f the cllege students engage in heavy drinking (five + drinks in a rw in a tw week perid). Additinally, 35% f cllege students used an illicit drug in the previus year. We knw that ur yung peple face severe temptatins n cllege campuses. Many schls are knwn as party schls. Sme have bserved that nw all schls are party schls. Partying is s cmmn place that it is nw lked upn as a jke rather than smething t be seriusly cncerned abut. The temptatins that yu will face in mst clleges range frm drinking, drug use, frnicatin, t hmsexuality and ther perversins. On many cllege campuses drinking and frnicatin are s rampant and accepted that a student will be stracized and criticized if he des nt participate. Many cave in, g t the party, and take up scial drinking, nt because they want t, and feel this is gd fr them, but because they dn t want t be the nly ne wh desn t. Hw different it is n the campus f a Christian cllege where students are encuraged t a lifestyle f hliness. Of curse, nt all Christian cllege students are pursuing a lifestyle that is pleasing t the Lrd, but a significant number are, s that the peer pressure is t purity rather than ungdliness. 4. Teaching and mentring by believers- Luke 6:40 says, A student is nt abve his teacher, but everyne wh is fully trained will be like his teacher. Cllege students are nt yet fully trained but rather are still being trained. Students and parents still need t carefully chse thse wh will teach, mentr and train during these critical years f grwth. Again, clleges differ greatly and s d faculty members. Spiritually they will vary frm strng men and wmen f Gd t hard cre atheists, Marxists, New Agers, and thers. Gary A. Tbin, president f the Institute fr Jewish and Cmmunity Research, studied levels f academic anti-semitism cmpared t hstility tward ther religius grups. He surveyed 1,269 faculty members frm 712 clleges and universities. The results were quite extrardinary. He fund the faculty t have unfavrable views f the fllwing religius grups, in these percentages: Jews- 3%

4 Buddhists- 4% Nn-evangelical Christians- 9% Nt practicing any religin- 10% Cathlics- 13% Atheists- 18% Muslims- 22% Mrmns- 33% Evangelical Christians- 53% Tbin was shcked. After hearing the reactin t his research findings frm academic leaders wh tried t justify the bias, he cncluded, The prejudice is s deep that faculty des nt have any prblem justifying it. They tried t dismiss it and said they had gd reasn fr it. I dn t think that if I d uncvered bigtry r scial dissnance abut Latins, wmen, blacks, r Jews, they wuld have had that same respnse. (Wrld Magazine, August 18, 2007) Thus, evangelical Christians shuld expect t find a hstile envirnment in at least half f the classrms in nn- Christian clleges. T what extent prfessrs will try t tear dwn r discredit their faith will depend upn the cllege and specific prfessr. In light f these realities, I wuld urge parents and students t wrk carefully thrugh this issue. One f the best tls fr this task is the cllege planning bk Walking Thrugh the Cllege Planning Prcess (ISBN ) by Rick Hrne. Keep in mind that there are significant differences in Christian clleges. Christian clleges vary just as nn-christian nes. It is imprtant t ask hard questins t discern such issues as: Cmmitment t Biblical inerrancy Cmmitment t the sufficiency f Scripture (Is Scripture able t draw unbelievers t Christ, t enable me t grw in gdliness, t prvide directin t my life and t g beynd myself and beynd the church t transfrm and revitalize all f sciety?) Cmmitment t Biblical student lifestyles (what are the schl s plicies n alchl and drug use, sexual immrality, hmsexuality, students f the ppsite sex in drm rms, etc.?) Cmmitment t intentinally teaching the Biblical wrldview in all curses Sme questins yu may want t ask Christian clleges are: 1. Are all faculty members required t sign a statement f faith every year? 2. Can yu explain hw a prfessr f histry, scilgy, r psychlgy, wuld integrate Scripture int his r her curse? 3. Are religius activities (chapel, prayer meetings, and classes) mandatry r vluntary? 4. T what extent des the student bdy practice a lifestyle f hliness?

5 In summary, I whleheartedly agree with Dan Crabtree, cunselr at Wheatn Academy: Therefre, fr a Christian student, the fundatinal principle in finding a gd cllege match is this: If yu are serius abut yur faith, yu shuld select a cllege that takes yur faith seriusly, unless the Lrd specifically directs yu smewhere else...as yu knw, cmputers have default settings. A default is, a curse f actin that a prgram will take when a user r prgrammer specifies n verriding actin. A default is typically cnsidered the best r mst lgical chice. I cnsider a Christian university t be the default fr Christian students- the best r mst lgical chice. (Wheatn Academy handbk) Fr thse wh d feel called t a nn-christian cllege r university, what can yu d t ensure that yu have the best pssible experience, bth spiritually and academically? Cnsider the fllwing: 1. Obtain a Christian rmmate- Having a believer as a rmmate can be a significant encuragement t bth f yu as yu strive t live a life pleasing t the Lrd. Ecclesiastes 4:10 indicates the imprtance f having a gd clse friend: If ne falls dwn, his friend can help him up. But pity the man wh falls and has n ne t help him up! Yu can search fr a ptential Christian rmmate at 2. Immediately cnnect with believers n campus- Research cnducted by liveabve.cm indicates that students need t cnnect with believers n campus within 72 hurs after they arrive r there is a gd chance that they never will. Set a gal t find ut abut campus ministries befre setting ft n campus. Yu can d s by visiting 3. Make yurself accuntable-d yu want t make sure that yu hld t certain standards that yu have set fr yurself, and avid certain temptatins? James 5:16 says, Cnfess yur faults t ne anther, and pray fr ne anther, that yu may be healed. Make yurself accuntable t smene. This culd be yur rmmate, a Christian friend, r a parent. Set a time t meet peridically, discuss issues f the heart, and pray tgether. Allw yur accuntability partner t ask yu hard questins such as, What temptatins are yu facing, and hw are yu ding with them? r Did yu attend church this week?, r Hw are yu ding with yur devtins?