Religion In Higher Education Research Articles

Reviews

Books reviewed:Sophie Gilliat‐Ray, Religion in Higher Education: The Politics of the Multi‐Faith CampusR. W. L. Moberly, The Bible, Theology and Faith: A Study of Abraham and JesusYvonne Sherwood, A Biblical Text and its Afterlives: The Survival of Jonah in Western CultureHans‐Josef Klauck, trans. Brian McNeil, Magic and Paganism in Early Christianity: The World of the Acts of the ApostleMark A. Noll, American Evangelical Christianity: An IntroductionS. Mark Heim, The Depth of the Riches: A Trinitarian Theology of Religious EndsGavin D'Costa, Sexing the Trinity: Gender, Culture and the DivineJohn B. Cobb, Jr. and Clark H. Pinnock (eds), Searching for an Adequate God: A Dialogue between Process and Free Will TheistsSheila Greeve Davaney, Pragmatic Historicism: A Theology for the Twenty‐First CenturyYehuda Bauer, Rethinking the HolocaustStephen Parsons, Ungodly Fear: Fundamentalist Christianity and the Abuse of PowerDavid H. Smith (ed), Caring Well: Religion, Narrative, and Health Care EthicsMark Barger Elliott, Creative Styles of PreachingBishop Joe Aldred (ed), Praying with Power

Princeton in the Nation's Service: Religious Ideals and Educational Practice, 1868-1928

This book argues against the conventional idea that Protestantism effectively ceased to play an important role in American higher education around the end of the 19th century. Choosing Princeton as an example, Kemeny shows that Protestantism was not abandoned but rather modified to conform to the educational values and intellectual standards of the modern university. Drawing upon a wealth of neglected primary sources, Kemeny sheds new light upon the role of religion in higher education by examining what was happening both inside and outside the classroom and showing that religious and secular commitments were not neatly divisible but rather commingled.

The Soul of the American University: From Protestant Establishment to Established Nonbelief

Only a century ago, almost all state universities held compulsory chapel services, and some required Sunday church attendance as well. In fact, state-sponsored chapel services were commonplace until the World War II era, and as late as the 1950s, it was not unusual for leading schools to refer to themselves as "Christian" institutions. Today, the once pervasive influence of religion in the intellectual and cultural life of America's preeminent colleges and universities has all but vanished. In The Soul of the American University, Marsden explores how, and why, these dramatic changes occurred. Far from a lament for a lost golden age when mainline Protestants ruled American education, The Soul of the American University offers a penetrating critique of that era, surveying the role of Protestantism in higher education from the founding of Harvard in the 1630s through the collapse of the WASP establishment in the 1960s. Marsden tells the stories of many of our pace-setting universities at defining moments in their histories, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, the University of Michigan, Johns Hopkins, the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of Chicago. He recreates the religious feuds that accompanied Yale's transition from a flagship evangelical college to a university, and the dramatic debate over the place of religion in higher education between Harvard's President Charles Eliot and Princeton's President James McCosh. Marsden's analysis ranges from debates over Darwinism and higher critics of the Bible, to the roles of government and wealthy contributors, the impact of changing student mores, and even the religious functions of college football. He argues persuasively that the values of "liberalism" and "tolerance" that the establishment championed and used to marginalize Christian fundamentalism and Roman Catholicism eventually and perhaps inevitably led to its own disappearance from the educational milieu, as nonsectarian came to mean exclusively secular. While the largely voluntary disestablishment of religion may appear in many respects commendable, Marsden believes that it has nonetheless led to the infringement of the free exercise of religion in most of academic life. In effect, nonbelief has been established as the only valid academic perspective. In a provocative final chapter, Marsden spells out his own prescription for change, arguing that just as the academy has made room for feminist and multicultural perspectives, so should there be room once again for traditional religious viewpoints. A thoughtful blend of historical narrative and searching analysis, The Soul of the American University exemplifies what it advocates: that religious perspectives can provide a legitimate contribution to the highest level of scholarship.

The soul of the American university: from Protestant establishment to established nonbelief

