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Faithful Learning #1
An Invitation to Academic Studies
Can academic study cultivate and nourish our faith, as well as the other way around? Jay Green shows how to embrace academic study for its potential in studying Gods world.
- GenresReligion
40 pages, Paperback
First published July 14, 2014
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January 18, 2026A useful and concise argument for Christians engaging in academic studies. Green’s thesis is that students should engage in academic studies because they’re inherently useful, regardless of whether they’re studied at a Christian university or not. About half of the book (exposing the flaws of mainstream ideas on academic studies) could have been cut. I wished more time would have been spent on the pros of this view of study, instead of the 5 or so pages spent on it.
September 19, 2016
This booklet is the first installment for the Faithful Learning Series published by Presbyterian and Reformed that provides an introductory look at various academic discipline from the perspective of the Christian worldview. As the first volume the series’ editor Jay Green lays the foundation for the rest of the works to follow by discussing how the Christian faith and academic discipline intersect. It so happened that I read this series out of order. I have earlier read the series’ work on literature, political science, music and chemistry and have been blessed by them (especially the political science one) that I wanted to read the rest of the series including An Invitation to Academic Studies. Here is my review of this work.
In the introduction the author Jay Green noted how there have been works that have provided theological insights to certain academic subject that has been an aid to faithful learning but the author’s worry is that young scholars shaped by these works can explain a Christian theology and philosophy of their disciplines but might not be as well-prepared to gain insights from their discipline as an academic discipline (6). For Green he wishes that Christians be faithful stewards of God’s creation and the study of it. Green notes the uneasy relationship that has historically been the case between Christians and academia going back to even the second century with the church father Tertullian who famously asked “What has Jerusalem to do with Athens?” Green then discussed the four strategies that Christian have taken as a response to modern higher learning along with his assessment of what is their strength and weaknesses. He then proposes an alternative model; readers must read the book to see what Green has to say! I do think Green is right on when he says “A worldview mastery of a craft is no substitute for mastery of the craft itself” (27). The author has a point in balancing between worldview foundation and actual knowledge and skill of the academic disciplines.
In the introduction the author Jay Green noted how there have been works that have provided theological insights to certain academic subject that has been an aid to faithful learning but the author’s worry is that young scholars shaped by these works can explain a Christian theology and philosophy of their disciplines but might not be as well-prepared to gain insights from their discipline as an academic discipline (6). For Green he wishes that Christians be faithful stewards of God’s creation and the study of it. Green notes the uneasy relationship that has historically been the case between Christians and academia going back to even the second century with the church father Tertullian who famously asked “What has Jerusalem to do with Athens?” Green then discussed the four strategies that Christian have taken as a response to modern higher learning along with his assessment of what is their strength and weaknesses. He then proposes an alternative model; readers must read the book to see what Green has to say! I do think Green is right on when he says “A worldview mastery of a craft is no substitute for mastery of the craft itself” (27). The author has a point in balancing between worldview foundation and actual knowledge and skill of the academic disciplines.
January 28, 2023
Reading this little book is a must for any student fresh out of high school who is wondering why, exactly, the process of higher learning is necessary from a Christian perspective as well as secular. It also offers a fresh perspective for those parents who fear sending their children off to a college experience that will potentially be damaging to their faith.
I was handed this booklet for free when I met some students at Covenant College and I wish I could see them again to express my gratitude. I have turned to this essay again and again to answer the age-old question, "What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?" Again and again, I have left satisfied.
I was handed this booklet for free when I met some students at Covenant College and I wish I could see them again to express my gratitude. I have turned to this essay again and again to answer the age-old question, "What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?" Again and again, I have left satisfied.
July 27, 2020
This 40-page booklet is an attempt to suggest that academic study should “cultivate and nourish” one’s faith in Jesus Christ. The author contends that “modern fields of academic study are sophisticated and time-honored crafts that, when thoughtfully practiced, hold enormous potential for cultivating a deeper love for God and our neighbors.”
He notes that American evangelicals have “an uneasy relationship” with today’s higher education system. They see the classroom as “little more than incubators for left-leaning radicalism and secular humanism…” and, quoting Marsha West, notes that “[y]oung people who’ve been raised with moral values will go behind the fortified walls of Babylon, pretty much unarmed. And the barbarians are prepared to chew them up and spit them out.”
To date, three responses have been proposed to high education. First, avoid it. Second, defensive engagement. That involves teaching students how to identify and stand against the “ideological hazards” they will encounter. Third, treat the issue as separate issues. The church becomes a concern only to the faithful. Believers may participate within the “common kingdom” (the world) with the goal of bringing stability to the social order than to redeem it.
Mr. Green offers a fourth alternative. This is to view academic disciplines as gifts from God and then ask how what we learn can be used to make us more like our Savior. Those disciplines are extensions of what God has created and therefore represent how we exercise dominion of that which God created. While academia may be “controlled by sinners” and although its “most masterful practitioners are unbelievers”, the world of learning is still a gift from God, our goal, he suggests, is to consider how God might be using those disciplines to bring about His purposes. To those who warn of the dangers, Green says “the spirit is able to protect us better than we can protect ourselves.”
As Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a French philosopher and Jesuit Priest, said: We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.
Green suggests that all students must master a body of knowledge. Christian students (why only Christians?) must develop that mastery in the context of the world representing God’s goodness. Students must then develop skills that enable them to decipher, interpret, manipulate, test and communicate what they are mastering. Both knowledge and skills must, however, be fostered alongside certain academic virtues. And it is here that he best expresses the value of what might often be considered religious virtues:
humility in the face of vast and complicated data; charity when encountering new or objectionable ideas; honesty as we discover results that don’t fit our presuppositions; courage to ask difficult questions, to change our minds, and to face ridicule or antagonism for upholding unpopular or unexpected conclusions; compassion in the face of human suffering and cruelty; patience when working on projects with people who are irritating or lazy; and diligence as we face a long semester filled with a pile of difficult assignments that seem beyond our ability to complete.
