Praxis, Winter 2009

Discipling Students to Engage Culture FaiTH & LiFE PrOGraM 2008 - 2009

BY CarL BriGGs Director of Communications and Program Administration

INSIDE Biblical Prayer Responsibility

PraxisÊ V12Ê N4Ê

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New Board of Directors Members

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rom human rights and social justice to Christian theology and children’s literature, experts on contemporary problems and ancient truths are addressing dozens of crucial and complex issues this year in the Center for Christian Study’s Faith & Life Program.

The lecture Prayer and Social Justice will be January 21 by Bethany Hanke Hoang, director of the International Justice Mission Institute. In February, the Center will present a two-part lecture series by Bill Wilder on The Lord’s Prayer.

Bill Wilder, speaking at the Center for Christian

of contemporary culture through this series of programs."

In February, writer and educator Patricia Owen will present the four-part lecture series Books to Grow by (or Books to Go Buy): Character and Virtue in Children’s Literature. On March 17, law professor Barbara Armacost will speak on Christianity and the Law: Stewarding Legal Power for the Sake of the Kingdom. Other spring lectures will be Modern Science and Ancient Faith, by scientist Stephen Barr in February, and Good God and Bad World: Are They Consistent?, by philosophy professor Trenton Merricks in March.

Two Saturday Seminars this spring will cover Understanding Popular Culture and Understanding World Religions, and two semesterlong courses will address Cultural Engagement and the New Testament. Also, Drew Trotter, former president of the Center, will hold a two-day film festival at the end of January, and will speak in February on the five films nominated for the Best Picture academy award.

He will present a monthly movie viewing and discussion program, too; this month — as it happens, on Inauguration Day — he will show Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

These coming presentations follow the full slate of fall talks, many of which are on the Center’s website, www.studycenter.net. One speaker was Roger Scruton, an internationally known philosopher, who spoke to 200 students and others in September on The Abuse of Sex. “I found Dr. Scruton’s lecture provoking

Prayer is the Study Center's theme this year; in the fall, two presentations were The Biblical Practice of Prayer by pastor Tony Monaghan of Providence Orthodox Presbyterian Church, Charlottesville, and Prayer and Art by Gene Veith, columnist for World magazine and provost and professor of literature at Patrick Henry College, Purcellville, Va. “We have wanted to incorporate a consideration of prayer, whenever possible, into our educational programs,” said Bill, the Center’s former Director of Educational Programs who is the new Acting Executive Director. “The theme of prayer is in keeping with our larger desire to make sure that our educational programs serve the overall spiritual formation of Christians as they Roger Scruton, speaking on UVa Grounds grapple with topics in the Word and and innovative,” said Robthe world." ert Colby, an undergraduIn addition, Bill said, “We have sought to ate student. “He delivered a honor the Study Center's commitment in our vision statement both to commend the BibliContinued on right inside page cal worldview, and to confront the challenges

A Forum and Fellowship for Faculty

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or University of Virginia professors, the monthly lunch gathering known as Faculty Christian Forum at the Center for Christian Study provides a time of mutual encouragement and academic support as instructors live out their calling to be “salt and light.”

“The university has a dynamic community of Christian faculty who bring their faith to bear on their work in really interesting ways,” said Louis Nelson, “in ways that impact not just the topic of their scholarship, but their pedagogy (methods of teaching), and, hopefully, the quality of their work.” Nelson chairs the Department of Architectural History at the School of Architecture. He is an associate professor of architectural history.

The monthly meeting with Christian faculty “is enormously helpful. It’s one of the things that makes UVa particularly attractive,” he said.

A dozen faculty or more attended the fall meetings, where topics have included historic preservation of homes and other buildings in the country of Jamaica, and the themes of love and justice. Professors meet the first Friday of most months during the academic year, and new faculty always are welcome to attend.

The work with students and colleagues often takes place outside of the classroom; Nelson spoke in the fall about his summer teaching projects with students in Falmouth, Jamaica, where 20 students last year were involved in historical preservation work that benefited residents who live in the old structures.

