Emerging Scholars Blog

InterVarsity's Emerging Scholars Network

secularism

How Did You Do It? Faith and My Dissertation

virginia tech library photo
Photo by NHN_2009

Last fall, I defended my Ph.D. dissertation, and in May I attended my graduation at Virginia Tech’s Blacksburg campus. My studies were challenging, especially since I was changing my discipline, from engineering to Science and Technology Studies (STS), which is built around a core of history, sociology, and philosophy. Fortunately, I had some advantages as a “non-traditional” student. First, I was accustomed to research and writing after a long, successful career as an engineer. Second, my STS interests ran deep. And finally, I had strong support from my wife and family. With God’s grace, I did not find the work to be impossible. The greatest stress resulted from my own decision—against the advice of my adviser—to take a job in 2014 teaching and helping to start a new engineering program (whew!) before I finished my dissertation. I am glad that my Ph.D. quest is over, and I look to God for how to best use my expanded education for His glory.

Friends have noted that Christian theology is at the heart of my dissertation, and they wonder how my work was received at a secular university. They seem interested in how I “got away” with proclaiming the Christian gospel in the course of my studies. How can I explain my success in what is assumed to be a hostile environment?

With few exceptions, my engineering experiences were free of conflicts of faith. Still, I grew interested in the place of technology in God’s plan. I remain concerned that endless debates over human origins distract us from considering what Christ would have us do in the present as we help shape the future. With this interest, I began taking STS classes part time during my last two years of engineering work.

Early on in my studies, I was surprised and pleased to learn that Christianity is broadly recognized as an important factor in the scientific revolution. This begged the question of why some segments of the Church are so distrustful of science, while accepting its fruits in medicine and technology without question. I looked for a dissertation topic that would highlight such concerns, and my adviser suggested I study transhumanism. Its focus on technological enhancements to human beings is essentially religious, with its goal of immortality and the creation of a godlike artificial superintelligence.

So here lies the answer to my friends’ questions: my desire was to study relationships between Christianity and technology, and God brought me to a subject I had never heard of, yet one that cried out for a theological examination. Yes, I ran into some opposition, but 1 John 3:13 says we should not be surprised “that the world hates you.” I was not surprised by skeptics, but I did not assume that I would be hated. My interest in STS scholarship was genuine, and with few exceptions, the Virginia Tech faculty, fellow students, and my advisory committee supported me in pursuing my interests.

No doubt, Christian students in secular universities experience a wide variety of responses. My success may not be typical. Still, I find in it confirmation of Psalm 37:4: “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” May God lift you up in your studies!

Book Response: Christ and Culture Revisited, by D. A. Carson

As part of his Doctor of Ministry (DMin) in Ministry to Emerging Generations (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary), Tom’s written a number of book responses and given several short presentations (personal and group). In this series he not only “shares the wealth,” but also looks forward to your feedback as he refines his project: An argument for vocational discernment for graduate studies in the context of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (Stay tuned to learn more!). Earlier posts on the program: Ministry to Emerging Generations and The Big Picture of Ministry to Emerging Generations.

Christ and Culture Revisited

Christ and Culture Revisited Book. D. A. Carson (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2012).
Christ & Culture Revisited. D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2012).

In the “Preface to the Paperback Edition” of Christ and Culture Revisited (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2012), D.A. Carson affirms his “emphasis on a full-orbed biblical theology to frame Christian thinking about the relationships between Christ and culture” (vi). Furthermore, he “remain[s] convinced that the famous Niebuhr typology, as useful as it may be for some purposes, drives us toward mutually exclusive choices we should not be making” (vi). I appreciated Carson’s steadfastness in his positions and his acknowledgement that postmodernism, which receives significant attention in the book, is on decline without an heir apparent. Yes, we live in a time marked by “indecision” (vii)

[Read more…] about Book Response: Christ and Culture Revisited, by D. A. Carson

Takeaways from “Is Reality Secular?”

Mary Poplin's Is Reality Secular? What is the nature of reality? (InterVarsity Press, 2013).
Is Reality Secular? Testing the Assumptions of Four Global Worldviews by Mary Poplin (InterVarsity Press, 2014).

