This list caught my eye: the “Most Brilliant Christian Professors.” Their institutional affiliations and specialties are all over the map, which is interesting in its own way, and it reminded me of a conversation I once had in graduate school.
One of my professors took me to the side after class and asked, “Is it true you are a Christian?” “Yes,” I replied, uncertain of where the question was leading. “I’m surprised,” the professor continued, “since your work is very strong. That’s really interesting.”
The question bothered me, not as a point of offense (“anti-Christian bias in the academy”), but rather that the reputation many Christian students have is that they are intellectually lazy or perform shoddy work. Certainly a bias may be in play, as well as the reality of the general ennui of being an 18-22 year old, but when I taught at secular institutions, I found this to be true way too often. I see it too often at Christian colleges as well.
Part of the great Christian Intellectual Tradition is the playing out of the intellectually apt principles that derive from biblical revelation: the existence and knowability of truth, the ultimate meaningfulness and purpose of the universe, and so on. Another part, though, is the belief that how we apply ourselves to tasks matters as well. We are to do things with all of our might (Eccl. 9:10) as unto the Lord. The luminaries cited in the list have certainly fulfilled this principle.
There are, however, countless other Christian intellectuals laboring in relative obscurity who lift up students’ eyes and minds to see transcendence and discovery throughout the academic universe. I thought I would prompt our readers to give “props” to some of these professors, especially those at Christian colleges where the teaching loads, mentorship responsibilities, and paucity of resources limit their ability to run with the “big dogs,” but who are stellar thinkers and disciplers.
Any names come to mind?
May 7th, 2010 | 9:17 am | #1
Dr Brian Cleveland at William Carey University in Hattiesburg, MS.
Dr Cleveland’s format for senior-level intensive classes is pretty fun. The students are challenged to research the material and present topics each class period for discussion. My last trimester there I took a class on Isaiah with him, and it was both a good time of fellowship and a challenging mental and spiritual journey. I’ve come out of the course with not only a better understanding of Isaiah but how it fits with the rest of the over-arching story of the Bible and how important Isaiah was to Christ and to the apostles. Two thumbs up, he’s a fantastic teacher and a good friend.
May 7th, 2010 | 9:35 am | #2
FWIW, I think Francis Beckwith has done more for English-speaking Christian intellectuals than William Lane Craig — because Dr. Beckwith is a light-year more honest about his preconceptions. WLC is a philosopher who is trying to impose his view of God on the Christian faith; at least Dr. Beckwith puts all his cards on the table when it comes to his view of the Christian faith, honestly owns his traditions, and administers the fight from there.
You know: as a bigot who thinks that Roman Catholicism is not actually in conformity to the Gospel.
If the list is only living professors, Mark Noll should be on this list. After that, I got nothin’.
May 7th, 2010 | 10:15 am | #3
There are just too many to narrow it down to 20. Besides, I sense a temptation to just start listing those I know and (especially) those with whom I am friends.
Speaking of which, if I hadn’t already met Alvin Plantinga, that photo would be somewhat terrifying.
May 7th, 2010 | 10:31 am | #4
[...] Evangel) Comments [...]
May 7th, 2010 | 10:54 am | #5
Dear Dr. Fant,
Thanks for providing the link to this post!
My two favorites are professors Schaefer and Tour. Reason: They’re both Christian scientists who don’t worship Scientism and who refuse to bow their knees to Darwinianism which costs them some professional prestige.
Schaefer: “A constant contender for the Nobel Prize, he has been persistently passed over for membership in the prestigious U.S. National Academy of Sciences because of his outspoken Christian views, skepticism of Darwinism, and support of intelligent design.”
Tour: “Tour has become one of the world’s leading nano-engineers and is himself now on a fast track for the Nobel Prize. A skeptic of Darwinian evolution for, as he stresses, scientific reasons, he has nonetheless been passed over membership in the National Academy of Sciences. An evangelical Christian, he rises at 3:30am every morning to study the Bible for two hours.”