Louis Nelson, lower right, spoke at the first Faculty Christian Forum of the current year (photos by Carl Briggs)

The project “teaches us the many faces of Jamaican history and culture, including its British colonial past, slave resistance, and free black identity,” he said.

“Acts of preservation are shaping culture and society in a certain way, including the support of those who are disenfranchised, and improving the quality of life for those who can’t afford to put a roof over their heads, or install tight windows, improving housing for widows and orphans,” among others, he said, a

reference to an admonition from the book of James in the New Testament.

Another recent forum speaker was Nicholas Wolterstorff, a senior fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at UVa and a scholar in residence at the UVa Department of Philosophy. Wolterstorff served for many years on Nicholas Wolterstorff the faculty of Yale University, where he is Noah Porter Professor of Philosophical Theology (Emeritus). His fall talk on Love and Justice is available on the website of the Center for Christian Study.

John Dobbins, professor of Roman art and archaeology, coordinates the meetings, which in part serve as “a kind of confirmation of one’s commitment to teaching at the university as a Christian, with a particular overview that we’re actually doing God’s work at a state university.”

Dobbins, like Nelson, regularly takes students to overseas teaching experiences. His site is primarily Rome and its surrounding areas. On visits to Vatican City, he makes it a habit to encourage his students to attend Sunday Mass at least once, to understand the history and work at the Vatican.

“Students in Italy, be they Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, or of another faith, don’t have to be hesitant about (attending a worship service). It’s not intended to be a conversion experience, but a way to experience the ritual,” said Dobbins. When students have comments or questions about faith issues, that allows a professor “to be open and overt” about personal faith, said Dobbins.

That issue is equally important to Dorothy Tullmann, an assistant professor of nursing. “Part of loving students is caring about them and being able to sense their readiness or need to hear something about faith,” she said. “But I think that sharing that is a privilege and a trust that needs to be earned.”

She referred to a well-known passage in the Gospel of Mark, saying “There are many ways to love God and worship God, and one of those ways is with our minds.” At the Faculty Christian Forum, colleagues are “presenting evidence of the ways in which they’re doing that, by being serious about their scholarship, and providing an example of doing their job well and worshipping God in that way.”

— Carl Briggs

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The Biblical Practice of Prayer

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o pray is to ask, but before you ask, you have to know who you are – and who God is.

That was the admonition from pastor Tony Monaghan, who spoke on The Biblical Practice of Prayer Sept. 9 as the Center for Christian Study began its Faith & Life Program for the college year. The Center’s theme this year is prayer. Monaghan is pastor of Providence Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville.

“We can’t understand why we pray and what we expect from prayer unless we understand who we are, and who we are talking to in prayer,” Monaghan said. “We are made in God’s image, as those who are reasonable or rational.

“We need to place prayer within the larger context of a sound and biblical theology,” he said. “We are analytical. We are rational creatures having a soul which is spirit, as God is spirit.”

Knowing that we are made in God’s image answers the question, “Why is it that so many pray? The answer is that somewhere, within themselves, although it is suppressed and even outwardly denied, each and every person knows that God is there…(and) is powerful and mighty, and so…He is able to help in our hour of need.”

Much prayer in the world, however, is false prayer, tied to the sin of idolatry. Monaghan quoted from Isaiah 44:9-17, citing both the idolater’s “desire to pray…and the twisting of that desire into idolatry…he suppresses the truth of the true God, (and) ascribes…spiritual power to a false God,” a violation of the Second Commandment.

In our day, we see many prayers being offered to something other than God. “No matter how sincere that prayer may be that is being offered…because those prayers are not directed to the true and living God, they have no efficacy,” Monaghan said.

The true God, on the other hand, is the help and shield of people who call on Him, Monaghan said, quot-

Tony Monaghan, at the Center for Christian Study

ing from Psalm 115, and adding, “The God to whom that prayer is offered can actually hear it.” By contrast, “The god who cannot hear us is no god at all.”

