In today’s extremely competitive, job-scarce economy, having a college degree is now a steadfast requirement when applying to even entry-level professional jobs. Choosing a college has always been a challenging task for high school seniors, but it is now fraught with stress and anxiety for nearly every adult who seeks to further their education. Questions abound: what school offers the exact program I desire? What school is in the best location, or has the best campus?What school feels ‘right’? Many people turn to a Christian college to fulfill their ‘checklist’ of a perfect college. However, a Christian liberal arts education is often misunderstood or underrated.
What is the benefit of a school that offers this type of education? Why attend a Christian liberal-arts college? Why does a Christian college even exist? In Arthur F. Holmes’ book, “The Idea of a Christian College”, these questions – and more – are examined and answered.The four main themes I took from Holmes’ book are as follows: there is a distinct niche and purpose for a Christian liberal arts education; faith and learning are integrated and is thus a unique aspect to a Christian college; academic freedom is an integral part of a Christian education; and, the purpose of an education is more than to simply become trained or knowledgeable in one specific subject. So, why does a Christian liberal arts college exist?Well, let us start with simply the purpose of a liberal arts education. The broad goal of a liberal arts education includes empowering individuals to deal with complexity, diversity, and change, and to enable them to be citizens of the world with a sense of social responsibility.
Essentially, a liberal arts education aims to provide students with intellectual and practical skills (such as the ability to communicate, analyze, and problem-solve) that are transferable and can be used in real-world situations.These sound like logical and effective goals for any college – which still leaves us with a question of “Why a Christian college? ” Holmes states that Christian colleges provide an integration of faith and learning and are thus distinct and necessary, for they combine “the creative and active integration of faith and learning, of faith and culture” (Holmes, 1987). Whereas most colleges do not seek to bring these two concepts together, the Christian college fosters the combination of faith and learning to create a sense of community that encourages growth.Traditional colleges can churn out "Christians who are also scholars”; a Christian college produces “Christian scholars” and “not Christianity alongside education but Christian education” (Holmes, 1987).
Additionally, a Christian college can uniquely provide an education that "retains a unifying Christian worldview. " Holmes states that Christianity "can generate a worldview large enough to give meaning to all the disciplines and delights of life and to the whole of a liberal education” (Holmes, 1987). A Christian college teaches all subjects as part of the total truth of God.Students can focus on the mind as the doorway of learning – reading, writing, studying, understanding current events, traveling, solving complex mathematical equations, etc.
– but can also focus on transforming and augmenting their hearts and souls. A Christian liberal arts education exists because it provides unique approach to learning – a “big” education that focuses on all truth as God’s truth. The second theme in Holmes’ book centers on the aforementioned integration of faith and learning. This aspect makes a Christian college truly exceptional.
Christian colleges do not exist to “combine good education with a protective atmosphere”, nor does it exist “only to offer biblical and theological studies” – rather, a Christian college is distinctive in that “the Christian faith can touch the entire range of life and learning to which a liberal education exposes students” (Holmes, 1987). Christian colleges do not seek to ‘indoctrinate’, nor offer apologies to and/or defenses from a secular world, but instead aims to provide an integrated approach to learning that will promote integration of faith into every dimension of a person’s life and character.Holmes rightly mentions that, often in the past, anti-intellectualism or “cultural escapism” has erupted within the Church; however, the beauty of a Christian college is that it recognizes (and emphasizes) that all truth is God’s truth, and that “in God’s creation every area of life and learning is related to the wisdom and power of God” (Holmes, 1987). Another benefit of the integration of faith and learning is that, when the ultimate goal is to give glory to God, all aspects of examining and exploring His world become exciting and satisfying.
Students are in an atmosphere where even the faculty delights in pursuing an education; learning is, according to Holmes, “an act of love, of worship, of stewardship, [and] a wholehearted response to God” (Holmes, 1987). The integration of faith and learning is vital, unique, and exceptionally executed by Christian colleges. Academic freedom is another theme emphasized in The Idea of a Christian College. Holmes sums up this concept perfectly: "The Christian college must provide an opportunity and the atmosphere for an open discussion of new ideas and significant issues” (Holmes, 1987).
As previously stated, a Christian college does not exist to provide a “safe haven” to Christians from the secular world. The truth could not be more different: a Christian liberal arts education instead allows for exploration and discussion of all truths, for they are God’s. Further, we were not created to be robots, cut from the same mold; God created each of us as unique beings, meant to live in communion with the Lord and in a community of worship with our fellows. “‘Come now, let us reason together,’ says the LORD” (Isaiah 1:18, NIV).
