Serving Christ in the Academy
Serving Christ in higher education brings unique opportunities and challenges. These curated resources—lectures, articles, and downloadable readings—are intended to help Christian academics integrate faith and scholarship, pursue excellence, and engage the university with wisdom and conviction. Videos can be viewed directly on this page, and papers are available for download. May these resources encourage, challenge, and equip you to serve Christ faithfully in the academy.
Understanding Higher Education and Our Calling to Academia
“Christians in Higher Education: Living Worthy of the Calling”
Speaker: Dirk Jongkind
Length: 49:48
In this lecture, Dirk Jongkind explores what it means for Christians to live faithfully within higher education. Drawing from biblical principles and personal reflection, he challenges students, academics, and professionals to pursue intellectual excellence while remaining grounded in Christian calling and witness. The talk considers questions of vocation, truth, faith, and the unique opportunities and challenges Christians face in universities and academic life.
“Embracing Our Calling to the Academy”
Speaker: Daryl McCarthy
Length: 45:25
In this lecture, Daryl McCarthy reflects on the Christian vocation within academic life, encouraging scholars, students, and educators to view the academy as a place of meaningful service and faithful witness. He explores how Christians can integrate faith with intellectual pursuit, embrace their calling in higher education, and contribute thoughtfully to scholarship, culture, and the common good.
“Problems Christians Have with Higher Education”
Author: Daryl McCarthy​
The author argues that many Christian academics experience anti-intellectual attitudes in churches and families, ranging from skepticism to outright resistance toward higher education. He explores the reasons Christians often distrust academia, while also acknowledging the real limitations of education. At the same time, he contends that anti-intellectualism ultimately weakens Christian faith and undermines commitment to biblical truth. McCarthy concludes by encouraging churches to foster critical thinking, meaningful engagement with learning, and the development of a strong Christian worldview.
Author: Daryl McCarthy​
The author addresses the skepticism many Christians face about participating in higher education, particularly in environments perceived as hostile to Christian belief. Arguing that ideas shape lives, culture, and future leaders, he makes the case that Christians are urgently needed in universities and seminaries. The paper emphasizes that teaching and scholarship are meaningful forms of Christian ministry through which believers can influence students, serve the Church, and faithfully engage the world of ideas.
“Learning in War-Time,” in The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1975, pp. 41–52.
Author: C.S. Lewis
The author argues that crises such as war should not stop Christians from pursuing learning, since uncertainty and danger are normal parts of life. He maintains that scholarship remains a meaningful calling when offered to God and warns against distraction, fear, and discouragement. Lewis encourages believers to continue intellectual work faithfully, even in difficult times.
Author: Charles Habib Malik
The author argues that Christians have two inseparable responsibilities: the spiritual task of proclaiming and living out the Christian faith, and the intellectual task of engaging and shaping the world of ideas. Malik warns that modern culture and universities are increasingly shaped by secular philosophies hostile to Christian truth, and he calls believers, especially scholars and students, to serious intellectual engagement. He argues that Christians must strengthen both spiritual devotion and academic excellence in order to influence culture and faithfully serve the Church.
Serving Christ in the Academy
“Serving Christ in Academia”
Speaker: Daniel Hill
Length: 33:25
In this lecture, Daniel Hill reflects on what it means to serve Christ faithfully within academic life. Drawing on biblical principles and personal experience in higher education, he explores how Christian faith shapes the motives, manner, content, and choices of academic work, including teaching, research, and administration. The speaker offers practical guidance on integrating faith with scholarship, encouraging Christians to pursue truth, serve with integrity, think carefully about ethical and vocational decisions, and use their academic calling in ways that benefit both the Church and society.
“Excellent Teachers: Effective Communication in the Classroom”
Speaker: Teri McCarthy
Length: 49:26
In this lecture, Teri McCarthy explores how Christian educators can teach with excellence, intentionality, and spiritual integrity. Drawing on biblical principles, Christian thinkers such as Dallas Willard and Abraham Kuyper, and personal teaching experience, she discusses effective classroom communication, intentional curriculum design, and the qualities of strong teachers, including credibility, flexibility, preparation, and care for students. The speaker presents the classroom as a place of vocation and ministry, encouraging educators to combine academic excellence with Christlike service, prayerful preparation, and meaningful engagement with students.
