A BIBLIOGRAPHY ON A CRITIQUE OF BOTH SECULAR AND CHRISTIAN COLLEGES WITH AN EMPHASIS ON LIBERAL ARTS HIGHER EDUCATION

A List Compiled for the Faculty by Drs. Harvey Solganick and David P. Bertch
From The College At Southwestern, Fort Worth, Texas, August 2009

• Anderson, Paul M., ed.,  Professors Who Believe: The Spiritual Journeys of Christian Faculty.  Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998.

— A collection of essays by professors at either public or private, non-sectarian colleges and universities concerning how they see religious faith influencing their work in their chosen academic disciplines. 

• Blamires, Harry, The Christian Mind: How Should a Christian Think? Servant Books, 1963.

— A scathing critical look at the state of the mind in the mid-twentieth century church, rivaling Hofstadter’s broader look at the culture in general. Both agree that Christian non-thinking has been a great contributor to anti-intellectualism.

• Bloom, Allan, The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today’s Students.  Simon and Schuster, 1987. 

 — The subtitle tells it all.  This ground breaking book began a stream of other critiques of the damaging state of American education at all levels, especially in our colleges and universities.

• Burtchaell, James Tunstead,  The Dying of the Light. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1998.

— An evaluation of church-school relations and a description of how many have withered over time.

• Carpenter, Joel, Kenneth Shipps, Making Higher Education Christian: The History and Mission of Evangelical Colleges in America. Eerdmans, 1987.

 — Authors bring out the hidden history of Evangelical colleges  and demonstrate their academic establishment and growth.

• Dockery, David S. and David Gushee, eds.,  The Future of Christian Higher Education.  Nashville, TN: Broadman and Holman, 1999.

— A collection of essays highlighting practices that allow Christian colleges to stay Christ-centered.

• Eliot, T. S., Christianity and Culture: The Idea of a Christian Society & Notes Towards the Definition of Culture. A Harvest/HB Book, 1968.

— These classic two long essays by one of the greatest authors and critics of the twentieth century gives a penetrating look at our cultural and educational responsibilities. 

• Farnham, Nicholas, Adam Yarmolinski, eds., Rethinking Liberal Education, Oxford University Press, 1996.

       — A collection of essays by prominent educators on a spectrum of concerns among liberal arts colleges.

• Garber, Steven, The Fabric of Faithfulness.  Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1997.

— An attempt to answer the question of how to help college students connect with their spiritual beliefs.

• George, Robert, The  Clash of Orthodoxies: Law, Religion, and Morality in Crisis. ISI Books, 2001.

— The author takes secular thinking and shows its failure through abandonment of reason. He defends traditional Judeo-Christian principles for the universities and culture.

•   Heie, Harold, and David L.Wolfe, eds., The Reality of Christian Learning: Strategies for Faith- Discipline Integration. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1987.

— A compilation of essays describing ways to integrate faith into the disciplines of political science, sociology, psychology, biology, mathematics, the arts, and philosophy.

•   Henry, Douglas V., and Bob R. Agee, ed., Faithful Learning and the Christian Scholarly Vocation. Eerdmans, 2003. 

— A compendium of essays by current Christian scholars on rethinking the art of teaching in the light of twenty-first century challenges. 

• Henry, Douglas V., and Michael D. Beaty, eds.,  Christianity and the Soul of the University: Faith as a Foundation for Intellectual Community.  Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006.

— A collection of essays gathered from a conference held at Baylor University in the spring of 2004.  The essays concerning Christian higher education are broken into two sections—essays in the first section assess what are deemed basic issues while essays in the second section assess what are deemed vital practices.

• Highet, Gilbert, The Classical Tradition: Greek and Roman Influences on Western Literature. Oxford University Press, 1957.

— Another classic text on the Classics and their influence on Western civilization through their forms, imagery, myths, style and standards.  

• Hofstadter, Richard, Anti-Intellectualism in American Life. Vintage Books, 1962.

— This classic historical  text on the state of the American mind  traces back the malady to Christian non-thinking, the same which Blamires’ book corroborates.

• Holmes, Arthur F.,  Building the Christian Academy.  Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001.

— A discourse of Christian learning throughout seven episodes in history.

• Holmes, Arthur F.,  The Idea of a Christian College.  Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1975.

— An attempt to provide a philosophical understanding of the mission and activity of the Christian college.

• Holmes, Arthur F., ed.,  The Making of a Christian Mind.  Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity,  1984.

— A discussion of how various forms of scholarship fit into what is developed as a Christian worldview.

• Holmes, Arthur F.,  Shaping Character.  Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1994.

— A discussion of the state of moral education in the Christian college.

• Hughes, Richard T.,  How Christian Faith Can Sustain the Life of the Mind.  Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001.

— A theological discussion of how various Christian traditions make contributions to the integration of religious faith with the aspirations of reason.

• Hughes, Richard T. and William B. Adrian, eds.,  Models for Christian Higher Education.   Grand  Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1997.

— A compilation of essays detailing how fourteen colleges and universities from different Christian traditions are successfully integrating faith and learning.

•  Litfin, Duane, Conceiving the Christian College: A College President Shares his Vision of Higher Education. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004. ISBN 0-8028-2783-7

— The President of Wheaton College weighs in on his perspectives on the maintaining of a premier Christian liberal arts college.

