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American higher education is often hostile to religion in general and Christianity in particular. Despite claims of neutrality, today's mainstream academy is more suffused with naturalistic and postmodern thinking than ever. Millions of impressionable students are intellectually 'educated' in this worldview each year, and many students experience a cunning and subtle undermining of personal faith. Even some Christian colleges, where faith and learning allegedly meet, are often little more than a form of 'baptized paganism,' offering classes indistinguishable from the academic mainstream. Beginning with an autobiographical journey through his disappointing experiences with faith and learning--both in his student and professional career in major research universities and Christian colleges--author David Claerbaut addresses the issues as they are played out in both secular and Christian colleges. He presents the reader with a vision of what true Christian education could look like, offering practical examples, by discipline, of how to implement his vision in the physical sciences, behavioral sciences, arts, and humanities. He argues that there is a legitimate place for Christian studies in research universities and a deep need for a synthesis of faith and learning in Christian colleges, if these institutions are serious about educating their students in and from a Christian perspective.
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