Monaghan pointed to God’s providence, citing Hebrews 1:3, where “Jesus Christ is described as upholding all things by the word of His power,” and Acts 17:24-25: “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is He worshipped with man’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.”

(Monaghan’s complete talk, and the question-andanswer session that followed, is available on the Center’s website.)

One member of the audience of Monaghan’s talk, Lula Overbeck, said of the lecture, “I think you just need to remember that everything needs to be in God’s will, and if we’re not praying in His will, we’re expecting things that probably aren’t going to happen. However, I do believe that God does answer our prayers in His own time, and maybe differently from our expectations.”

— Carl Briggs

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Lecture Series

Courses

Books to Grow By (or Books to Go Buy): Character and Virtue in Children’s Literature Instructor: Patricia Owen Monday evenings, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. Feb. 2, 9, 16, 23 The King and His Kingdom: An Examination of the Lord's Prayer Instructor: Bill Wilder Wednesday evenings, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. Feb. 4, 11

Cultural Engagement: Participating in the Reclamation of All Things Instructor: Wade Bradshaw Thursdays, beginning Jan. 15, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

From Crisis to Christ: Interpreting the New Testament as Good News in the Real World Instructor: Bill Wilder Fridays, beginning Jan. 16, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Good God and Bad World: Are They Consistent?

Instructor: Trenton Merricks Wednesday evenings, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. March 11, 18

Systematic Theology 1: Scripture and Theology Instructor: Justin Holcomb Tuesday evenings, beginning Jan. 27, 7 - 9:30 p.m.

Register at www.studycenter.net, e-mail carl@studycenter.net, or call Carl Briggs at (434) 817-1050 for details.

Engaging Culture, continued from front page very compelling discourse on the issue of casual sex, and gave

an assessment of sex as a search for intimacy and a desire to be known, rather than simply seeking physical pleasure as we commonly view it. This interpretation presented by Scruton allows for renewed engagement with the culture and worldview of the student body as a whole.”

Another undergraduate student, Tyler Eldred, said, “I thought it was absolutely amazing…Among professional philosophers alive today, he now is by far the one whom I respect most.”

THE STAFF & CENTER . . .

BILL WILDER co-taught “A Discussion on The Shack,” a popular Christian book, for several weeks this past fall during the Sunday morning education hour at Trinity Presbyterian Church (Charlottesville). . .

ASHLEY MEJIAS spoke Sept. 30 as part of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship's First Year Foundations series at the University of Virginia on the topic of Christian community at UVa. She also attended the Oct. 22-26 conference of the Christian Community Development Association in Miami. . . SHELLY PELLISH attended the Dec. 3-5 conference Regional Strategies for Engaging Alumni in Seattle, sponsored by CASE (Council for Advancement and Support for Education). She also met with UVa alumnae Diana Taibi, who was active in Graduate Christian Fellowship while a student, and now is an assistant professor at University of Washington’s School of Nursing. . . TIMOTHY MCCONNELL spoke Nov. 8 to UVa's International Students, Inc. on A Christian View of the Body.

2009 UVa Reunion Weekend Events

Sponsored by the Center for Christian Study Gene Veith, at the Center for Christian Study

One of the two fall lecture series, presented by Lindsey Holcomb, dealt with Violence Against Women, including issues of human trafficking. In the United States alone, Holcomb said, an estimated 17,500 foreign nationals are trafficked annually, both for sexual and labor exploitation. The worldwide figure is four million.

“It was my hope in giving this lecture series that participants would gain an increased awareness of gender-based violence both here in the United States and around the world,” said Holcomb.

“It is important to explore the issues of gender-based violence through the framework of the Christian faith with an investigation of the Fall and the doctrine of sin as they relate to the various Lindsey Holcomb forms of violence against women.”

Drew Trotter led students in the other four-night lecture series and discussion, What is the Bible, and Where Did It Come From? Rachel Leary, a UVa student who attended the series, said, “I was interested in learning more about the historical basis for the Bible and I was particularly interested by the promise to address the issue of the Bible's authority. I think that the way that I read the Bible has already changed as a result of the class.”

