University is a major way that our society prepares professionals and leaders in education, health, government, business, arts, church–all components of our communal lives. Although the beginnings of the first universities were Christian, academia has become more and more adrift from these foundations. We have lost not only the union, the interwovenness of theological and academic understandings, but also the relational and communal process of learning which teaches students to be other-centered in their practice.
A Glimpse of the Kingdom in Academia tells the story of the social sciences department of a small Christian university that took seriously the mandate to prepare their students to be salt and light in a secular society. Here are stories of the transformation in students’ lives, as well as description of classroom practices, and the epistemological theory behind those practices. The book explores academic knowing, Christian worldview, relational epistemology, inner knowing, and wisdom–all ways of knowing that a Christian university should teach. The process of transformation, the context of community, and the bigger picture of life’s journey and changing images of God are identified as important aspects of kingdom life in academia. The institutional setting is also critiqued with the recognition that power practices need to align with the kingdom of the Christ who emptied himself.
About the author
Charles R. Ringma has worked in urban and cross-cultural mission for many decades. He has taught in universities, seminaries, and colleges in Australia, Southeast Asia, and Canada. He is emeritus professor, Regent College (Vancouver); research professor, Asian Theological Seminary (Metro Manila); and honorary research fellow, Trinity College (Brisbane). He is the author of over thirty books, most recently In the Midst of Much-Doing: Cultivating a Missional Spirituality. He is a Franciscan tertiary, TSSF.
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