Abstract
This collection of essays offers faith-based perspectives on 24 academic disciplines. It includes two bookend pieces, the first by editor Meadors. Both argue for wisdom as a theological grounding for disciplinary integration. The book has contributions from the liberal arts, as well as newcomers such as Engineering/Computer Science, Chemistry, Geology, Global Health, and Coaching/Kinesiology. Thankfully, the Arts are thoughtfully represented. Another welcome chapter is on Biblical Studies, a discipline typically excluded from faith-learning books. Some contributions are from notable experts; some are from lesser-known scholar-practitioners.
There are not enough books like Where Wisdom May Be Found, although I understand why. Some may think: When an edited book appears to have just one or two chapters that “relate to me/my discipline,” then why would I add such a book to my bookshelf? Following are some reasons why Christian educators across the disciplines (as well as university libraries) would find Meador’s collection worth having and reading.
First, this book offers a refreshing reframing from what has been known as “faith integration.” Wisdom (offered by God; found in Christ) is an idea more associated with learning than faith, making the link to study more explicit. While some authors did not make the connection to wisdom, most did, some more successfully than others. Wisdom’s aim, after all, is transformative action and these chapters offer a reminder that when teaching in light of the Christian worldview (as Greenman notes) educators should link belief and behavior. I was impressed, for example, with the way Payne did this, linking wisdom to music and the way geologist Guebert celebrated the wisdom of sustainable agriculture.
Second, numerous authors demonstrate that sometimes integration goes beyond nitty-gritty disciplinary particulars. Christian faith forms a framework to put around a discipline’s major concerns or aims. Chappell’s chapter on Biology does this, as do chapters on Technology, Economics, and Literature. Those just starting to think about their disciplines Christianly should study how these scholars scaffold their disciplines with the Christian faith.
Third, the theme of wisdom should provoke scholars to cultivate transformative learning that grows from the soil of intellectual abundance. While teachers know there is little time to do more than help students learn massive amounts of material, our creative obligation (if aiming for full-bodied Christian wisdom) includes finding ways to link virtue and service to that material. Wisely, chapters on Global Health and Business, for example, tie moral formation to discipline-relevant themes. Teachers who do this carry out the Christian university’s brand promise.
Fourth, most chapters present evidence that being a Christian scholar, artist, or professional offers opportunities for understanding and practicing each specialty from distinctly Christian foundations. Priest, a sociologist-anthropologist, gives examples followed by valuable insights related to the challenges and opportunities for Christians engaged in integrative scholarship. Davis’ chapter on writing presents a “theology of words” and applies it to the process of “composing soulfully” (p. 116).
Chapters focusing on the author’s professional evolution were less helpful. These autobiographical chapters revealed important ways God raises up Christians to serve and innovate within their fields but left me wishing for conceptual handles that were otherwise sparse.
I’ll add three final uses this book offers: (1) There are excellent chapters on metadisciplines that are applicable to all Christian educators. Bible scholar Arnold says “God lays claim to every discipline and his word speaks truth that is relevant to every discipline” (p. 32). Theologian Vanhoozer notes: “Theology is the index of each discipline’s incompleteness, not because theologians know more (they don't) but because the object of theology, God the creator, exceeds the limits of the created order, and thus of the reach of any science, including theology itself” (p. 47).
(2) If God is the God of all truth and if in Christ all things hold together, then Christian academics should embrace interdisciplinarity. This book would serve well as a primer for such a course of study. Reading it will make specialists appreciate both the expanse of God’s knowledge and the worlds inhabited by colleagues who have given their lives to investigate and teach one particular slice of the created order.
(3) Occasionally it is someone outside our own mental models who helps us to break open our own cognitive frameworks. Konrad’s chapter on Theater reintroduced me to embodied learning. As a chemist, Contakes demonstrates how Christian academics should step back and put a critical eye on his/her specialty.
While many more disciplines and subdisciplines are worthy of such work, Meadors and his collaborators have offered Christian higher education something important and useful.