Abstract
This book is based on various presentations from between 1998 and 2019, shaped into a trajectory not unlike that of faith-based education in general, as viewed through a reformed lens (p. xxi). Chapter 1 recognises the increasing success and impact of U.S. Christian colleges during the 20th century but asks whether ‘our druthers are that the future should look pretty similar to the present' (p. 16). Our faith draws from a past and looks to a future that is different from what any of us experience as the present. Such an attitude reduces the likelihood of serious attempts to integrate faith with learning that equips students to spread it through work within multiple professions. Resolution may lie in an interdisciplinary approach to teaching that seeks wisdom through student learning.
The second and third chapters represent Guthrie’s reflections 5 years later in 2003, during his first year in academic administration. Chapter 2 begins with a list of observations that all apparently revolve around increasing numbers of both students and staff, increasing costs, increasing competition with similar institutions, and decreasing staff morale. In this challenging context, he reiterates that the mission of Christian education is to help students to see more and see it more clearly, to read the times and know how to act, and to understand vocation. The book then lays out what this mission could look like in practice within the college for which he had academic responsibility (p. 52–55, 68–79) amid illuminative treatment of on-going tensions that will seem familiar to both educators and administrators.
Chapters 4 to 7 expand on wisdom and interdisciplinarity. Chapter 4 deals with differing notions of wisdom: let students decide, prepare them for work, cultivate intellect, and satisfy external requirements. None of ‘these four empires are entirely nefarious' (p. 84), but Guthrie recognises the dangers of allowing any of them to obscure the need to have one eye on individuals and the other on the contexts that shape them. Chapter 5 deals explicitly, and helpfully, with problems caused by social movement towards personal and social organisation around the self. Chapter 6 moves on to the impact of specific religious traditions on issues surrounding Christian higher education, recognising three wells: theology, behaviour and engagement and forcefully asserting that ‘fearless engagement with culture' (p. 113) is too often neglected. Chapter 7 suggests that effective leaders live by convictions; put people first; communicate well, keep problems in perspective; stay well-informed; take time to be creative; and are inspired by a wider vision. Guthrie suggests that adhering to these convictions requires curricular coherence, educating for the common good, teaching well, encouraging a strong campus community, equality of access, collaboration between school and university, proper use of technology, and legitimate university governance. It is a long list.
The next three chapters draw deeply from Guthrie’s experience in student welfare. Chapter 8 draws from the earliest paper that forms a chapter in this book. The chapter begins from what he describes as commonalities (evangelical doctrines, commitment to integration of faith and work and to tertiary students). It then considers recognition of differences (outworking of those doctrines; patterns of institutional life, and ways doctrines and patterns interact; and roles and resources). Finally, Guthrie sees continuing contemporary blind spots (contribution to student learning within their Christian college; on-going staff professional development; and the ‘enigma’ of Christians doing similar work in secular institutions: p. 175). Chapter 9 emerges from text written over a decade later, and it draws on issues raised in previous chapters to expand these recommendations for a similar audience. Chapter 10 has considerable material in common with Chapter 5 (cf., p. 95–96; 102–103 and p. 201–202), specifically applied to student conduct and delivered to a Catholic audience.
The final three chapters of the book and its epilogue represent Guthrie’s reflection on much that has gone before. Chapter 11 considers his role as a university teacher, urging magnanimity as an essential part of teaching. Chapter 12 acknowledges influences on his personal growth as a Christian and recognises that academic work requires Christians to jointly discern what is true and useful from both Christian and secular sources. Chapter 13 allows Guthrie to locate himself in a grounded but comprehensive perspective on faith formation that clearly recognises the institutional and personal barriers to such formation.
Guthrie’s call to Christian higher education is a call to mission; a call to mission is a call to discipleship; and that is a pilgrimage in hope though adversity. This book maps the trajectory of one person’s journey within a particular social, cultural, and educational context, but the insights provided here have application for other people facing similar tensions in other contexts.