To Think Christianly: A History of L’Abri, Regent College, and the Christian Study Center Movement

by Charles E. Cotherman

Publisher:

IVP Academic

, 2020

Overview

In the late 1960s and on into the next decade, the American pastor and bestselling author Francis Schaeffer regularly received requests from evangelicals across North America seeking his help to replicate his innovative learning community, L’Abri, within their own contexts. At the same time, an innovative school called Regent College had started up in Vancouver, British Columbia, led by James Houston and offering serious theological education for laypeople. Before long, numerous admirers and attendees of L’Abri and of Regent had launched Christian “study centers” of their own—often based on or near university campuses—from Berkeley to Maryland. For evangelical baby boomers coming of age in the midst of unprecedented educational opportunity and cultural upheaval, these multifaceted communities inspired a generation to study, pray, and engage culture more faithfully—in the words of James M. Houston, “to think Christianly.”

In this compelling and comprehensive history, Charles Cotherman traces the stories of notable study centers and networks, as well as their influence on a generation that would reshape twentieth-century Christianity. Beginning with the innovations of L’Abri and Regent College, Cotherman elucidates the histories of

• The C. S. Lewis Institute near Washington, DC
• R. C. Sproul’s Ligonier Valley Study Center in Stahlstown, Pennsylvania
• New College Berkeley
• The Center for Christian Study at the University of Virginia
• The Consortium of Christian Study Centers, which now includes dozens of institutions

Each of these projects owed something to Schaeffer’s and Houston’s approaches, which combined intellectual and cultural awareness with compelling spirituality, open-handed hospitality, relational networks, and a deep commitment to the gospel’s significance for all fields of study—and all of life. Cotherman argues that the centers’ mission of lay theological education blazed a new path for evangelicals to fully engage the life of the mind and culture. Built on a rich foundation of original interviews, archival documents, and contemporary sources, To Think Christianly sheds new light on this set of defining figures and places in evangelicalism’s life of the mind.

Key Features

• Traces the stories of notable study centers and networks
• Examines their influence on a generation that would reshape twentieth-century Christianity
• Sheds new light on this set of defining figures and places in evangelicalism’s life of the mind

Contents

• Foreword by Ken Elzinga
• Introduction

Part 1: Innovation

• L’Abri
• Regent College

Part 2: Replication

• The C. S. Lewis Institute
• The Ligonier Valley Study Center
• New College Berkeley
• The Center for Christian Study

Part 3: Multiplication

• The Consortium of Christian Study Centers
• Conclusion

Praise for the Print Edition

Richly informative and superbly written, Cotherman’s study fills in a huge gap in understanding evangelicals. But it also raises a titanic question, What is the state of evangelical thinking, and its influence on churches across the country, as evangelicals confront the far deeper challenges of the present moment?

—Os Guinness, author of Last Call for Liberty

A fascinating, readable, and well-informed account of the leading centers that have done most to shape an influential movement. I recommend it to anyone interested in the role of Christianity in American universities.

—George Marsden, author of The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship

Deep research and interviews with many key individuals make this book a stimulating history of efforts to overcome evangelical anti-intellectualism. Cotherman presents the work of Francis (and Edith) Schaeffer at L’Abri in Switzerland, and then of James (and Rita) Houston at Regent College in Vancouver as the sparks stimulating broader, deeper, and wider Christian cultural engagement—culminating now in the Consortium of Christian Study Centers and other important initiatives. Good reasons abound to be pessimistic about the future of Christian intellectual life. This well-written and compelling book, by contrast, is a sign of hope.

—Mark A. Noll, author of Jesus Christ and the Life of the Mind

Product Details

• Title: To Think Christianly: A History of L’Abri, Regent College, and the Christian Study Center Movement
• Author: Charles E. Cotherman
• Publisher: IVP
• Publication Date: 2020
• Pages: 320
• Resource Type: History
• Topic: Modern Church

About Charles E. Cotherman

Charles E. Cotherman (PhD, University of Virginia) is executive director of the Center for Rural Ministry and assistant professor of biblical and theological studies at Grove City College. With the exception of a few years, he has lived in rural western Pennsylvania his entire life. In addition to his work at Grove City College, Charlie is cofounder and pastor of Oil City Vineyard Church in Oil City, Pennsylvania. He is the author of To Think Christianly and a contributing coeditor of Sent to Flourish.