May 7th, 2010 | 1:41 pm | #6
There are, however, countless other Christian intellectuals laboring in relative obscurity who lift up students’ eyes and minds to see transcendence and discovery throughout the academic universe. I thought I would prompt our readers to give “props” to some of these professors
In no particular order and off the top of my head: Anthony Esolen, J. Budziszewski, Peter Kreeft, William Lane Craig, J.P. Moreland, Dallas Willard, Dembski, Francis Beckwith, the Harvard professor who refused to be honored by Notre Dame last year, Russell Moore, Robert Sloan, any professor who signed the Manhattan Declaration, any professor who publically denies theistic evolution, etc….
May 7th, 2010 | 2:42 pm | #7
Got to give props to my own academic experience at Denver Seminary. Teacher and liver-of-the-Gospel, Craig Blomberg is incredible.
He’s most known for “The Historical Reliability of the Gospels,” but he’s published numerous journals, commentaries, and other books. All that said, he’s just a first rate mind with a first rate heart and he really does live the truth found in Scripture.
Here’s to you, Dr. Blomberg!
Of course, I loved all the other great profs at Denver Seminary as well and am indebted to many of them.
May 7th, 2010 | 5:34 pm | #8
Alasdair MacIntyre, David Albert Jones, and R.I.P., Ralph McInerny.
May 7th, 2010 | 10:07 pm | #9
While some Christian professors have the respect of their profession, others don’t. Some of the latter are the targets of widespread ridicule. In Philosophy, there are folks like Alvin Plantinga and Robert Adams on the one hand, and folks like Francis Beckwith on the other. While those of the latter kind will still draw lots of praise from the churchgoing crowd, there is a danger of setting back the cause of Christ in the university.
May 7th, 2010 | 10:08 pm | #10
Frank, I’m offended. Being from Vegas, I would like to think I don’t put all my cards on the table. :-).
Seriously, I think I’m pretty average. (And I’m not saying that to feign humility). When you get to know the people I know, you begin to realize how ignorant you really are. At Baylor, I am surrounded by some of the sharpest Christian minds around–e.g., Alex Pruss, Steve Evans, David Lyle Jeffrey, Ralph Wood, Tom Hibbs. So, I often feel like a roadie at a Beatles concert, just lucky to be hanging with the band.
May 8th, 2010 | 8:23 am | #11
Dear Chris Thompson:
But the same criticisms were leveled at C.S. Lewis in his day (and in our own day in the academy, come to think about it).
Philosophers and academics can be just as prone to ad hominem attacks as any other profession. If a thinker is labeled as “mediocre” or “middlebrow” (as Lewis also was), that saves the effort of actually engaging his or her arguments. Not every academic reputation, good or indifferent, is truly based on meritorious work, or indifferent work.
Besides, not every thinker is going to be Alvin Plantinga. Different gifts, different works of grace.
I should add that I am a friend to Dr. Beckwith. If I were to hear criticisms of the sort you mention, I would simply ask the critic, “And Cambridge University Press has published how many of your books?” (Not to mention HarperCollins–Wadsworth–Zondervan–Baker–Prometheus–and so on.)
May 8th, 2010 | 10:02 am | #12
I would like to nominate my personal friend and emeritus colleague, Prof. Albert M. Wolters, who began life as a philosopher and moved to biblical studies, where he has made some intriguing contributions over the years. He has been something of a mentor to me, and I had the opportunity to learn from him at Toronto’s Institute for Christian Studies in the late 1970s. He is one of three people whom I acknowledge as an influence on the writing of my own book. A finer Christian and a deeper thinker would be hard to find.
May 8th, 2010 | 9:43 pm | #13
Mark Noll has already been mentioned. Nathan Hatch (the President at Wake Forest) and Philip Jenkins (a historian/sociologist at Penn State) are also important. And, though his name is getting thrown around a lot now w/ his new book, James Hunter at Virginia is another name worth including.
May 8th, 2010 | 10:19 pm | #14
Craig Payne,
There are three points here. First, there’s a big difference between gaining the respect of the profession and gaining the applause of churchgoers; second, Christian professors who largely lack the respect of those in their profession may actually be hurting the cause of Christ in the university; third, the previous point should give churchgoers pause before celebrating certain of our popular “Christian professors” as such.
