Richard Lints believes it is absolutely vital that evangelical scholars study in the secular academy. Lints, who teaches at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, earned degrees at the University of Notre Dame and then the University of Chicago. He points out in this discussion with fellow theologian Michael Horton that many of the so-called new evangelicals leaders who emerged after the Second World War studied at such prestigious schools as Harvard and Princeton. The continued marginalization of evangelical scholarship in the decades since then illustrates the high cost of avoiding these culture gatekeepers.
At the same time, pursuing accolades at such schools can be dangerous to an aspiring scholar’s faith. Horton holds up accountability to a local church as one way students can keep perspective when studying in what can be a hostile environment. Watch to see why these two accomplished scholars conclude that the pushback and rigor of a secular education can sharpen Christian thinking and faith.
