The Vocation of the Christian Scholar: How Christian Faith Can Sustain the Life of the Mind

by Richard T. Hughes

Overview

Foreword by Samuel L. Hill

Richard T. Hughes's highly praised book on the relationship between Christian faith and secular learning — originally titled How Christian Faith Can Sustain the Life of the Mind — is now available in this revised and expanded edition, which speaks more directly to the subject of vocation. In a substantial new preface Hughes recounts his own vocational journey, telling how he drew on Christian theology to discover his talents and how best to use them. Another new chapter explores the vocation of Christian colleges and universities, including the purposes and goals of church-related education.

Drawing from the Catholic, Reformed, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, Hughes shows how the Christian scholar can embrace paradox rather than dogmatism. His reflections provide a compelling argument that faith, properly pursued, nourishes the openness and curiosity that make a life of the mind possible.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802829153
Publisher:	Handsel Press
Publication date:	05/02/2005
Edition description:	REV
Pages:	181
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.46(d)

About the Author

Richard T. Hughes is scholar in residence at Lipscomb University. He is the author of several books, including Myths America Lives By: White Supremacy and the Stories That Give Us Meaning and The Churches of Christ: Student Edition.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for the original edition:

"In this beautifully written, sermonic essay Richard Hughes defines the virtues needed for sound scholarship and good teaching. . . . As Hughes powerfully and persuasively argues, the Christian scholar has ample Christian warrant to be humble in the face of diversity, open to the challenge of competing perspectives, and fully engaged in the cooperative, rigorous, and imaginative search for truth."
— The Christian Century

"Following the examples of George Marsden and Mark Noll, Hughes encourages Christians not to forsake their calling as scholars nor to be discouraged by the enormity of their task, but to keep on integrating faith and contemporary culture."
— Reformed Review

"In this book Richard Hughes mentors all of us who want to be both Christians and scholars. But even for those who do not teach and would not wear the name 'scholar,' this book is a valuable model of what it means to serve God humbly in one's chosen vocation."
— New Wineskins

"Everybody who is concerned with Christian education should read this little book."
— Journal of Education and Christian Belief

From the Publisher