The 15 discussion questions at the end should provide hours of conversation.
He notes that American evangelicals have “an uneasy relationship” with today’s higher education system. They see the classroom as “little more than incubators for left-leaning radicalism and secular humanism…” and, quoting Marsha West, notes that “[y]oung people who’ve been raised with moral values will go behind the fortified walls of Babylon, pretty much unarmed. And the barbarians are prepared to chew them up and spit them out.”
To date, three responses have been proposed to high education. First, avoid it. Second, defensive engagement. That involves teaching students how to identify and stand against the “ideological hazards” they will encounter. Third, treat the issue as separate issues. The church becomes a concern only to the faithful. Believers may participate within the “common kingdom” (the world) with the goal of bringing stability to the social order than to redeem it.
Mr. Green offers a fourth alternative. This is to view academic disciplines as gifts from God and then ask how what we learn can be used to make us more like our Savior. Those disciplines are extensions of what God has created and therefore represent how we exercise dominion of that which God created. While academia may be “controlled by sinners” and although its “most masterful practitioners are unbelievers”, the world of learning is still a gift from God, our goal, he suggests, is to consider how God might be using those disciplines to bring about His purposes. To those who warn of the dangers, Green says “the spirit is able to protect us better than we can protect ourselves.”
As Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a French philosopher and Jesuit Priest, said: We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.
Green suggests that all students must master a body of knowledge. Christian students (why only Christians?) must develop that mastery in the context of the world representing God’s goodness. Students must then develop skills that enable them to decipher, interpret, manipulate, test and communicate what they are mastering. Both knowledge and skills must, however, be fostered alongside certain academic virtues. And it is here that he best expresses the value of what might often be considered religious virtues:
humility in the face of vast and complicated data; charity when encountering new or objectionable ideas; honesty as we discover results that don’t fit our presuppositions; courage to ask difficult questions, to change our minds, and to face ridicule or antagonism for upholding unpopular or unexpected conclusions; compassion in the face of human suffering and cruelty; patience when working on projects with people who are irritating or lazy; and diligence as we face a long semester filled with a pile of difficult assignments that seem beyond our ability to complete.
The 15 discussion questions at the end should provide hours of conversation.
September 3, 2014
If you’re in college or university you might be wondering how to integrate what you learn with your faith. This is especially true for me as I read psychology in my university days. So should be budding students handle their faith and studies?
Jay Green hopes to be able to encourage this generation of students to be able to understand their studies well and at the same time be able to hold on or even grow in their to the faith. First he examines and evaluates the 3 common models of how Christians in the past have tried to handle these two dichotomy. The first paradigm is avoidance, avoiding to study in higher education; the second is to be defensive, to equip students to the be able to handle the ‘attacks’ they will receive in higher education; lastly, to see the two as dualistic, to see them as wholly separate realms. Green then briefly show the strength and weakness of each of them and proposes his fourth way.
Green suggests that by being a christian, we can not only learn legitimately from our disciplines, we can also renew or even transform them, to show how man ought to think God’s thoughts after him in every field. Green then moves on to exhort budding students to be able to thorough soak up the individual disciplines that they are in so as to learn the trade of their crafts. I feel that this is an important point that ought to be raised, far too often christians are not as rigorous as their non-christian counterpart in trying to learn within their discipline. Green is right to point this out. Lastly, Green highlights the importance of Christian students to be living within a christian community so we will sharpen ourselves not only with the tools of the trade, but also stay faithful to the biblical framework given to us by God.
What I think is lacking within this book is an example to show how the transformation paradigm affects one particular discipline. It does sounds like a very good idea, but how does it really look like practically? Other than the one small issue, this book is really a good book for any christians that are currently in a college or would in going into one soon.
As with every faithful learning series, I look forward to other booklets on the various disciplines that will be published in the near future.
Rating: 3.75 / 5
Disclaimer: I was given this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Jay Green hopes to be able to encourage this generation of students to be able to understand their studies well and at the same time be able to hold on or even grow in their to the faith. First he examines and evaluates the 3 common models of how Christians in the past have tried to handle these two dichotomy. The first paradigm is avoidance, avoiding to study in higher education; the second is to be defensive, to equip students to the be able to handle the ‘attacks’ they will receive in higher education; lastly, to see the two as dualistic, to see them as wholly separate realms. Green then briefly show the strength and weakness of each of them and proposes his fourth way.
Green suggests that by being a christian, we can not only learn legitimately from our disciplines, we can also renew or even transform them, to show how man ought to think God’s thoughts after him in every field. Green then moves on to exhort budding students to be able to thorough soak up the individual disciplines that they are in so as to learn the trade of their crafts. I feel that this is an important point that ought to be raised, far too often christians are not as rigorous as their non-christian counterpart in trying to learn within their discipline. Green is right to point this out. Lastly, Green highlights the importance of Christian students to be living within a christian community so we will sharpen ourselves not only with the tools of the trade, but also stay faithful to the biblical framework given to us by God.
What I think is lacking within this book is an example to show how the transformation paradigm affects one particular discipline. It does sounds like a very good idea, but how does it really look like practically? Other than the one small issue, this book is really a good book for any christians that are currently in a college or would in going into one soon.
As with every faithful learning series, I look forward to other booklets on the various disciplines that will be published in the near future.
Rating: 3.75 / 5
Disclaimer: I was given this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews