God and the Academy:
An International Conference for Christian Professors - June 21-25, 2000

 - "Finally, someone recognizes my calling to serve God as a professor," one university faculty member sighed in relief. Christian professors have a very unique and strategic role of service to God at the university, but often they feel isolated and discouraged. Faculty colleagues are sometimes aloof or even hostile, and the Christian community sometimes does not seem to value theoretical research or the life of the mind.

God and the Academy, a conference for Christian professors by Christian professors, will be a refreshing time of renewing our call as faculty, sharpening our vision and charting the course for the new century. It will be held on the campus of Georgia Tech University, June 21-25, 2000, in Atlanta, Georgia. A unique international conference, God and the Academy is open only to college and university professors and administrators, and to those in graduate school preparing to be professors.

If you are not a professor, do you know one? Please tell any Christian professors you know about this strategic conference. God and the Academy will explore academic integration--the relationship between various disciplines and the Christian faith, how to develop a Christian worldview, personal and professional development, and apologetics. Professors will have an extended time each day to meet with others in their own academic discipline. Many of the following articles in our Special Focus are by professors who will be speaking at the conference.

—Byron Barlowe, Editor/Webmaster, Leadership University


Featured Articles:

The Christian Scholar in the 21st Century
Alister McGrath, Ph.D.
Dr. Alister McGrath of Oxford explains the history of evangelicalism in the university and in academic scholarship. He outlines why evangelicalism abandoned the academy in the past and how it can regain a foothold in the university once again.

On Integrating Your Faith
Rae Mellichamp, Ph.D.
The difference between the Christian who happens to be a professor and the professor who happens to be a Christian can be measured by how well one has thought through the issue of how the Christian worldview resonates with his or her academic discipline.

The Calling of a Christian Professor
Walter Bradley, Ph.D.
From the Biblical precedents for a professor's calling to addressing common fears about having a public faith and specific ways in which faculty can minister to students and colleagues on campus, Dr. Bradley speaks from years of experience and draws from numerous personally tested ministry strategies.

The Courage to Teach Well
Nancy Simpson, Ph.D.; Liz Miller, Ph.D.; Jean Layne
Professors from Texas A&M University's Center for Teaching Excellence set forth principles for effective teaching. They show that faith in Christ can be a primary inner resource and motivation for excellence in teaching.

Toward Integrating Your Life and Your Work
Edward Harris, Ph.D.
Does your work matter to God? Is your vocation an integral part of who you are as a Christian? The answers have implications for all believers in secular vocations, especially those in academia.

When Worldviews Collide
Armand Nicholi, M.D.
A professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Nicholi has developed an undergraduate course at Harvard comparing the worldviews of C. S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud. This article contrasts their viewpoints on life, pain and death.

A Christian Critique of the University
Charles Malik, Ph.D.
An outstanding scholar and International diplomat, Dr. Charles Malik (1906-1987) first gave this address at the University of Waterloo's Pascal Lectures. This article is also the first three chapters of his book, A Christian Critique of the University, first published in 1982.

What are the Obligations of Professors to Reveal their Personal Philosophies of Life to Students?
Dr. Otto J. Helweg, Ph.D.
Dr. Helweg examines the historical background and the practical application of the roles of the professor as a mentor, and the Christian as a professor.

What (If Anything) Hath God Wrought? Academic Freedom and the Religious Professor
Phillip E. Johnson, J.D.
The issue of academic freedom is constantly debated in the media and on campus. This article examines key legal issues surrounding this debate.

Scientific Evidence for the Existence of God
Walter Bradley, Ph.D.
This is a lecture Dr. Bradley has given on numerous campuses. He examines the scientific evidence and explains that belief in the existence of God is reasonable.


Featured Web Sites:

God and the Academy: An International Conference for Christian Professors
June 21-25, 2000; Georgia Institute of Technology; Atlanta, Georgia
The conference web site of this unique conference for professors. For the latest information on who is speaking, on-line registration, and other conference information, see this site.

Christian Leadership Ministries' Academic Initiative
Our mission is to influence the university and world for Christ by increasing the prominence of the Christian world view in all academic disciplines by influencing today's professors and cultivating tomorrow's professors.

Academic Integration Page
Christian Leadership's Academic Integration Page is designed primarily for articles which address the complex relationship of integrating one's Christian faith to the academic disciplines, for discussion of philosophical and theological issues which arise within the Christian faith related to academic integration, for exemplary models of Christian academic integration, and for articles primarily from (but not limited to) a Christian perspective that deal critically with the philosophic and academic credentials of a Christian perspective of the disciplines. See our introductory articles by Dr. Alvin Plantinga and Dr. J.P. Moreland.



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