I expect you would agree with these points. But now consider comment #2 in this light.
It’s obviously true that people have different gifts. It’s also obviously true that a Beckwith differs quite a bit from a Plantinga. It’s not, however, obviously true that Beckwith’s ways of differing are a gift. For the cause of Christ in the university, some characteristics are simply liabilities.
May 9th, 2010 | 12:18 am | #15
I don’t know if Professor Rodney Stark is a Christian, but his research has been immensely valuable and helpful.
May 9th, 2010 | 12:56 am | #16
Dennis Danielson of the University of British Columbia. He is professor of English there, and currently head of the English Department. Dr. Danielson is a Milton scholar, and has recently produced a prose rendering of Paradise Lost.
Have a look!
Bryan Z.
May 9th, 2010 | 12:56 pm | #17
Stark is a Christian. I am blessed to have him as a colleague at Baylor.
http://rodneystark.com
May 9th, 2010 | 5:41 pm | #18
Peter Kreeft is legit! Few compare to his ability to combine the heart with the intellect.
If there were an award for teachers who are not teachers at a school, I would nominate Gretchen Passantino.
May 9th, 2010 | 7:56 pm | #19
Francis Collins surely ought to be on this list. The guy was as responsible as anyone else for the Human Genome Project. Kevin Vanhoozer also should be on the list, as should Miroslav Volf. Those are the two who have most thoughtfully interacted with postmodernism (without buying into it) of all Christian philosophers, and that’s important. Most Christian philosophers don’t want to go near that stuff, and I’m fully on board with that avoidance. But someone needs to do it, and those two do it well with the language/meaning issues in Vanhoozer’s case and the social/ethical issues in Volf’s case.
I think in part they decided to pick some influential people rather than just those who have contributed creatively and carefully to the Christian intellectual tradition. Wright fits into that category, but if they wanted someone who represents the views of Al Mohler they would have done better with Don Carson or Doug Moo.
Craig is more of an apologist in terms of his influence. His philosophical contributions are fringe. He has an odd view on time and God’s relation to it that certainly is original to him, but it’s not winning a lot of support among philosophers of physics, metaphysicians, or philosophers of religion. I wouldn’t call it a major contribution, at least not unless the view gets some legs. Right now it’s just seen by many (including me) as an incoherent position that he’s led to because he wants to have it both ways. The evangelicals who are going to have more influence in philosophy long-term are the ones in the top departments, e.g. Dean Zimmerman at Rutgers or Mike Rea at Notre Dame, and among more broadly-Christian philosophers it’s hard to surpass Bill Alston in epistemology or Peter van Inwagen in metaphysics. Any of those would easily outstrip Craig in the mind of any top philosopher, yet Craig retains this pop fan club among evangelicals who like philosophy but don’t do it full-time, who seem to think he’s one of the top guys in his field like Alston was and van Inwagen is.
May 9th, 2010 | 8:02 pm | #20
I should say that I was never impressed by Lewis from reading the Narnia books as a kid and then Mere Christianity in college. But I just recently listened to the Narnia books on CD and then read The Chronicles of Narnia and Philosophy, and my opinion of him as a philosophers has gone way up. He wasn’t a great thinker in his own right in terms of coming up with lots of stuff on his own that contributes to the philosophical enterprise the way a major systematic thinker with innovative views and arguments would do. But hardly anyone is like that. There are only a handful in any generation in each sub-field of philosophy. Had he been in a philosophy department instead of in literature, he would easily have held his own, and I think he could probably have done all right getting work published in philosophy journals with today’s standards if he’d been trained in the discipline by today’s standards. He was definitely doing philosophy, whatever else he was doing, and I think the Narnia books are as interesting in terms of the philosophy as they might be for anything else in them.
May 9th, 2010 | 9:20 pm | #21
I was going to mention Hunter, but his scope of influence is more limited than most on this list.
