On Being a Christian in the Academy: Nicholas Wolterstorff and the Practice of Christian Scholarship

by Andrew Sloane

Publisher:

Wipf and Stock

, 2003

Overview

On Being a Christian in the Academy offers a critical appraisal of Nicholas Wolterstorff's account of faith and knowledge in the light of the philosophy of science, and an application of his thought to the practice of Christian scholarship.

Andrew Sloane expounds Christian philosopher Nicholas Wolterstorff’s account of rationality and his understanding of the devising and weighing of theories. Wolterstorff steers a course between the modernist idea of the neutrality and universal power of reason, on the one hand, and the relativism of some postmodern philosophy, on the other. He presents a defensible person-specific but non-relativist criterion of theory choice. The role of control beliefs in scholarship and the place of Christian beliefs in the practice of Christian scholarship are also explored.

The book concludes by exploring the implications of these findings for theological scholarship, in particular Old Testament exegesis. The author suggests that Wolterstorff's notion of scholarly practice explains the practice of scholarship and is to be commended to Christian scholars as a cogent and challenging method of devising and appraising theories.

Praise for the Print Edition

[Andrew Sloane's] discussion throughout is accurate, meticulously researched, lucidly presented, and critically sympathetic.

—Nicholas Wolterstorff, Professor of Philosophical Theology, Yale

Anyone interested in the recent resurgence of interest in the relationship between religion and higher education who has not already examined Wolterstorff's work will find here a lucid and helpful exposition.

—David Smith, Director, Kuyers Institute for Christian Teaching and Learning

Product Details

• Title: On Being a Christian in the Academy: Nicholas Wolterstorff and the Practice of Christian Scholarship
• Author: Andrew Sloane
• Series: Theological Studies Collection
• Publisher: Paternoster Press
• Publication Date: 2005
• Pages: 296

About Andrew Sloane

Andrew Sloane joined the faculty of Morling College (the Baptist Theological College of NSW) in 2002 as lecturer in Old Testament and Christian thought. He initially trained as a medical doctor before turning to theology. He completed his theological education at Morling College and has worked in Baptist churches in Sydney and Newcastle and lectured at Ridley College in Melbourne. He has written on Old Testament, interpretation, ethics and philosophy.