The relation between Christian education and the secularized public square, based on how state and church relations are typically portrayed, has been described chiefly in terms of conflict. However, in the case of church-founded schools and universities in Britain, the relationship, in practice, is more ambiguous than polarized. Arguably, there is…

Paul S. Boyer was the youngest of the three Boyer brothers, with Bill the oldest and Ernie in the middle. Paul served on the faculty in the history department at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and was referred to by the "New York Times" upon his death on March 17, 2012, as "an intellectual historian who wrote groundbreaking…

This article explores the historical roots of Ernest Boyer's impact on Christian higher education in the United States. Boyer's stints as a student at two Christian colleges (Messiah College in Pennsylvania and Greenville College in Illinois) and his first faculty and administrative posts at Upland College in California were significant…

The development of critical thinking skills among learners is a common educational goal across graduate theological schools. The purpose of this article is to provide a survey of some of the primary historical influences of the critical thinking movement in higher education in the United States and the movement's impact on graduate…

This study contributes to the understanding of the structural and cultural influences of Christian college environments on student activism through the framework of symbolic interactionism (Blumer, 1969; Mead, 1934). The goal of this research was to examine how the students at Christian institutions understand and engage in activism within their…

A qualitative case study methodology was used to determine what drives four Christian colleges attempting to become more diverse communities and what role their mission plays in seeking the change they desire. The focus was on analyzing the tension between the institutions' missions as Christian colleges and their desire to become more ethnically…

This article examines today's functioning of Christian seminaries. In contemporary America, the overwhelming percentage of seminaries focus on student intellectual development and theological accuracy. The author observes, however, that such an emphasis is a major departure from seminary historical practices in the United States and is contrary to…

The movement of the Germanic peoples from the barbaric state that the Romans found them in during the days of Julius Caesar to the highly civilized and educated condition of today is a long and complex history. At the heart of that development over the centuries was first the shift to Roman culture; then the slow adoption of Roman Catholicism and…

By the mid-19th century, liberal protestant universities had allowed their religious identity to slip away. During the same period, Catholic institutions had maintained their religious identity. Catholicism's stance against modernist thought had held the day. In the 1960s, the Aristotelian-Thomistic hegemony was broken, allowing for a pluralistic…

Despite the 1,000-year history of the church in Ukraine and the 800-year history of the university in Europe, Christian higher education has always struggled to survive in the territory that is now Ukraine. While one early Catholic university did exist in the territory of Ukraine when it was under Polish rule, only since Ukraine became independent…

Australia has no Christian universities or Christian liberal arts colleges other than Australian Catholic University, which has six campuses in five cities. This paper examines one long-term attempt to set up such an institution, which ended in the project being abandoned for lack of progress. Some likely reasons for failure are identified in the…

This paper examines the foundation and development of universities in Australia and New Zealand and demonstrates how these universities were established on a secular basis. Educators from other continents with a mainly Christian history are often surprised that there is so little evidence of Christian input into the university sector in…

This is a case study of the historical development of a private Christian faith-based school of higher education in post-Soviet Russia from its conception in 1990 until 2010. This binational school was founded as Russian-American Christian University (RACU) in 1996. In 2003, business and economics as well as social work undergraduate academic…

The history of Christian higher education in Europe may be analyzed in terms of seven eras. From their medieval origins in scholasticism and the practical needs of students and rulers, universities passed through Renaissance humanism to a period of decay, yet remained substantially Christian in intent. The Enlightenment exercised a partially…

In this pair of two articles, the authors summarize the history of the practice of character instruction in Christian higher education. They examine character education beginning with the founding of Harvard in 1636 to contemporary times. They note that virtually every historian, theologian, and social scientist acknowledges that character…