Author: Andreas Köstenberger
The author reflects on the qualities of an ideal Christian scholar, arguing that academic excellence must be grounded in spiritual and moral formation. He identifies eight essential pillars of scholarship, including love for God and Scripture, humility, commitment to the church, mission-mindedness, scholarly craftsmanship, and creativity. Köstenberger emphasizes that Christian scholarship should combine intellectual rigor with faithful discipleship, encouraging scholars to pursue research, teaching, and writing in ways that honor God and serve both the academy and the church.
“The Academy and Jesus,”
pp. 73-85, A Grander Story: An Invitation to Christian Professors by Rick Hove and Heather Holleman. Orlando, Florida: Cru Press, 2017.
Author: Ken Elzinga
The author reflects on how Christian faith can shape academic life through teaching, mentoring, and service. Drawing on his experience as a professor, he argues that Christ should be the foundation of a professor’s work rather than an “add-on,” encouraging Christian academics to teach with excellence, care for students personally, and remain open about their faith in appropriate ways. Emphasizing humility, hospitality, and Christlike leadership, he highlights how faithful Christian presence in the academy can deeply influence students both inside and outside the classroom.
Thinking, Living, and Teaching with a
Christ-centered Worldview
Author: Dallas Willard
The author argues that Jesus should be understood not only as a spiritual teacher but also as a profound and careful thinker whose teaching displays deep logical insight. Examining examples from the Gospels, Willard shows how Jesus used reason, analogy, implication, and contradiction to challenge false assumptions, expose hypocrisy, and lead people toward truth. He contends that Christians often overlook the intellectual brilliance of Jesus, to the detriment of faith and learning, and calls scholars and educators to recognize Jesus as a model for rigorous thinking and intellectual life. Willard ultimately encourages Christians to see logic and careful reasoning as important dimensions of discipleship and the integration of faith and scholarship.
Author: Harry Blamires
The author argues that a distinctly Christian mind is shaped by an eternal and supernatural perspective rather than a purely secular outlook. He contends that Christians should interpret all areas of life (including culture, ethics, suffering, success, and public issues) through the realities of God, eternity, heaven, and judgment. Blamires critiques the tendency of Christians to adopt secular assumptions in public and intellectual life, warning that this weakens Christian witness and thought. He calls believers to cultivate a coherent Christian worldview that brings faith consciously into intellectual, social, and cultural engagement.
“Jesus Christ and the Life of the Mind,” Chapter 2, Jesus Christ: Motives for Serious Learning, pp. 23-42, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011.
Author: Mark A. Noll
The author explores how the person and work of Jesus Christ provide a foundation and motivation for intellectual inquiry and Christian scholarship. Drawing heavily from Scripture (especially Colossians and John’s Gospel), Noll argues that because Christ is creator, sustainer, redeemer, and the incarnate Word, all areas of knowledge and human experience are worthy of thoughtful study. He emphasizes that Christian learning should be grounded in humility, shaped by God’s providence, attentive to the material world through the incarnation, and directed toward truth, beauty, and human flourishing. The chapter encourages believers to view intellectual life as an act of faithful discipleship, where serious learning becomes a way of understanding God’s world through Christ.
“Philosophy of Education 101,” pp. 56-77, Chapter 3,
Teaching in a Distant Classroom: Crossing Borders for Global Transformation.
Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2009.
Author: Michael Romanowski and Teri McCarthy
The authors explore how a teacher’s philosophy of education shapes classroom practice, goals, relationships, and methods of instruction. The chapter argues that all educators teach from underlying assumptions about knowledge, human nature, and learning, whether consciously recognized or not. Drawing on cross-cultural examples, the authors examine how worldview, culture, religion, and educational traditions influence teaching practices in different contexts, particularly in international and intercultural settings. They encourage Christian educators to develop a biblically grounded philosophy of education that thoughtfully integrates faith, pedagogy, and respect for cultural differences while guiding decisions about curriculum, classroom management, student relationships, and learning outcomes.
