In his wonderful book A Christian Critique of the University, the accomplished academic and former President of the General Assembly of the United Nations, Charles Malik, insists the greatness of Jesus Christ is the starting point for any Christian conversation about the university:
“The critic in the final analysis is Jesus Christ himself. . . Jesus Christ exists in himself and he holds the entire world, including the university, in the palm of his hands …
To the non-Christian or the atheist or the naturalist or the radical secularist, this question itself is silly and irrelevant, because what Christ thinks of the university, even if Christ as such existed, makes no difference whatever to the university. The university is wholly autonomous and follows its own inherent law of development. Christ makes no more difference to the university than he does to the truth or development of physics or mathematics or the course of a raging war. But to a Christian who knows and believes in Jesus Christ as he is given us in the church and the Bible, and who at the same time realizes the unequaled power of the university in the world today, no question compares with this one.
Since the university determines the course of events and the destiny of man more than any other institution or agency today, it is impossible for a Christian not to ask the question: What does Jesus Christ think of the university? To a Christian, this question is an absolute imperative.”
Following Malik, the next several Missional Moments briefly consider the majesty of Jesus, the one who is like no other.
Why?
Well, because this Grander Story, into which we are invited, has at its center, the Grandest One.
If Jesus Christ is ultimately great, then he becomes the demarcation point for all substantive conversations, including, for a Christian academic, those regarding the academy.
If Jesus is ultimately great, it is he who will shape our identity, our academic work and even our great hopes for the world.
So it is fitting to start looking at the One, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Paul’s letter to the Colossians 2:3).”
Rick Hove and Heather Holleman