vangelical doctrinal commitments and related concerns? What does evangelical mean in this context?
One professor at an elite university recently told me of a conversation with a Jewish colleague. A recent news item had raised the issue of the exclusivity of the Gospel. The colleague asked: “Do you really believe that persons who do not believe in Jesus are going to hell?” When the Christian professor said “yes” his colleague was outraged. “I would never have voted tenure for you had I known that,” he retorted.
The other fascinating issue is Balmer’s unvarnished pride in the politically liberal stance and worldview of the university. So much for any claim of objectivity and openness to ideas. He sees the university as a “bunker” against conservative ideas. We should be thankful for such candor. Keep his statement handy so that you have it the next time you hear an major university leader bragging about the openness and political neutrality of his institution.
A very different analysis comes from British historian Paul Johnson in the October 8, 2007 edition of Forbes magazine. Johnson responds to militant atheists like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens and then notes:
My old university, Oxford, which was founded by monks, friars and theologians nine centuries ago, was until recently regarded as a bastion of old-fashioned Christianity and, as such, was called “the house of lost causes.” Today a publicly expressed belief in Christianity is likely to lower your chance of landing a job at Oxford.
Religion has become a handicap in university life, especially in certain subjects. In philosophy, for example, academics who hope for senior chairs keep mum about any faith they hold. God and promotion do not mix. And in all the sciences, young men and women with religious backgrounds are advised to jettison their Christian, Jewish or other religious baggage if they want to pursue careers in physics, chemistry or biology. The universal assumption seems to be that a belief in God fatally debars a scholar from acquiring scientific knowledge. In Britain the number of students concentrating in the sciences is on the decline, and the systematic discouragement of Christians and Jews in the science faculties will clearly increase that trend.
Recent developments in Britain appear to prove Johnson’s point. It appears that the more openly a professor’s worldview is tied to Christian commitments, the larger the problem becomes. When the professor’s worldview and political commitments are those shared by his or her secular colleagues the social and professional cost of Christian identification is likely to be low. When those commitments and worldviews diverge the cost is likely to be far higher.
The passages cited from George Marsden can be found in The Secularization of the Academy, edited by George M. Marsden and Bradley J. Longfield (Oxford University Press, 1992). See Marsden’s opening chapter, “The Soul of the American University,” pages 9-45. Readers are strongly advised to read his classic work on this subject, The Soul of the American University: From Protestant Establishment to Established Nonbelief (Oxford University Press, 1994).
The building in the photograph is the Low Memorial Library at Columbia University.