“The Four Loves of Robert Jenson,”
First Things, October 13, 2022.
Author: Robert P. George
The author reflects on the life and character of theologian Robert Jenson through the lens of four interconnected loves that shaped his scholarship and vocation: a love of ideas, a love of truth, a love of people, and a deep love for Jesus Christ. Drawing on personal experiences and academic encounters, George portrays Jenson as a rigorous yet generous scholar who combined intellectual seriousness with friendship, humility, and pastoral concern. The essay highlights how Jenson’s Christian faith informed both his theological work and personal relationships, presenting him as a model of faithful scholarship grounded in intellectual curiosity, human affection, and devotion to Christ.
Understanding How True
and Reliable Scripture Is
“Nazarenes and the Authority of the Bible from 1908 to 1988: Eighty Years of Changing Definitions in the Church of the Nazarene”
(Unpublished, 2013)
Author: Daryl McCarthy
The author traces how views of biblical authority changed within the Church of the Nazarene over eight decades. He argues that early Nazarene leaders strongly affirmed biblical inspiration, infallibility, and inerrancy, aligning themselves closely with conservative responses to liberal theology and higher criticism. McCarthy contends that beginning in the 1930s, influential Nazarene theologians gradually shifted toward more limited understandings of inspiration, leading to significant theological changes by the late twentieth century. The paper examines key figures, doctrinal revisions, denominational publications, and debates over the relationship between Wesleyan theology and biblical inerrancy, highlighting broader tensions over faith, scholarship, and theological identity.
Learning from C. S. Lewis
Author: Daryl McCarthy
The author explores how the person and work of Jesus Christ provide a foundation and motivation for intellectual inquiry and Christian scholarship. Drawing heavily from Scripture (especially Colossians and John’s Gospel), Noll argues that because Christ is creator, sustainer, redeemer, and the incarnate Word, all areas of knowledge and human experience are worthy of thoughtful study. He emphasizes that Christian learning should be grounded in humility, shaped by God’s providence, attentive to the material world through the incarnation, and directed toward truth, beauty, and human flourishing. The article encourages believers to view intellectual life as an act of faithful discipleship, where serious learning becomes a way of understanding God’s world through Christ.
Author: Daryl McCarthy
The authors examines the spiritual life and character of C. S. Lewis, arguing that Lewis’s influence as a scholar and apologist flowed from his deep commitment to Christian discipleship. Focusing on Lewis’s transformation after conversion, McCarthy explores how Lewis practiced prayer, Scripture reading, worship, evangelism, humility, generosity, patience, and kindness despite personal struggles and professional opposition. Through examples from Lewis’s life, the article presents him as a model for Christian academics, encouraging believers to pursue spiritual disciplines, Christlike character, and faithful service in both scholarship and daily life.
Author: Daryl McCarthy
The author explores how C. S. Lewis maintained a deep and resilient hope despite personal suffering, professional rejection, and cultural pessimism. Drawing extensively from Lewis’s writings, McCarthy argues that Lewis’s hope was grounded in confidence in Christ, prayer, and a vivid expectation of heaven, which shaped both his scholarship and daily life. The paper examines how hope informed Lewis’s approach to suffering, worship, obedience, evangelism, and academic work, encouraging Christian scholars to cultivate an eternal perspective and live faithfully as people of hope in a skeptical world.
Applying a Christian Worldview
Author: Daryl McCarthy
The author argues that John Wesley should be understood not only as an evangelist and founder of Methodism, but also as a significant Christian public intellectual who applied biblical truth to the social, political, economic, and cultural issues of his day. Drawing on Wesley’s sermons, writings, and activism, McCarthy highlights Wesley’s engagement with topics such as politics, poverty, education, economics, justice, slavery, and public morality, showing how his deeply biblical worldview shaped both thought and action. The paper presents Wesley as a model for contemporary Christian scholars, encouraging believers to engage public life with intellectual rigor, moral courage, commitment to Scripture, and practical concern for the common good.