Only a century ago, almost all state universities held compulsory chapel services, and some required Sunday church attendance as well. In fact, state-sponsored chapel services were commonplace until the World War II era, and as late as the 1950s, it was not unusual for leading schools to refer to themselves as institutions. Today, the once pervasive influence of religion in the intellectual and cultural life of America's preeminent colleges and universities has all but vanished. In The Soul of the American University, Marsden explores how, and why, these dramatic changes occurred. Far from a lament for a lost golden age when mainline Protestants ruled American education, The Soul of the American University offers a penetrating critique of that era, surveying the role of Protestantism in higher education from the founding of Harvard in the 1630s through the collapse of the WASP establishment in the 1960s. Marsden tells the stories of many of our pace-setting universities at defining moments in their histories, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, the University of Michigan, Johns Hopkins, the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of Chicago. He recreates the religious feuds that accompanied Yale's transition from a flagship evangelical college to a university, and the dramatic debate over the place of religion in higher education between Harvard's President Charles Eliot and Princeton's President James McCosh. Marsden's analysis ranges from debates over Darwinism and higher critics of the Bible, to the roles of government and wealthy contributors, the impact of changing student mores, and even the religious functions of college football. He argues persuasively that the values of liberalism and tolerance that the establishment championed and used to marginalize Christian fundamentalism and Roman Catholicism eventually and perhaps inevitably led to its own disappearance from the educational milieu, as nonsectarian came to mean exclusively secular. While the largely voluntary disestablishment of religion may appear in many respects commendable, Marsden believes that it has nonetheless led to the infringement of the free exercise of religion in most of academic life. In effect, nonbelief has been established as the only valid academic perspective. In a provocative final chapter, Marsden spells out his own prescription for change, arguing that just as the academy has made room for feminist and multicultural perspectives, so should there be room once again for traditional religious viewpoints. A thoughtful blend of historical narrative and searching analysis, The Soul of the American University exemplifies what it advocates: that religious perspectives can provide a legitimate contribution to the highest level of scholarship.

Theology as Biography

“Theology as Biography” is a course jointly offered by the University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary's College, team taught by Elena Malits, C.S.C., David Burrell, C.S.C., and Stanley Hauerwas. It is one of a collection of course descriptions and essays on teaching, Teaching Religion to Undergraduates: Some Approaches and Ideas from Teachers to Teachers (ed. Luke Johnson, available for $2.50 from the Society for Religion in Higher Education, 363 St. Ronan St., New Haven, Conn. 06511). It offers an example of the kind of sharing of specific course ideas Horizons will attempt to feature in each issue. Please send along to us ideas on approaches to courses that you would like to share. By the way, all these course ideas need not be unusual. A really well-conceived approach to a basic undergraduate course could be quite valuable. – B.P.P. and R.V.A.

The Teaching of Religion in Higher Education: The Perspective of the State University

The Teaching of Religion in Higher Education: The Perspective of the State University Get access Ronald B. Flowers Ronald B. Flowers Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of Church and State, Volume 10, Issue 2, Spring 1968, Pages 219–231, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcs/10.2.219 Published: 01 March 1968

Perspectives in Teaching Religion in Higher Education

The question is not whether higher education will include the teaching of religion. It is only in what context, in what per spectives and from what presuppositions. This often repeated thesis is a valid one. We need not deny that a great deal of confusion has been generated by claims made in the name of the separation of church and state. Of course, the establishment of religion is undesirable and illegal, but it was not the intent of recent Supreme Court decisions that religion should be ex cluded from public education. It was rather that teaching should remain non-sectarian. Secularism became dominant because of a growing pluralism rather than from any overt attack on religion. Now, hostility has moderated between adherents of the three major religious parties. However, a fourth has become vocal and insists on the exclusion of all religious affirmation from public life and education. Jefferson's Enlightenment prin ciple of religion with tolerance is called in question.1 No doubt, public education must be free of church control; it can inform but not convert. In this latter role, it cannot avoid responsibility for the treatment of religion. The present situation must be explained from a long history. Robert Michaelsen's research on Religion in the American Uni versities: Ten Case Studies with Special Reference to State Universities, published by the Society for Religion in Higher Education, describes a legacy of sectarianism as well as secular ism.2 Michaelsen calls attention to the difference between the Christian humanism which characterized American higher edu cation in the period before the Civil War as compared with the present ethos. An earlier Protestant consensus left the place of religion in public life unchallenged. The Northwest Ordinance reflected the common belief: Religion, morality and knowledge

Reflections on the Graduate Program in Religion

Journal Article Reflections on the Graduate Program in Religion Get access ROBERT MICHAELSEN ROBERT MICHAELSEN ROBERT MICHAELSEN is Professor and Administrative Director, School of Religion, State University of Iowa. Most of his professional career has been spent at that institution. He has also taught American Church History at Yale Divinity School, Garrett Biblical Institute, and Vanderbilt Divinity School. As recipient of a Fulbright grant, in the Summer of 1961 Dr. Michaelsen attended an institute on Indian civilization at Osmania University in Hyderabad. His publications are primarily in the areas of religion in America and religion in higher education. Readers will be interested in a recent essay by the author supplementing the present one and concerned with an undergraduate general education course in which religion is the central theme: “Religion in General Education: An Example,” The Journal of General Education, October, 1961.The initial article in the present series appeared in our April, 1962 number: “Graduate Study in Religion and the University of Southern California,” by Dean Geddes MacGregor. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Volume XXX, Issue 3, July 1962, Pages 224–231, https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/XXX.3.224 Published: 01 July 1962

