Christian Religion in a Secular Academic Setting

This is the outline for a talk I'm going to give at Intervarsity's large group gathering sometime in October:

I'm struck by how anti-intellectual Christians try to be these days. Instead of engaging culture, we tend to huddle in our own protective bubbles, only reading books, listening to music, and debating issues within certified "Christian" atmospheres. Christians fear mixing with "secular" culture and are reluctant to engage in debates and discussions about Christian religion and philosophy. I think some of this attitude comes from two things: 1) a belief that "secular" things are tainted and therefore not useful for discovering truth, and 2) a fear that a smarter non-Christian academic "thinker" type will debunk our religion and lead us to question our faith.

These attitudes persist into the modern academic setting. College Christians are more than willing to go to universities and help out with on-campus groups, but many still try to enfore and build a sequestered existence. Even moreso, the academic setting angers many Christians to the point that the only message they can commiunicate is one of condemnation. This saddens me because the western, espeically American, university tradition, by definition, probably provides the Christian with the most freedom to express and spread their beliefs that they'll see in their lifetime. Many American workplaces have rules and by-laws that prohibit talking about religion, and they certainly don't appreciate respectful debates which take time away from productivity. The University, on the other hand, is built upon a respectful exchange of ideas. Although it may seem like these Universities tend to give emphasis to secular or "New Agey" type ideas and don't appreciate old world faiths like Christianity, and many college students may even mock or approach Christian spirituality with a negative predisposition, most people that participate in secular universities still appreciate those who express their ideas and aren't afraid to take flak for them. That's what these places are all about, anyway.

The Greek Scriptures speak of such areas of academic/philosophical exchange, and show an effective way of engaging the culture with Christian spirituality and religion:

"Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed. Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, "What does this babbler wish to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities"--because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean." Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: "Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for "'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.' Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead." Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, "We will hear you again about this." So Paul went out from their midst. But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them."
(Act 17:15-34)

Athens was the ancient equivalent of modern Boston, Minneapolis, or San Francisco. It was the center of Academia, where new and old ideas were exchanged and debated. One could get away with believing just about anything, and this was seen as a good thing. Wealthy families from all over the known world sent their children to Athens to be educated, and the Romans considered the Greek academic tradition to be a prerequisite for engaging in high Roman culture. Essentially, Paul was entering the ultimate College Town. In the downtown area was a marketplace and a civic forum where people bought and sold goods, including idols of their favorite gods.

The first point of interest in that passage is Paul's reaction to his surrounding. The Greek writer uses "παροξύνω" (paroxuno) to describe Paul's spirit being "stirred" or "rubbed the wrong way" when seeing all the idols in the town. Instead of declaring himself "not of this world", Paul does the snobby academic thing and enters the synagogue to engage in debate ("διαλέγομαι" or dialegomai, to discuss, reason with, or speak to) with the local Jewish Rabbis. Despite Paul's frustration with the idolatry of the city, and the local Jews' probable offense at his take on Jewish relgion, the debate remained civil.

What's more, is that "secular" philosophers were interested in hearing what Paul had to say. The Stoics and Epicureans were very real religio-philisophical groups that existed througout the Roman Empire. These were the guys with beards and togas you'd imagine when you think about "Greek Philosophers". In ancient Athens these philosophers engaged daily in exchanging ideas and prided themselves in their willingness to hear and reason with various ways of thinking. Their reaction to Paul was mixed: some blew him off, yet others wanted to hear him out.

I find this true for the modern academic institution. Speaking your mind on any idea will bring mixed reactions. Some will close their ears completely--and that's their God-given choice--while others will listen simply for the sake of hearing someone speak with conviction. In my experience, most of the people who attend or teach at colleges will at least respectfully hear out someone who pretends to speak with a conviction, as long as they abide by the academic norm and do it with respect and a willingness to hear a response.

The Stoics and Epicureans had such a reaction: "He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities...May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean." Although Christianity isn't really a strange or foreign idea to many college kids and academics these days, the same spirit of inquiry still exists on campus. People go there to "expand their minds" and "try new things".

The philosophers took Paul to the local civic center, the "Areopagus", which might have got its name from Aries + pagus (meaning hill or large rock, having nothing to do with winged horses) and is regarded today as "Mars Hill". In the day it was a local equivalent of a city council and court building, where all the haughty, important men of Athens might hang out. There Paul gave his famous sermon:

"Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious...."

Ah, Paul starts out with a compliment! He zeroes in on a positive aspect of Athenian culture, because Paul knows that this very aspect is what is allowing him to preach to the city's elite. He also recognizes that being religious is a positive attribute. Who would have thought of complimenting Pagans?

"...For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you."

This, by some modern american evangelical standards, would be heresy. Paul inserted Christianity into the ancient Greek Pantheon. This is called "adapting the Gospel to culture", and I'm surprised how many evangelical eyebrows raise at the sound of this despite dear ol' Paul's example.

"...The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for "'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.'..."

Whoa, did Paul just quote a pagan? The last line is a quotation from the Greek Stoic philosopher Aratus, which Paul seems to think hints at God-given truth. This has interesting implications for the exclusivity some claim that christianity has on truth.

"...Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."

The final point, about Christ's ressurection, seemed pretty far-fetched for some. Still, others remained interested and wanted to hear more from him. Even a member of the local council became a Christian.

In today's academic world, Christians need to be open to discussion and never shy from debate. In the ancient world, where things were far more strict than they are now regarding the preaching of one's religion, Paul used respectful words and careful syntax to engage the elites of the ancient world's academic center. Today's Christians will find a similarly tolerant reaction if they present their ideas respecfully and expect to recieve a reasoned response. Like Paul, if they engage the culture of academia, which includes books, music, politics, philosophy, and movies, they will increase the relevence of their ideas to the audience. This would, of course, require popping the protective bubble that surrounds us and listening to "secular" music, reading "secular" books, and hangning out in "dark" places like bars and parties. The Christian faith is compatible with all of these and will not be disproven or put down by any of them.