Irrelevant Christianity?
“The major problem students face is not that their professors have set their minds against the God of the Bible. My colleagues teach as though the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob just simply didn’t exist.
“In a way it’s worse than saying Christianity is false. They are saying that Christianity is irrelevant.”
–Dr.Kenneth Elzinga,
Robert C. Taylor Professor of Economics,
University of Virginia
Good News: A Glimpse From Purdue University
There ARE Christian faculty on campuses across America that are increasingly showing that God is relevant.
Corey Miller, staff member at Purdue University with Faculty Commons, put together this brief video to illustrate the example of professors talking about their faith:
What does faculty ministry involve?
- Sharing Christ. We meet new professors during their first year of teaching. And, we meet older professors through their Christian colleagues.
- Building vision for ministry. Each week Steve sends a Ministry Minute to more than 2000 Christian professors across the U.S. These are first person narratives about successes and failures in living for Christ in the university.
- Discipleship Groups. We have materials written by and for professors.
- Guest Lectures. Professors both at our local universities, and from other universities, are invited by us to present lectures on a variety of topics to both students and colleagues.
- The philosophy of the classroom today becomes the philosophy of our culture tomorrow.
- Christian professors show by their words and their example that believers can be intellectual and caring people.
- They reach students who would never darken the door of a church or Christian group in college.
- Their presence encourages Christian students to seek out answers to the questions that arise about their faith.