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The Holy Spirit and Higher Education

The Holy Spirit and Higher Education

Renewing the Christian University

Christian higher education (CHE) is increasingly a transnational and global endeavor, with over one-sixth of the almost two hundred institutional members of the Council for Christian Colleges &...

Sales Date: Saturday, 1st Apr 2023

320 Pages, 7.00 x 10.00 x 0.92 in

Paperback
9781481318143
Published: Saturday, 15th Apr 2023

$49.99

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Christian higher education (CHE) is increasingly a transnational and global endeavor, with over one-sixth of the almost two hundred institutional members of the Council for Christian Colleges &...

Christian higher education (CHE) is increasingly a transnational and global endeavor, with over one-sixth of the almost two hundred institutional members of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) located in nineteen countries outside the United States. Much of this is related to the shift of the Christian center of gravity to the global South over the last half century, and in particular to the explosion of pentecostal and charismatic forms of churches across Asia, Africa, and Latin America, all of which also feeds back via migration to the so-called "browning" of the churches of North America.

Networks like the CCCU have sought to bridge faith and learning through a certain form of Christ-centeredness and biblical orientation. While these theological priorities of the evangelical Protestant tradition have gained wide currency, the pneumatic spirituality of the pentecostal and charismatic movements is rarely considered when thinking about a distinctively Christian vision of higher education.

When even God is showing up at secular universities, one wonders what difference considerations of the Holy Spirit might make to complement and perhaps revitalize the christocentrism renowned across CHE. The Holy Spirit and Higher Education responds along two interrelated lines: by reconsidering historic Christian education itself from this pentecostal perspective, and by formulating an approach to CHE around the charismatic, sanctifying, and missional dimensions of the Spirit’s activity. Yong and Coulter show that CHE should be both Christ centered and Pentecost inspired, both biblically faithful and pneumatically empowered, both faith committed and charismatically propelled.

In this unprecedented moment of both opportunity and vulnerability for Christian higher education, The Holy Spirit and Higher Education: Renewing the Christian University brings a fresh and welcome voice to a conversation that has become entirely too worn and predictable. As lifelong scholars in the Pentecostal tradition, Professors Coulter and Yong invite us to view the work of Christian higher education through the lens of the Holy Spirit. Their expansive narrative recounts from both historical and theological perspectives the global story of Christian higher education from the early church fathers to our contemporary digital age. The account complements, expands, and at points provocatively challenges the dominant narrative of Christian higher education that has been told primarily by Reformed and Evangelical voices and framed in terms of the questions and the categories of Post-Enlightenment American high culture. Coulter and Yong invite us to imagine that once again, the Holy Spirit, as at Pentecost, might descend, this time to animate the powerful instrument of Christian higher education for the renewal of all peoples around the globe--in their complex richness and diversity--for the reorganization of the enterprise of learning itself, and for utilizing effectively the variety of platforms through which the learning can be facilitated. The book is a gift that deserves attention and that should be received with gladness and gratitude by the Christian educational community.
~Shirley A. Mullen, President Emerita, Houghton College, Professor of History, and Past Chair of the Board of Directors of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities

Is Pentecostalism inescapably anti-intellectualist? Dale Coulter and Amos Yong convincingly argue that Pentecostalism has unique resources to revitalize today’s academy. Drawing on the church’s long tradition, The Holy Spirit and Higher Education argues forcefully that the life of the mind must be pentecostalized. Here is a thorough and convincing argument for a Christ-patterned and Spirit-infused education that truly integrates heart, head, and hands. Coulter and Yong offer a momentous contribution to the philosophy of education from an unabashedly Pentecostal perspective.
~Hans Boersma, Saint Benedict Servants of Christ Chair in Ascetical Theology, Nashotah House Theological Seminary

Coulter and Yong demonstrate their tremendous talent as scholars in this book that uniquely emphasizes the role of the Holy Spirit in Christian higher education. By providing insights into the traditions and promises of Pentecostal theology, Yong and Coulter present a renewed vision for Christian higher education that is attuned to the movement of the Holy Spirit--yesterday, today, and tomorrow. The result is a book that is both deeply inspirational and abundantly practical for thoughtful Christian educators from across the full spectrum of Christian traditions and backgrounds.
~Perry L. Glanzer, Professor of Educational Foundations, Baylor University

The Holy Spirit and Higher Education is a bold and life-transforming study on Christian higher education, tracing the pervasive work of the Spirit in early Christian centuries and presenting a Pentecost project to invite the Holy Spirit into the modern higher education space. This courageous project will, in turn, transform Pentecostal and global Christianity.
~Wonsuk Ma, Dean, College of Theology and Ministry, and Distinguished Professor of Global Christianity, Oral Roberts University

...I can easily recommend this volume to those within higher education--professors, graduate students, and especially administrators (who I believe would benefit greatly from this work)--as well as pastors who are interested in the subject historically and theologically. Ultimately, Yong and Coulter have both provided a significant resource, one that I earnestly hope will serve to enrich and transform the task of Christian higher education.
~Isaiah C. Padgett, Pneuma

"…I can easily recommend this volume to those within higher education--professors, graduate students, and especially administrators (who I believe would benefit greatly from this work)--as well as pastors who are interested in the subject historically and theologically. Ultimately, Yong and Coulter have both provided a significant resource, one that I earnestly hope will serve to enrich and transform the task of Christian higher education."
~Isaiah C. Padgett, Pneuma

"...This volume would serve well to be carefully read by individuals and (preferably in) groups across institutions of (Christian) higher education. The restorying is a key that needs to be taken up. If restorying fails to be appreciated and integrated, it will most certainly result in the failure of institutions of higher education. To be healthy, higher education must move well beyond assessments based merely upon head counts or the construction of new buildings and programs; and if the Christian story is true, education is more than an ROI calculation or a path to employability.May this volume find a wide readership among all those concerned for the state and future of Christian higher education."
~Rick Wadholm Jr., Associate Professor of Old Testament at Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, The Pneuma Review