Abstract
This chapter explores the special context of Christian universities. There is an analysis of the shared nature and generic aims of these universities, the principal factors that mediate how their mission is carried out and the major challenges they encounter. Then the particular case of the Catholic university, the denominational category which sponsors by far the greatest number of universities is examined. The nature and purpose of a Catholic university is approached by wrestling with the often misunderstood relationship between faith and intellectual inquiry. This is followed first, by an exposure of factors (with special reference to culture) that influence how the mission of a Catholic university is interpreted and implemented; second, an interrogation of the cross-pressures and causes of resistance to this mission.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
I make a case for this claim, addressing the respective gifts of the church and the university and their need for one another, in John Sullivan, ‘Religious faith in education: enemy or asset?’, Journal of Beliefs & Values Vol. 33, No. 2, August 2012, pp. 183–193, at pp. 190–192.
- 2.
Paul Lakeland, (2002) ‘The Habit of Empathy: Postmodernity and the Future of the Church-Related College,’ in Professing in the Postmodern Academy, edited by Stephen Haynes (Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press, 2002), p. 47.
- 3.
‘The search for truth may be seen through the eyes of faith as a searching a searching for the face of God.’
William C. Ringenberg, quoting former President of Mercer University (a Baptist foundation), The Christian College and the Meaning of Academic Freedom (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016), p. 177.
- 4.
Leslie Francis, ‘Theology of Education and the Church School’, in Christian Perspectives on Church Schools, edited by Leslie Francis and David Lankshear (Leominster, UK: Gracewing, 1993).
- 5.
Charles L. Glenn, The Ambiguous Embrace (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2000).
- 6.
Michael L. Budde and John Wright (eds), Conflicting Allegiances, (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos, 2004).
- 7.
See David Tuohy SJ, Denominational Education and Politics: Ireland in a European Context (Dublin: Veritas, 2013).
- 8.
John W. Wright, ‘How Many Masters?’, in Conflicting Allegiances, pp. 15, 19, 26.
- 9.
Scott H. Moore, ‘The Humanities within an Ecclesially Based University’, Conflicting Allegiances, p. 147; Stephen Fowl, ‘The Role of Scripture in an Ecclesially Based University’, Conflicting Allegiances, p. 172.
- 10.
Michael L. Budde, ‘Assessing What Doesn’t Exist’, in Conflicting Allegiances, p. 260.
- 11.
‘Healthy religious institutions should have mechanisms in place for periodic reflection upon their operating assumptions.’ Elmer Thiessen, In Defence of Religious Schools and Colleges (Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press, 2001), p. 94.
- 12.
For an overview of many aspects of Catholic universities in the USA, see Handbook of Research on Catholic Higher Education edited by Thomas C. Hunt, Ellis A. Joseph. Ronald Nuzzi and John G. Geiger (Greenwich, CN: Information Age Publishing, 2003). For a historical perspective on the evolution of Catholic higher education in the USA, see Philip Gleason, Contending with Modernity (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1995).
- 13.
Theodore Hesburgh, quoted by John Haughey, SJ in Where Is Knowing Going? (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2009), p. 65.
- 14.
Kenneth Garcia, ‘“Reversing the Secularist Drift”: John Courtney Murray and the Telos of Catholic Higher Education’, Theological Studies, vol.73, No. 4, December 2012, pp. 890–908.
- 15.
Murray, quoted by Garcia, p. 894.
- 16.
Garcia, p. 895. Such engagement is expected to require robust critique and questioning, as illustrated by Robert Louis Wilken’s observation that ‘A Catholic institute is no less a forum for debate and argument than is the rest of the university. Catholic tradition is a living thing to be contested as well as upheld, not a genteel legacy to be perfumed and powdered.’ Wilken quoted by Francis George, A Godly Humanism (Washington DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2015), p. 140.
- 17.
John Paul II, Ex Corde Ecclesiae (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 1996).
- 18.
Ibid., p. 15.
- 19.
Ibid., pp. 25, 26, 28, 32, 35.
- 20.
Ibid., p. 35.
- 21.
On the complex and multifaceted issue of autonomy, see John Sullivan, ‘Relative Autonomy and the Catholic University’ in Vatican II and New Thinking on Catholic Education edited by Sean Whittle (London: Routledge, 2016).
- 22.
Terrence Merrigan, ‘Is a Catholic University a Good “Idea”? Reflections on Catholic Higher Education from a Newmanian Perspective’, Irish Theological Quarterly, Vol. 80, No. 1, 2015, pp. 1–18 at p. 15.
- 23.
Amelia J. Uelmen, ‘A Response to Kenneth Garcia’ Theological Studies vol. 73, No. 4, December 2012, pp. 909–923, at p. 911.
- 24.
See Chap. 1.
- 25.
John Haughey , Where is Knowing Going? (Washington, DC; Georgetown University Press, 2009) p. 56.
- 26.
Jenkins, quoted by Christian Smith , Building Catholic Higher Education (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2014), p. 14.
- 27.
Ibid., p. 16.
- 28.
Ibid., p. 103.
- 29.
Ibid., p. 107.
- 30.
Ibid.
- 31.
Among the many thinkers who have contributed to the Catholic intellectual tradition, leading figures are often identified as including Augustine and Aquinas , Dante and Nicholas of Cusa, Pascal and Newman, Edith Stein and Jacques Maritain.
- 32.
Cyril Orji , The Catholic University and the Search for Truth (Winona, MN: Anselm Academic, 2013), p. 46.
- 33.
Kenneth Garcia , Academic Freedom and the Telos of the Catholic University (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012) p. 143.
- 34.
Ong develops the metaphor from Jesus’ parable in Mt. 13: 33 (echoed in Lk. 13: 21). Walter J Ong, “Yeast: A Parable for Catholic Higher Education” (America, 7 April 1990), downloaded from http://www.bc.edu/offices/mission, accessed December 2015. Garcia summarises and deploys the yeast metaphor on pp. 143–144.
- 35.
In another work, Ong claims that intellectual discovery and development contribute to spiritual growth. Discovery is itself a spiritual good and hence of itself work for God’s cause. …Intellectual development … [intensifies] the spiritual component in the universe, and thus open[s] new frontiers for the free working of grace. …The Church is involved in the advancement of all knowledge, for this is something which affects the spiritual activity of the human race.’ Walter J. Ong , American Catholic Crossroads (New York: Collier Books, 1958), pp. 107, 109, 142.
- 36.
Melanie Morey and John Piderit, Catholic Higher Education (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006).
- 37.
Morey & Piderit, p. 205.
- 38.
Cf this insight from Fitz and Naughton: ‘Without institutionalizing the Catholic mission and educational traditions we lose our Catholic identity; without adaptation and change we lose our relevance to the contemporary world. Without survival there is no mission; yet, survival without a distinctive mission and tradition is not worth all the effort or all the resources.’ Ray Fitz and Michael Naughton, ‘The Challenge of Institutionalizing Mission and Identity’, Journal of Catholic Higher Education volume 31, Number 2, Summer 2012, p. 142.
- 39.
Morey & Piderit, p. 254.
- 40.
For an impressively practical and wise book on the vision and values, strategy and culture of a Catholic university, see Realizing the Distinctive University by Mark William Roche (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2016). This will be an essential guide for leaders of such universities from now on.
- 41.
See also Mark U. Edwards, ‘Religion, Reluctance, and Conversations about Vocation’ in Vocation Across the Academy edited by David S. Cunningham (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017), pp. 273, 280–282, 284–285.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sullivan, J. (2018). Christian Universities. In: The Christian Academic in Higher Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69629-4_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69629-4_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-69628-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-69629-4
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)