Darden Alumni Reception

Friday, April 24, 4:30 - 6:00 p.m.

Darden Grounds, co-sponsored with the Darden Christian Fellowship

Law Alumni Reception

TBA during Reunion Weekend May 1-3 Law Grounds, co-sponsored with the Law Christian Fellowship

Christian Fellowships Reception During UVa’s Undergraduate Alumni Weekend Saturday, June 6, 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.

The Lawn, co-sponsored with the UVa Alumni Association For registration and lodging information for the June Alumni Weekend, please visit the UVa Alumni Association's Reunion website, www.virginiareunions.com.

Reunions contact: Shelly Pellish, 434.817.1050 or shelly@studycenter.net

For Places to Gather, in Charlottesville, or in a Neighborhood Near You Visit the Center’s website, www.studycenter.net, for a complete listing of upcoming events designed with alumni, students, and parents in mind.

photo by Eric Kelley

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Responsibility

n the introduction to his book Making Culture, Andy Crouch lays out a way of viewing the human journey that has sparked a lot of reflection in me recently. What he says is this: “The essence of childhood is innocence. The essence of youth is awareness. The essence of adulthood is responsibility.”

Crouch leads from this third statement to speak of his belief that the Christian community in our day is “on the threshold of cultural responsibility.”

Crouch makes the statement in the context of the Christian’s responsibility to create and thereby contribute to human culture. I cannot agree more, but in this space I would like to take the idea into the realm of the responsibility of the adult Christian simply to understand his or her world. One of the things this world desperately needs — and it needs many — is Christians who will take responsibility for their society first by thinking well and deeply about it. There is much that needs to be done in light of this evaluation, but nevertheless the evaluation must come first.

Movie-going remains an area among Christians in which the responsibility of thoughtful analysis of our world and its values and norms is not exercised often enough. For almost twenty years now, I have done a seminar for churches, schools, and colleges on how to view movies, and I believe I can safely say that I have never done the seminar without encountering at least one of three objections: 1) I have trouble viewing modern movies. They are so full of sex, violence, foul language and evil behavior that I just can’t sit there and watch them. They affect me too strongly, and make me feel like I’m being dragged through a cesspool. 2) Hollywood is so full of sleaze illustrated in its movies that I don’t want to contribute to its success. I don’t want even to buy a ticket. 3) I simply don’t have the time. I work hard all day with family or in the marketplace, and I just don’t have the time to go to movies, much less discuss them intelligently.

All three of these objections to movie-going in America are reasonable in some ways, but they miss some very important points to be made on the side of attendance and discussion of movies in America today. Notice I wrote “and discussion of ” in that last sentence. I really don’t advocate movie-going, at least not movie-going for its own sake alone. I advocate movie-discussing, and that of course requires seeing the movie.

But why and how do we discuss movies well, and what about the three objections to going in the first place? The “why” and “how” questions are answered simply, but not briefly; they require a whole seminar beyond the space of this page. Their basic answers, however, are that movies are so influential in this culture for both shaping and reflecting its moral founda-

tions that we cannot be responsible and ignore them.

That’s the “why.”

Here is the “how”: we need to learn the skills of good movie analysis in order to discern what messages are being sent by this powerful medium and how they compare to Christian understandings of the world.

Again, both these ideas would take more time and space than we have here to elaborate or defend.

Let me respond to the three objections raised earlier. The first touches a crucial area of personal responsibility, what Christians call personal “holiness.”

I sympathize with those who go cautiously to movies with their own personal “spiritual flashpoints” firmly in mind. They should go prayerfully and thoughtfully because the film experience is so powerful, but that does not mean that they should not go at all just because the battle is a hard one. To sin and to face temptation are two very different things, and God has always placed his people in places where they would be tempted because they need to engage their neighbors where they live. I believe that as we learn how to view movies objectively, this becomes less of a problem, though it always remains a difficulty. It is not easy to go to many movies today, but when did we get the idea that the Christian life was the pursuit of the easy?

