The High Calling of College Life

College education is an honorable and worthy calling to a passionate and persevering exercise of the mind.
1. The calling to exercise the mind is basic to what it means to be a human made in God's image. It is a part of the creation ordinance calling us to subdue the earth and rule over it.
  Gen. 1:27-28
  Gen. 2:19-20
2. The study of God's creation including the study of God's image-bearer man in his being, relations, and institutions can and should be an act of joyful worship.
  Gen. 1:31
  Rom. 1:20, Ps. 19:1-2
3. The exercise of the mind to study God's creation is an application of the greatest commandment.
  Luke 10:27
4. The very prevalent sin of anti-intellectualism must be strenuously resisted.
  1 Cor. 10:31
  1 Chron. 28:9
  Prov. 18:9
Where does this come from?
- our culture
- the church
- both -- pragmatism
- laziness
Christian principles must form the intellectual framework for all God-honoring intellectual pursuits.

"Words to the Wise"

Your education is your work.
Real life is now.
Begin observing a Sabbath pattern now.
Take responsibility for your own education.
Cultivate higher motives in learning than a good GPA.
Education doesn't end with the classroom.
Look for the underlying connections and principles within and among all disciplines.
Be realistic about the difficulty of education.

References

How to Stay Christian in College : An Interactive Guide to Keeping the Faith by J. Budziszewski, Navpress, 1999, 143 pp. "How to Stay Christian in College is an interactive guide through the maze of college realities. J. Budziszewski discusses the foundations of the Christian faith and directly addresses different world views and myths that students encounter at college. Filled with quotes, statistics, resources, stories, and encouragement, it will equip you to the dangers that lie ahead." (From the author) The book also discusses important areas like interacting with non-Christian friends and campus social life.
Availability: CPC library

The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Mark A. Noll, Eerdmans, 1994, 274 pp. "'The scandal of the evangelical mind,' says historian Mark Noll, is that there is not much of an evangelical mind.' This critical yet constructive book explains the decline of evangelical thought in North America and seeks to find, within evangelicalism itself, resources for turning the situation around." (From the back cover) While you may not agree with everything Noll writes, you will find his analysis of evangelicalism to be disturbing but enlightening.
Availability: AU library

The Christian Mind: How Should a Christian Think?, by Harry Blamires, Servants Books, 1978, 191 pp. Blamires, a proteg‚ of C. S. Lewis, gives an extremely perceptive analysis of the way in which Christians have abandoned the marketplace of ideas and have allowed secularism to reign unquestioned. He lays out several fundamental elements of the Christian way of thinking and enlivens the discussion with provocative examples. The examples are a bit too Anglican at times, but the analysis is extremely insightful and will challenge you to rise higher in your efforts to bring Christian principles to bear in your intellectual interactions with others.
Availability: CPC library

World Magazine. This is a Christian version of Time. It is absolutely excellent. Reading this over the course of a few years will train you in a Christian worldview like no other course of study can.
Availability: Subscription or http://www.worldmag.com

Improvement of the Mind, by Isaac Watts. First published in the 1700's, this book has been through many reprints. It is an awesome summary of what it means to be educated and the means to use to get there. It will raise your awareness of the fact that every aspect of life can be made into an opportunity to improve your mind to the glory of God.
Availability: At least three versions at the AU Library (1) (2) (3). Also, a very nice synopsis made from excerpts of the main headings can be found on the web at http://www.eng.auburn.edu/~sjreeves/cm/improve.html.