Welcome to the third post in a series in which we explore with Mary Poplin her 2014 publication Is Reality Secular? Testing the Assumptions of Four Global Worldviews? (InterVarsity Press). In earlier posts Mary provided:

In this piece Mary Poplin responds to my question, “What do you desire to be the top takeaways for readers of Is Reality Secular?” In future posts Mary will offer particular illustrations of engaging in and “toolkits” to enter/sustain dialogue with those who embrace (even advocate) competing worldviews.

Mary: First, I want to plant into everyone’s mind the fact (or for secularists, at least the suspicion) that reality is not secular. It is not adequate then to work only within the secular mindset. Christian faculty must engage this; what is true and what is false in my field – because all dominant theory and research have been secularized for half a century and more. I hope Christians will ask others to consider the same question; I find very few people realize that secular thought dominates our culture and fewer have asked themselves if this is really true. [Read more…] about Takeaways from “Is Reality Secular?”

The Future of ESN

This is my final post on the Emerging Scholars Blog.

Well, my final planned post, anyway. Tom insisted that I leave the door open for guest posts in the future, but I won’t be writing here every Tuesday as I have for the past few years. For my final post, Tom asked me to offer some thoughts about how far ESN has come and where it might be going in the future.

I became involved with the Emerging Scholars Network because I wished it had existed when I was an undergraduate. I’ve told this story many times, but I can’t remember if I’ve ever written about here on the blog. As a senior at the University of Louisville, I was convinced that I was supposed to get a PhD and become an English professor. I had long loved literature, and my conversion drove me to ask the question, “How can I integrate my love for Christ with my love for literature?” Through a couple of InterVarsity staff (Robbie Castleman and Terry Morrison), I was put in touch with three Christian English professors. I emailed them and asked where I could get a PhD that would enable me to pursue this question.

From my current perspective, I now see the question as a bit naïve. If I had read George Marsden’s Soul of the American University or The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship, I would have known that US research universities – the kind that grant PhDs that lead to English professorship – had long ago abandoned any pretense to be Christian. Still, I wrote the three professors and eagerly awaited their responses. [Read more…] about The Future of ESN

Religion, Education, and the Meaning of Life

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been sharing my reflections on Anthony Kronman’s 2007 book Education’s End: Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life. While I believe that his core argument is insightful, it’s marred by a few blind spots. Originally, I was going to address Kronman’s treatement of religion as one of his blind spots, but I’ve decided that his handling of religion is so problematic — and so harmful to his case — that it deserves its own post.

Book cover for Education's End
Anthony Kronman’s 2007 defense of the humanities in higher education

Here’s a brief summary of the points that I want to make in this post. Kronman deeply misunderstands religion, both historically and in its varied contemporary expressions. Out of his misunderstanding, he needlessly maligns religious believers of all stripes. As a result, he cuts himself off from a large pool of potential allies to his cause.

Kronman’s historical misunderstanding of religion

One reason for the rise of secular humanism, according to Kronman, was “the challenge posed by the weakening of religious belief as a starting point in higher education.”

Teachers in the antebellum college had an answer to the question of life’s meaning. Their confidence in the answer was anchored in a shared religious faith. By 1880, that faith could no longer be taken for granted. There were, of course, many who still believed in God, just as there were many who now doubted His existence and viewed religion with suspicion or contempt. But between these two camps, of believers and skeptics, little common ground remained. (80-81)

Kronman confuses two very different things in this brief passage. “Religion as a starting point in higher education” does not mean that “teachers…had an answer to the question of life’s meaning…anchored in a shared religious faith.” Pre-Civil War America was religiously diverse, yet Kronman lumps together all forms of belief as merely “belief in God” as opposed to “skepticism.” Perhaps some degree of “shared religious belief” at a very basic level was held by Episcopalians, Methodists, Baptists, Catholics, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Quakers, and other “traditional” Christian denominations…but what about Deists, Unitarians, Transcendentalists, Swedenborgians, Spiritualists, Shakers, or Latter Day Saints? Pre-Civil War America produced a remarkable number of new religious movements – Upstate New York alone became famous for the number of new religious movements born there. These various denominations, philosophies, and religious movements influenced higher education to different degrees, but it’s an error to summarize pre-1880 American intellectual and academic life as characterized by “shared religious faith.” [Read more…] about Religion, Education, and the Meaning of Life