Preparing for the Academics in the Alps 2025 Conference
All of us who will be gathering for the Academics in the Alps 2025 Conference will be there because we want to bring glory to God in academia. That is what motivates us. The conference sessions have been carefully planned to help equip each of us to more effectively serve Christ both in our academic work and beyond the classroom as well. While there are no required videos or readings for the conference, here are some materials I would encourage you to listen to and read beforehand. The link is embedded in each title, so you have easy access. Just right-click on the hyperlink and press Open Hyperlink or Open Weblink on the browser. This will open the document or video on the internet. Hopefully, they will broaden your vision, prod your thinking, stir your soul, raise your expectations, and give you fresh insights by preparing your mind and heart for what you will hear and experience at Wilderswil. Enjoy and be refreshed and challenged.
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 reflects on the purpose, strengths, and challenges of academic life from a Christian perspective. Exploring both the ideals and realities of the university, he discusses the pursuit of truth, the influence of ideas, the pressures of academic culture, and the unique opportunities Christians have to serve faithfully in higher education. The lecture also addresses the spiritual challenges faced by Christian academics (including intellectual pride, compartmentalizing faith and scholarship, anti-intellectualism in the church, and maintaining a healthy devotional life), encouraging believers to integrate faith, learning, and vocation with wisdom, humility, and a deep commitment to Scripture.
“Embracing Our Calling to the Academy”
Speaker: Daryl McCarthy
Length: 45:25
In this lecture, Daryl McCarthy argues that higher education is one of the most strategic places for shaping lives, ideas, and future leaders. Through historical examples, personal stories, and biblical reflection, he makes the case that Christian scholars are urgently needed in universities and seminaries, where worldviews are formed and culture is influenced. Emphasizing that teaching, scholarship, and academic leadership are meaningful forms of Christian ministry, the lecture encourages believers to view their work in the academy as a holy calling through which they can faithfully serve Christ and help shape society for the 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 how Christian faith can meaningfully shape academic life through teaching, mentoring, scholarship, and service. Drawing on his experience as a professor, he argues that Christ should not be an “add-on” to academic work but the very foundation of a professor’s calling and teaching philosophy. Using the example of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet, the talk presents teaching as an act of humble service, encouraging Christian academics to pursue excellence, care for students personally, and remain open about their faith in thoughtful and appropriate ways. Emphasizing humility, hospitality, integrity, prayer, and Christlike leadership, the lecture highlights how faithful Christian presence in the academy can profoundly shape students’ lives.
“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 academic work, encouraging Christian educators to pursue excellence, care for students personally, and model humility, hospitality, and Christlike leadership. The paper highlights how faithful Christian presence in the academy can meaningfully 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. Arguing that all educators teach from underlying assumptions about knowledge, human nature, and learning, they examine how worldview, culture, religion, and educational traditions influence teaching across different contexts. The chapter encourages Christian educators to develop a biblically grounded philosophy of education that thoughtfully integrates faith, pedagogy, and cultural awareness in shaping teaching and learning.
“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.