By Norm Miller, LC News
PINEVILLE – For the third year running, Louisiana College faculty will study and discuss another book that underscores the importance of integrating faith and learning.
Evangelical author Mark Noll’s book “Jesus Christ and the Life of the Mind” follows the previous two: “Conceiving the Christian College” by Duane Litfin and “Renewing Minds” by David Dockery.
Once a month, faculty gather in small, interdisciplinary groups to discuss Noll’s book with a view to gather information and inspiration regarding the integration of the Christian faith into the liberal arts courses they teach.
“We are first grateful for our president, Dr. Rick Brewer, who initiated the study groups when he arrived in 2015,” said Phil Caples, vice president for the Integration of Faith and Learning. “The books and subsequent discussions have enriched our pedagogy and informed our content as we teach from a Christian worldview.”
Caples believes Noll’s book is another building block for LC’s faculty.
Noll observes:
… it has become conventional to think that belief in the Christian story opposes serious commitment to intellectual explorations of the world. There are no good reasons for this opinion. It rests on misreadings of the Christian story and misapprehensions of the intellectual life. That Jesus Christ who saves sinners is the same Christ who beckons his followers to serious use of their minds for serious explorations of the world. It is part of the deepest foundation of Christian reality — it is an important part of understandings of who Jesus is and what he accomplishes — to study the world, the human structures found in the world, the human experiences of the world, and the humans who experience the world. Nothing intrinsic in that study should drive a person away from Jesus Christ. Much that is intrinsic in Jesus Christ should drive a person to that study (p. 41).
Under Brewer’s leadership, LC faculty have produced two editions of “Faith Matters,” a collection of essays regarding the importance of integrating the Christian faith and a liberal arts education. Their third edition will be published later this fall.
“In addition to enhancing our approach to faith integration, these books and study groups have engendered an even stronger sense of community and camaraderie among our faculty,” Brewer said. “I deeply appreciate all of our faculty, who regard Christian higher education as a calling and not merely a career. Their commitment to our vision of Preparing Graduate & Transforming Lives continues to make the vision a reality.”