The Place of Religion in the State-Supported University

The often proclaimed separation of Church and State in America has an undoubtedly authentic significance, but it is fraught with ambiguity. It is less a definition of settled policy than a commitment to grapple with a perennial problem. That problem results from the momentous cultural mutation that gave rise to pluralistic societies in which a high degree of political unity must be maintained despite the persistence of cultural diversity. E pluribus unum is indeed the symbol of a high national purpose, but it also reflects a cultural predicament. The resulting problem is basically educational. It is therefore refreshing to find a scholarly symposium that undertakes to treat a major aspect of the problem in operational terms, without dogmatism or polemics, and with an unillusioned and tempered optimism as to the possibilities inherent in the present situation. Religion and the State University is such a book. F. S. C. Northrop of Yale, in his chapter on "Students from Other Lands," remarks that "the separation of politics from religion is foreign to any people who have not passed through the Protestant Reformation or come under modern Western secular political philosophy" (page 269). This is a startling reminder that the United States is a great political experiment committed to the achievement of order, social integrity, and a high level of spiritual and moral maturity in the absence of agreed religious sanctions and common ritual on which nations have traditionally depended. The editor of the volume characterizes it as "a co-operative attempt . . . to define the place of religion in higher education, in the university community, and particularly in the statesupported university" (page i). The last phrase indicates the specific purpose of the book. However, the more inclusive scope indicated is a reflection of the current tendency at the university level to blur the distinction between public and private institutions with respect to the attention given to religion. As a matter of fact, the legal and constitutional inhibitions against sectarian instruction in tax-supported educational institutions are now matched, so to speak, by a growing aversion among educators generallyeven in church-related schools-to indoctrination, in the sense of setting forth propositions to be accepted without question. Yet the tendency to give religion a definite place in the curriculum and in the activities program of the public university is one of the most significant developments in higher education. Incidentally, it is sometimes remarked that there are publicly supported universities which manifest a greater readiness to give

Problems in the Teaching of Religion

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsJ. Edward DirksJ. Edward Dirks is associate professor of Religion in Higher Education, Yale University Divinity School, and editor of “The Christian Scholar.”

THE CHRISTIAN COLLEGE AND ITS MISSION1

1Delivered before the annual luncheon, Indiana Council on Religion in Higher Education, May 14, 1955, Indianapolis Athletic Club.

Survey of New Testament Textbooks

church-related colleges. The information was incorporated in a doctoral dissertation. There were several indications of dissatisfaction with existing textbooks. Some of the most widely used were published from fifteen to twenty years ago, e.g., The Literature of the New Testament, by E. F. Scott (1932) and An Introduction to the New Testament, by E. J. Goodspeed (1937). Conversations with college instructors disclosed their reluctance to endorse any single text as being fully adequate, and all expressed an interest in the appearance of new books. The National Council on Religion in Higher Education had been aware of possible needs for publication in this field and, after an informal survey made by a special committee, the preparation of a two-volume introduction to the Bible was launched. The New Testament volume is

Materials for Teaching Hinduism

The course in non-Christian religions is always a difficult one to teach for it is usually added to the load of a professor who has had his training in some other field. Rarely has the teacher had the opportunity to travel in Asia or to know intimately people who as Buddhists, or Hindus, or Muslims live in a culture shaped by their faith. Even the books which we have available have usually been written by western Christians, describing other faiths from the Christian point of view. As we sat around listing the difficulties which we face in teaching religions other than our own we began to dream of the materials we should like to have. We decided that we should like to have a book written by devout followers of each non-Christian faith, but edited by a westerner so that it could be used with understanding by our undergraduates. Then, to help the student to realize that the religion is a vital contemporary force, we decided that we should like to have a recording of typical religious music and a collection of colored slides showing the practices which are followed today. I was asked to draw up a plan for such a project, and chose to work first with Hinduism since I had once lived in Hindu ashrams in India and felt strongly the need for materials which would present Hinduism as I had known it there. The plan was submitted to The National Council on Religion in Higher Education, and a generous grant from The Edward W. Hazen Foundation made it possible to undertake the task of gathering these materials. We drew up an outline of the material which we thought should be covered in a book describing Hinduism. When I got to India I made a tour of the chief cities and pilgrimage places, showing the outline to p ofessors, business men, swamis, and holy men, asking them if a book written to such an outline would be fair and representative. Many of their suggested additions and changes of emphasis were incorporated in the plan for the book. Then I pointed out that the book seemed to fall in seven sections and asked them who, in their opinion, w re the best people in the country to write the different parts. I stressed the fact that we wanted men who were recognized as devout Hindus as well as competent scholars. I i terviewed over a hundred suggested writers and finally chose seven who wrote he chapters requested. They turned out to be professors because I found that of the people I interviewed only those who had had the experience of teaching could hold themselves to an outline and could explain in simple terms the complex ideas of Hinduism.

TOWARD A BIBLICAL THEOLOGY OF EDUCATION1

Abstract

Religion in Higher Education

Religion in Higher Education

Religion in Higher Education

Religion in Higher Education

The Place of Religion in Higher Education

The Place of Religion in Higher Education

Religion in Higher Education

Religion in Higher Education

The Teacher of Religion in Higher Education

The Teacher of Religion in Higher Education

Religion in Higher Education

Religion in Higher Education