May 10th, 2010 | 9:05 am | #22
Dr. Fant,
I would like to add two names to the list: J.P. Moreland, also of Biola and Dennis Okholm, long of Wheaton College and lately of Azusa Pacific and Fuller Seminary.
J.P., as his friends call him, has a remarkable blend of Christian presence, scholarship and dedication and is much loved by his students without the Molinarian tendencies of his colleague WLC. Highly credentialed, JP is able to engage scholars on a wide range of topics and is also remarkably warm and engaging in person. In short, JP is the embodiment of loving God with all of his heart, mind and spirit.
Dennis Okholm is another sterling example of that rare blend of immense intellect and whole-hearted Christian living. In addition to his teaching duties at Azusa Pacific and Fuller Seminary, Dennis spends his “free time” as Parish Associate for the nation’s fourth largest Presbyterian Church. There he teaches classes on Wednesday nights, mentors the Men’s Fellowship and is part of the preaching rotation. Despite this enormous load, the joy of the Lord is always visible in Dennis’s ever-present smile.
Both men are widely published and esteemed by their peers. Their names would add weight to any list of Christian scholars.
Blessings to all.
May 10th, 2010 | 11:26 am | #23
Robert W. Jenson
May 10th, 2010 | 11:45 am | #24
I know Dennis Ockholm personally, as he was a colleague of my wife’s at Wheaton. I heard him preach once at First Presbyterian Church, Glen Ellyn, Illinois, and it was a truly outstanding sermon.
May 10th, 2010 | 5:15 pm | #25
Retired Law Professor Phil Johnson for his work against evolution.
May 11th, 2010 | 2:31 pm | #26
I love seeing stuff like this. Christian infiltrators of academia. But I really flipped when I was scrolling down the list and I come across one James Tour ( Jim to me). I went to church with is guy back in the 80′s when he was getting his PhD at Purdue. I went door-to-door evangelizing with him, not something you’d normally expect. Our church was full of people like this: zealots with brains and compassion. Thanks for pointing this list out.
May 11th, 2010 | 7:01 pm | #27
Hi David,
It’s nice to have a mutual friend!
Dennis is truly one of a kind – but Illinois can’t have him back!!
Blessings to you.
May 12th, 2010 | 10:40 am | #28
What on earth is Albert Mohler doing on this list? He is a culture warrior not a scholar. He rose to prominence at southern based on his ruthless political skill not his intellect. Like wise William Lane Craig while an effective apologist and no doubt a nice guy but realy not in the same class as men like Wright, Polkinghorne and McGrath, Isn’t it interesting that for a communion that is said to be in decline Anglicans seem to be over represented on this list?
May 12th, 2010 | 10:55 am | #29
Nicholas Wolterstorff should not be forgotten either.
May 20th, 2010 | 1:42 am | #30
My list of the most brilliant contemporary Christian professors:
–Alan Jacobs (English, Wheaton College)
–Roger Lundin (English, Wheaton College)
–Bruce Ellis Benson (English, Wheaton College)
–James K. A. Smith (Philosophy, Calvin College)
–Merold Westphal (Philosophy, Fordham University)
–C. Stephen Evans (Philosophy, Baylor University)
–Nicholas Wolterstorff (Philosophy, Yale University)
–Robert C. Roberts (Philosophy, Baylor University)
–Michael Horton (Theology, Westminster Seminary California)
–James Davison Hunter (Social Sciences, University of Virginia)
–Rodney Stark (Social Sciences, Baylor University)
–Kevin Vanhoozer (Theology, Wheaton College)
–N. T. Wright (New Testament, St. Andrew’s University)
–Alister McGrath (King’s College, London)
–Miroslav Volf (Theology, Yale Divinity School)
–Richard Mouw (Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary)
–John Stackhouse (Theology, Regent College)
–Jean Bethke Elshtain (Political Science, University of Chicago)
–Stanley Hauerwas (Theology, Duke Divinity School)
–John Milbank (Theology, University of Nottingham)
–Mark Noll (Church History, University of Notre Dame)
–George Marsden (History, University of Notre Dame)
–Walter Brueggemann (Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary)
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