Christian College Thought Paper

Words: 1934
Pages: 8

Thoughts on a Christian College

Thoughts on a Christian College
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.
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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 student be able to stand strong in their faith