The Scandal of the Evangelical College

""Evangelical colleges and universities have lost touch with the church, and it is indeed a scandal. Administrators and boards of these institutions must come to grips with Martin Spence's arguments. All those connected to Christian higher education need to read this book."" --John Fea, distinguished professor of American history, Messiah University ""The 'scandal' of the evangelical college, according to Martin Spence, lies in its conflation of faith and individual piety. This results in its attempt to bring a Christian 'worldview' into a predetermined curriculum. Spence's compelling alternative lets us see education as an ecclesial vocation that transforms faith into a shared way of life at once social, political, and economic. His analysis opens the imagination to how the Christian college might yet offer a rich alternative to the domesticated faith of late modernity."" --Elizabeth Newman, adjunct professor of theology, Duke Divinity School ""Although many evangelical colleges trumpet their orthodoxy, Martin Spence rightly points out that there's more than one way to give in to the secular spirit of the age. Rather than serving the church, the mission of evangelical colleges largely matches their secular counterparts: preparing individuals to serve the market economy. Spence's compelling critique and vision for moving forward makes this a must-read for this time of great upheaval in Christian higher education."" --Branson Parler, professor of theology, The Foundry ""In this book, Martin Spence makes an excellent scholarly contribution that demonstrates the multidimensional and multifaceted nature of secularization in Christian higher education. Spence concludes by offering practical suggestions on how Christian higher education can go beyond being reactionary to the amoral demands of the marketplace by being visionary through the building of alignment between Christian higher education and the church community. Doing so would enable rooting the practice of Christian transformation at the grassroots level, where ordinary lay people could be effectively reached."" --Samuel Zalanga, professor emeritus of sociology, Bethel University