Students are encouraged to make truth and value judgments; Holmes points out that students “need frank discussion and patient guidance rather than restrictions whose unexplained or inconsistent inflexibility incites reactions and builds negative temperaments” (Holmes, 1987). The curriculum of a Christian college does not need to expunge hazardous or conflicting concepts, but rather encourage a methodology of learning that allows for interpretation, discussion, and inspiration to “channel [students’] freedom into constructive Christian thought and action” (Holmes, 1987).Academic freedom is essential to providing a well-rounded liberal arts education, but needs to be balanced between common criticisms from both the left (“Christian educations do not offer objectivity and thus lose respectability”) and the right (“Too much academic freedom compromises values and morals”). Holmes reiterates that a college is not a church, and that restricting academic freedoms certainly does more harm than good.Students will face numerous theological challenges once they graduate; if all discussion, exposure, and growth is stifled in college, how will the tudent be able to stand strong in their faith in “the real world”? Therefore, academic freedom is to be upheld and applauded.
Finally, Holmes describes identifiers of an educated person. He gives examples of three students: Mary, the student with a specialized set of skills who has focused her entire college career on honing them and obtaining a specific job with them; Tom, the socialite with the ability to adjust and adapt to any situation for his advantage; and Pat, the student who has broadened her abilities and interests and is eager to continue learning.Holmes asks, who is the truly educated person of the aforementioned students? The answer, perhaps not obvious at first, is Pat. While Mary has an excellent job and a precise set of skills, she is not equipped to do anything else. What happens if those skills become obsolete? Tom, on the other hand, has the ability to work with people, but he is a conformist, a social climber, at best.
Pat, however, is educated – she desires to learn, and has worked to develop herself as a human being as a whole, as opposed to merely a trained employee or socialite.John Milton, the English poet and scholar, wrote in a short tract entitled Of Education: “I call a complete and generous education that which fits a man to perform justly, skillfully and magnanimously all the offices, both private and public, of peace and war” (Luxon, 2012). An educated person ought to be open to new ideas, be able to analyze and criticize both one’s own ideas and those of others, to ask questions thoughtfully and with purpose, and to make sound decisions using wisdom and integrity. Merely being knowledgeable about a specific discipline is not the same as being truly educated.Similarly, having the ability to manipulate and lead people will absolutely get you far in life, but does not mean that you are genuinely educated.
Pat, as Holmes illustrates, is the educated of the three. She is “continues to read, to learn, to grow, for she realizes that…the circumference of her knowledge [is] just as large as the borders of her ignorance”. He continues: “Whatever her abilities, whatever her development, whatever her accomplishments, [Pat] blesses name of the Lord” (Holmes, 1987). Reading Holmes’ book, The Idea of a Christian College, has fortified my belief in what I hope to gain from my time at Azusa Pacific University.It has also supplemented and reinforced my thoughts on academic freedom and what a truly educated person is. Through obtaining a liberal arts education at a Christian university, I hope to achieve great things.
I hope to leave APOU with greater compassion, self-awareness, and both the desire and capability to make changes in the world. A Christian liberal arts college offers a truly well-rounded and inspirational education; as Holmes states, “… if [an employer] wants a thinking, articulate, resourceful young associate with personal integrity, then the Christian liberal arts college is a good place to look”.I hope to not only be prepared for the workplace, but to also grow as a human being and develop my faith as a Christian. Further, I have always believed that academic freedom is vital in any institution, but most importantly in a Christian establishment.
Holmes does an excellent job of explaining exactly why it is imperative, and underscores the dangers of prohibiting free thought, discussion, and information within the Christian liberal arts college. Lastly, Holmes’ description of a truly educated person is both informative and inspiring.I hope to spiritually and academically learn, develop, and prosper – just as Pat does. Through my studies at APOU, I hope to become an enriched and educated person, and to foster a curiosity to learn more and explore the amazing truths that God has put before me. Arthur F.
Holmes takes on many topics and themes in his book, The Idea of a Christian College. In it, Holmes considers questions like, “Why a Christian college? ” and “Why a liberal arts education? He also describes the theological foundations of Christian colleges, the community atmosphere at colleges, and the need for academic freedom.While Holmes covers myriad topics, the four major themes I inferred from the book are that there is a clear purpose for a Christian liberal arts education, that the integration of faith and learning is a critical aspect of a Christian college, that academic freedom is to be encouraged and embraced, and that the purpose of an education is to develop an entire human being, not simply manufacture “trained” graduates with narrow capabilities.By completing this book, my views on academic freedom and developing as a truly educated person have been reinforced. I also have new expectations and inspiration for my personal education at Azusa Pacific University.
