Why We Should Discard “the Integration of Faith and Learning”: Rearticulating the Mission of the Christian Scholar

Abstract

DISCUSSION ABOUT THE integration of faith and learning has become a common theme among Christian colleges and universities. Although it has fostered a robust academic dialogue, I contend the language of “integration of faith and learning” needs to be discarded. My conclusion, however, stems not from recent critiques of the integration model. Instead, I am more concerned with the habits of thinking that the language fosters than with the overall integration model (which I will largely defend). I will suggest and defend an alternative language that captures the important theological mission of Christian scholars and retains and expands a basic integration paradigm, while also directly addressing some recent critiques.