• Malik, Charles Habib, A Christian Critique of the University. InterVarsity Press, 1982.

— A very short outline of indictment of what Jesus would say about our colleges and universities today from an eminent Lebanese Greek Orthodox statesman and educator. 

• Maritain, Jacques, Education at the Crossroads. Yale University Press, 1943, 1971.

 — Eminent mid-twentieth century French Catholic philosopher explores American education recommending a connection to the liberal arts tradition.

• Marsden, George M.,  The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship.  New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1997.

— A presentation supporting an enhanced role for religious faith in today’s scholarship.

• Marsden, George M.,  The Soul of the American University.  New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1994. 

— An attempt to trace the process of secularization as it occurred in America’s more prominent colleges and universities.

• Marsden, George M., and Bradley J. Longfield, eds.  The Secularization of the Academy.  New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1992.

— A compilation of essays that attempts to trace the process of secularization in some of America’s leading universities.

• Markos, Louis., From Achilles to Christ: Why Christians should read the Pagan Classics.Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007.ISBN 978-0-8308-2593-6.

— A professor of English at a Baptist college in Texas comments on Homer’s Iliad and the Odyssey, the Greek Tragedians, and Virgil’s Aeneid and connects to thinking Christianly.

• Moberly, Sir Walter, The Crisis in the University. SCM Press, 1949. 

— A classic text  that discusses the situation in British universities and its failure to contend with the contemporary crisis, with his suggestions on how to rise up to the challenges.

• Monroe, Kelly,  Finding God at Harvard.  Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1996.

—A work counteracting the assumption that intellectuals are secularists while addressing the relativism and emptiness haunting modern universities.

• Newman, John Henry.  The Idea of a University.  Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame  Press, 1982.

— A call to defend the idea of Catholic education within the context of the university.

• Noll, Mark A.,  The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind.  Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1994.

— An early 1990’s attempt to detail the decline of the evangelical intellect and to propose ways of reversing this dilemma.

• Orrill, Robert, ed., The Condition of American Liberal Education: Pragmatism and a Changing Tradition. College Entrance Examination Board, 1995.

— A collection of essays encouraging the updating of a liberal ars education with pragmatic results.

• Pelikan, Jaroslav,  The Idea of the University.  New Haven, CN: Yale University Press, 1992.

— An attempt to re-examine John Henry Newman’s original argument in light of the challenges facing the present-day university.

• Peterson, Michael L,.  With All Your Mind: A Christian Philosophy of Education.  Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2001.

— An attempt to philosophically and theologically frame the identity of Christian institutions of education along with the issues currently challenging them.  

• Plantinga, Cornelius,  Engaging God’s World: A Christian Vision of Faith, Learning, and Living.  Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002.

— An attempt to develop a vision of the Christian mind that seeks to transform all areas of life.

•   Poe, Henry Lee, and Dallas Willard,  Christianity in the Academy: Teaching at the Intersection\of Faith and Learning. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2004.

— An effort to encourage educators to look at their chosen field through from the perspective of the Christian faith. 

•   Postman, Neil, The End of Education: Redefining the Value of School.  Vintage Books, 1996.

— A well-know Jewish critic analyze the current crisis in education with strategies for instilling global citizenship, healthy skepticism, respect for American traditions and appreciation of diversity.

• Reynolds, John Mark, When Athens met Jerusalem: An Introduction to Classical and Christian Thought. InterVarsity Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-8308-2923-1l

— A well-written introduction to Greek thinking and Christian intellectual underpinning of Western civilization via an exposition of a few of Plato’s Dialogues and Aristotle’s writings and their relevance today.

• Rudolph, Frederick, The American College and University: A History.  The University of  Georgia Press, 1990.

—This text traces the history of the founding of American higher education from the Colonial era through today.

• Sertillanges, A. G., The Intellectual Life: Its Spirit, Conditions, Methods. The Catholic University of America Press, 1987.

— A very spiritual approach to becoming a learner of the intellectual virtues.

• Sire, James, Habits of he Mind: Intellectual Life as a Christian Calling.  InterVarsity Press, 2000.

— A carefully carved text on the calling in learning how to think Christianly through developing the virtues of the mind.

• Snow, C. P., Two Cultures. Cambridge University Press, 1993.

— This classic author of the early twentieth century raises up the battle between the humanities and the sciences and outlines the issues.  

• Weaver, Richard, Ideas Have Consequences. University of Chicago Press, 1948.

— A most disturbing classic critical text written at the same time as Orwell’s 1984, where the author as prophet unsparingly diagnoses the educational ills of our age.

• Wells, David F., No Place for Truth: Or Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology?  Eermans, 1993.

—  The author boldly indicts Evangelical Christianity for its failure with intellectual priorities, giving his analysis and strategy for renewal.

• Whitehead, Alfred North, The Aims of  Education and Other Essays. The Free Press, 1929, 1957.

— A famous secular scientist recommends the Classics and gives his convincing reasons why they must be combined with the sciences.

•   Wolterstorff, Nicholas,  Educating for Life: Reflections on Teaching and Learning.  Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2002.

—An exploration of the role the religious faith plays in the nature and practice of education. 

•    Wolterstorff, Nicholas, Joldersma, Clarence W., and Gloria Goris Stronks, eds., Educating for Shalom: Essays on Christian Higher Education. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002.

— A compilation of essays regarding the Reformed perspective and its relation to higher education.