Life in the Academy

This is Part 4 in a five-part essay series. A version of this essay was originally published online and in print as part of “Faithful Presence in the Midst of Pluralism: Three Tensions” at Ad Fontes. In the previous essays we have considered two tensions of living with faithful Christian presence: affirmation and antithesis and engagement and distinctness. In fact, both of these tensions rest on an even more basic tension: humility and hope. Matthew Kaemingk describes Dutch Reformed theologian and statesman Abraham … [Read more...] about Faithful Presence: Three Tensions of Faithful Presence in the Midst of Pluralism: Humility and Hope

This is Part 3 in a five-part essay series. A version of this essay was originally published online and in print as part of “Faithful Presence in the Midst of Pluralism: Three Tensions” at Ad Fontes. In the previous essay, we considered the tension between affirmation and antithesis. Faithful presence further involves living in the tension between engaging the world and remaining distinct from it. In fact, these two tensions depend upon one another: it may be easier to avoid the distortions of engagement and … [Read more...] about Faithful Presence: Three Tensions of Faithful Presence in the Midst of Pluralism: Engagement and Distinctness

This is Part 2 in a five-part essay series. A version of this essay was originally published online and in print as part of “Faithful Presence in the Midst of Pluralism: Three Tensions” at Ad Fontes. The call to faithful presence in the midst of deep pluralism, in and beyond higher education, requires us to learn to learn to live with certain unresolvable tensions. The first of these tensions is affirmation and antithesis.[1] Affirmation involves explicitly recognizing and celebrating whatever is good, true, and … [Read more...] about Faithful Presence: Three Tensions of Faithful Presence in the Midst of Pluralism: Affirmation and Antithesis

This is Part 1 in a five-part essay series. A version of this essay was originally published online and in print as part of “Faithful Presence in the Midst of Pluralism: Three Tensions” at Ad Fontes. How should we as Christians, with our distinctive beliefs, practices, and values, live faithfully in an increasingly pluralistic age? In his widely influential work To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World, Christian sociologist of religion James Davison Hunter … [Read more...] about Faithful Presence: Faithful Presence in the Midst of Pluralism: Introduction

Over the next few months, ESN will be running an article series on what James Davidson Hunter's idea of "faithful presence" might look like in our present time in the academy and in our fields of study. InterVarsity Regional Ministry Director Lisa Liou recently gave a talk on three images of faithful presence that is a wonderful way to introduce this series. Look for these posts each Friday. In the last few months, I have heard Christian leaders describe the society and times we are living in as “chaotic and confused,” … [Read more...] about Faithful Presence: Three Prophetic Pictures