The second objection is also understandable, but it would carry more power, if your individual ticket made that much difference. It really doesn’t. On the other hand, the good you can do by going to a movie with a friend or with your child by showing them you are not afraid of the challenges the world throws at the Christian, and by patiently breaking down the thought behind the film with a careful analysis of it, is much more meaningful and important than the amount you “supported Hollywood” in the first place by buying a ticket.

The third objection is the most sympathetic argument of all. Of course our stage of life determines how much movie going and discussion any of us can engage in. But modern technology has now made it possible for us to watch movies even on our cell phones; Netflix and On Demand have stimulated more movie watching, rather than less, in the last few years.

At whatever level you can, you should be watching movies and discussing them with others in light of the gospel.

The question is: are you taking responsibility for this crucial element of our cultural life? Are you watching movies, then talking about them, having learned how to discuss them? I hope so.

— Drew Trotter, National Director, Centers for Christian Study, International

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theÊ CenterÊ forÊ ChristianÊ StudyÊ isÊ aÊ non-profitÊ educationÊ andÊ outreachÊ ministryÊ servingÊ theÊ UniversityÊ ofÊ VirginiaÊ andÊ Charlottesville-AlbemarleÊ regionÊ sinceÊ 1968.Ê throughÊ programs,Ê ministries,Ê andÊ partnerships,Ê weÊ provideÊ opportunitiesÊ andÊ resourcesÊ forÊ theÊ corporateÊ andÊ individualÊ investigationÊ ofÊ theÊ truthsÊ ofÊ theÊ historicÊ ChristianÊ faith.Ê SomeÊ ofÊ theÊ waysÊ weÊ doÊ thisÊ includeÊ courses,Ê lectures,Ê seminars,Ê student-runÊ fellowships,Ê internships,Ê mentoringÊ opportunities,Ê discussionÊ groups,Ê andÊ specialÊ events.Ê WeÊ proceedÊ believingÊ thatÊ menÊ andÊ womenÊ willÊ beÊ transformedÊ byÊ theÊ truth,Ê whichÊ willÊ beÊ reflectedÊ inÊ theirÊ thoughtsÊ andÊ actions,Ê bothÊ inÊ theirÊ privateÊ livesÊ beforeÊ GodÊ andÊ inÊ theirÊ publicÊ livesÊ asÊ membersÊ ofÊ society,Ê theÊ family,Ê andÊ theÊ Church.Ê CenterÊ forÊ ChristianÊ Study 128Ê ChancellorÊ Street Charlottesville,Ê VAÊ 22903 Phone:Ê 434.817.1050 www.studycenter.net PraxisÊ isÊ publishedÊ quarterlyÊ forÊ ourÊ friendsÊ andÊ supporters.

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Study Center Welcomes New Board Members

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odie Berndt, an author whose books include Praying the Scriptures for Your Children and Praying the Scriptures for Your Teenagers, has joined the Board of Directors of the Center for Christian Study. Jodie and her husband, Robbie, live in Virginia Beach, Va. She graduated from the University of Virginia in 1984 with a bachelor of arts degree in English; Robbie is a 1985 UVa graduate.

The Berndts have four children, including one who is enrolled at UVa. Also joining the Board is David Turner, President of Turner Enterprises, a real estate development and construction management company in Charlottesville, Va. David is a former Executive Director of the Center for Christian Study, from 1975 to 1985. He graduated from UVa in 1970 with a bachelor of arts

degree in economics, and earned his master of divinity degree in 1974 from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Illinois.

David and his wife, Ellen, have three grown children and five grandchildren.

Two Board members who completed their service to the Center this past fall are Don Flow and Kemp Hill. Both are UVa graduates, as are their spouses. Don is President and CEO of Flow Companies, Inc. in Winston-Salem, N.C. He and his wife, Robbin, have three children; two are graduates of UVa., and one is a student at UVa. Kemp is on the church vestry of Christ Episcopal Church, Charlottesville, and is a member of the Board of Trustees of Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry in Pennsylvania. She and her husband, Tommy, have four children.