Video: Does Jesus Really Care About My Econ 201 Class?
Our Need & Your Role
Short Video: Alcuin is Growing!
p.s. BONUS VIDEO
Student Testimonial
“Alcuin Study Center’s approach to Christianity and academics is unique compared to campus ministry organizations as it puts emphasis on truth, beauty, and goodness, focusing on the arts, history, and other academic subjects, but looking at those through a Christian lens. Alcuin has helped me to develop a stronger Christian worldview, and I believe this is incredibly important for college students as they leave college and enter into the ‘real world.’ Many Christians after college can struggle with their faith as they are not surrounded by a big community anymore, or as they have to learn how to apply their faith to their jobs and everyday life. Alcuin does a great job of teaching students how to do this now so that you can be better prepared and stronger in faith as you are thrown into the world.”
–Nate Knechte (on left) and his buddy Ethan Clark are both regulars at Alcuin Study Center
ASC Hosted a One-Day Conference Called Christianity in the Classroom?
(Click on the student responses below to enlarge)
More About the Conference:
Over 60 students from at least 6 different Christian student ministries (and some from no ministry at all), as well as several professors and a few community members, gathered in the Ball State Student Center Ball Room to spend an entire Saturday together discussing what it means to be Christian student, as distinct from simply a Christian on a college campus. That is, how might one’s understanding of the world through a Christian lens actually change the way one does scholarship? If the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are reliable, and if Jesus Christ really lived, died, rose again, ascended, and will one day return, then how might that shape the way students approach economics, ethics, English, or the Enlightenment? What would it look like to bring Christian presuppositions to bear in intelligent and helpful ways upon the subject matter discussed in classrooms and written about in papers? How do professors think about such things? Is there a place for Christian scholarship in todays universities? In what ways is my faith reflected in my work ethic and posture in class?
These are the types of questions we discussed.
The first session, entitled What Has Athens to do with Jerusalem (or Does Jesus Really Care About My Econ 201 Class?, was an examination of what I’ve called the 2-chapter gospel as opposed to the more robust (and biblical) 4-chapter gospel. The implications of this distinction are legion, especially as they concern the life of the mind, the pursuit of vocation, and Christian discipleship.
To watch What Has Athens to do with Jerusalem (or Does Jesus Really Care About My Econ 201 Class?), click below
The second session was a panel discussion with 4 Ball State professors and 2 campus ministers (see the photo above).
The third and final session was a very practical application of next steps, provided by Brian Allred, whose experience as an instructor at Ball State as well as a seminar professor and a local pastor provides him with some wonderful insights into these topics.
We are planning a follow up conference for this Spring on Jesus Christ and the Life of the Mind (to borrow from Mark Noll). We’ll keep you posted.
We Need You
Alcuin Study Center occupies a unique space in Muncie and the BSU community—a space where the Church meets the University; where faculty, students, and community membersconnect over enduring human questions; where the wide range of religious and philosophical underpinnings of our varied beliefs are discussed with clarity and charity; and where the long history of Christian thought and literature is mined for the answers to today’s most pressing questions.
This is the sort of institution that our community needs to support human flourishing in every discipline and vocation—flourishing that comes, ultimately, by the grace of Christ, in whom all things hold together.
To my knowledge, there is nothing quite like Alcuin Study Center anywhere else in Indiana.
And the influence of Alcuin Study Center reaches far beyond the borders of Indiana. Ball State students graduate and pursue vocations in every part of the world. As they do, some of them will work out their faith in wonder and awe with fear and trembling. Many will not. We need your help to equip them to do the former, and by so doing, bring the light of Christ to bear in the marketplace of ideas and the public square.
We are working hard to raise funds to meet our need of $150,000 in annual pledges by the end of 2025. You can help in any of the following ways:
Join with us in the mission through a monthly or quarterly pledge.
Boost the mission of ASC through a one-time or annual gift.
Consider putting ASC in your will.
For those who have already invested in the mission, please consider a small increase in your giving.
And of course, pray for the Lord’s provision for ASC.
This Spring, our board, with the assistance of retired Indiana Wesleyan University president, David Wright—an extraordinary educator, organizational guru, and Christian leader—will lead us through a full-orbed vision and strategic planning process. We will have more specifics regarding our financial needs for the future as that plan comes into focus.
To those of you who have already been giving sacrificially for the building of this critically important institution: THANK YOU!
Please share our work with others who share our passion. One way you might do so is by sharing our newest promo video with them:
By the grace of Christ, in whom all things hold together,
Executive Director, Alcuin Study Center
p.s. Bonus Video
Last Spring I had the immense pleasure of interviewing one of the best Jazz musicians of our day, Ruth Naomi Floyd. You can read about the event here and here.
Our video of that interview was held up for several reasons, but we have finally published it and are SO excited to share it with you all. Think of it as an early Christmas present!
