Organizing a Christian Mind: A Theology of Higher Education

"The sadness I feel," writes Denise Carmody, "stems from watching the capitulation of good schools, both Christian and secular, to the pragmatism of recent times and their concomitant loss of a pervasive vision of their enterprise." Such capitulation has produced a serious crisis in American higher education, including also church-sponsored higher education, leading to a preoccupation with research and publication instead of teaching and to frequent inattention to ultimate human questions. Following an introductory discussion of teaching, research and publication, and "the difference that God makes," the book moves through such topics as human nature, physical nature, politics, divinity or ultimate reality, and education (including community services, academic freedom, and the arts and sciences). A concluding chapter focuses on vision in higher education, that is, gaining a clear sense of what a collegiate venture wants to do and the kind of curriculum and teaching that squares with what a college is trying to achieve. (From the Publisher)