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This blog was born out of a peculiar necessity. In academic circles, one is never allowed to fully declare one's Christian beliefs; thus, I usually keep my Christian presuppositions "undercover" when I undertake my work, and must allude to, rather than assert, the Christian principles that inform, guide, and inspire my academic career. Likewise, I find that many Christians are frightened by my academic curiosity, and it is difficult (although not impossible) to find Christians who are willing to help me to develop informed theological perspectives on contemporary academic issues. I therefore often find myself caught somewhere between the academy and contemporary Christian culture (not be confused with the holy Catholic Church, as defined by the Apostles' Creed), and this blog was born out of my desire for a forum that acknowledges, firstly, the sovereignty of God, and, secondly, the benefits of academic inquiry. It is my hope and prayer that it can provide a safe space for others who find themselves in a dilemma not dissimilar to my own.
posted by Koheleth @ 1:09 AM
12 comments
12 Comments:
Excellent introduction to the blogosphere. Now relax.
I'm excited to see what you come up with here.
You are definately not alone in this twofold isolation.
In the academic sphere one generally is never encouraged to put forth your own views on the foundations of your thought. Then of course on the church side I usually get shunted into the "thinks too much" category.
I look forward to the coming discussions that you will make.
I have not confronted the same level of resistance to Christianity as you have, although I suspect that it's because I have not reached the same level of academia as you. I suppose my experience in entering the College of Education could qualify. And there's always the dilemma: too Christian for the world, but too worldly for the Christians. I always thought that dichotomy was more resolved at the magisterial end of the church, so I am interested to hear your experiences. And besides, this is just another thing that proves that deep down, you want to be like me.
Derek out.
Karl, I hear you on the whole faith in academia thing. I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say.
Wow--great premise for a blog. While I'm not caught exactly in your dilemma, I am an avid observer of it. I'm looking forward to your posts.
Welcome to the blogosphere....this is a day I never ever even imagined happening.....it just never crossed my mind that you would have a blog. Its always interesting to see how people set their blogs up and I look forward to seeing what discussions and posts come out of your blog.
I'm so excited I can't sit still. That'll teach me to go away for a few days and not pay attention. Welcome, Karl! I love you buckets!
I too welcome you to the blogosphere and look forward to hearing your musings and frustrations. I think all of us have encountered the feeling of "going underground" with our faith in the University world, at one time or another - Thank GOD! For IVCF... but anyhow... I think in every field you find the problem - In social work, it's especially sad because they are so obstinately against Christianity - and yet the roots of social work are in Christian faith and love...
Ugh... and ironicly to use my degree for that purpose I have to leave the social welfare system to do it!.
Anyhow - that's a bit off topic - but I look forward to hearing more from you Karl.
-Becca
Okay, so you've provided a really strong mission statement. What's next. I'm sure waiting. (And excited to see what you come up with.) Just this first post has gotten me discussing faith and academics all over the place.
Yo, the Karl.
Your preaching to the choir here, bro.
Maybe now you can give me something interesting to say in my Chaucer class. So far, my prof's motivated me to do little more than lie in bed wondering if one day, one sweet, sweet day, we'll just suddenly all decide put the whole of human history on a spaceship and send it into the sun.
I have a latic quote on my blog, too:
Nolite te bastardes carborundorum
Although I don't know if he's entirely preaching to the choir, because there's also the issue of being an academic at the same time as being a Christian. Or, as math chris said, "I usually get shunted into the 'thinks too much' category."
I was just thinking about how I take issue with Derek's phrasing of "resistance to Christianity" being the problem here. We don't really encounter that, in the way you'd expect, in academia. People respect the fact that you're religious, the fact that you go to church, the fact that you have Bible knowledge and some background in church history. It's not the persecuting environment that some Christians would have you believe.
However, there's this pressure to hedge about your beliefs with qualifications. You constantly have to be clarifying your theoretical framework and biases, and it's tricky having people understand that, yes, you do believe that Jesus is the Son of God and rose again on the third day. (And then, if you did state them, you'd start into "But that doesn't mean...") It's not usually an overt thing.
I don't know if that makes sense. But I felt the need to qualify and clarify. Because that's what I do.
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