The Intellectual Life of a Christian University

George M. Marsden in his seminal work, The Soul of the American University: from Protestant Establishment to Established Unbelief (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994), traced how many colleges and universities went from Christian beginnings to secular ends. It also posed the question, later debated in higher education circles, of the place, if any, of distinctly Christian scholarship in the modern academy.

Recently, Baylor's Douglas V. Henry and Michael D. Beaty edited Christianity and the Soul of the University (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006), which "explores the role that reflective Christian faith can play in unifying the life of the university." Ibid., p.9. It is highly recommended.

The chapters in the first part of the book "survey the fundamental issues that bear on the notion of the Christian intellectual community." Ibid., p.12. One essay was penned by David Lyle Jeffrey, Distinguished Professor of Literature and the Humanities.

The second part of the books suggests practices that would lead to such a unified Christian community. It includes a chapter by Baylor's Daniel H. Williams, professor of religion in patristics and historical theology.

Douglas V. Henry is an assistant professor of philosophy, and he is also the Director of the Institute for Faith and Learning. Michael D. Beaty is Department Chair and professor of philosophy.