In addition to his notable work as a premier Christian philosopher, Nicholas Wolterstorff has become a leading voice on faith-based higher education. This volume gathers the best of Wolterstorff's essays from the past twenty-five years dealing collectively with the purpose of Christian higher education and the nature of academic learning. Integrated throughout by the biblical idea of shalom, these nineteen essays present a robust framework for thinking about education that combines a Reformed confessional perspective with a radical social conscience and an increasingly progressivist pedagogy. Wolterstorff develops his ideas in relation to an astonishing variety of thinkers ranging from Calvin, Kuyper, and Jellema to Augustine, Aquinas, and Kant to Weber, Habermas, and MacIntyre. In the process, he critiques various models of education, classic foundationalism, modernization theory, liberal arts, and academic freedom.

Analyzes the structure of the modern social order and examines the Christian's proper goals of working for peace and justice.

Few people have influenced the development of Christian schools in the Reformed tradition in North America and around the world as much as Nicholas Wolterstorff. This book draws together the world-renowned Christian philosopher's thoughts and reflections on Christian education over the last three decades. As a tribute to his contributions, Calvin College education professors Gloria Goris Stronks and Clarence W. Joldersma have organized a broad array of writings and unpublished speeches into a cohesive volume. The guiding principle in making selections was the inclusion of pieces that speak to people who struggle with what makes education truly Christian. Wolterstorff's writings on education are divided into four sections. In the first section, he discusses the nature of Christian education. The second section finds Wolterstorff examining criticisms of Christian education. The third section offers his observations on Christian learning within a pluralistic society. Finally, in the fourth section, he looks at some of the goals of Christian education. Of interest to many as a significant development in his maturing thought is the ever increasing role that justice should play in Christian education. Educating for Life portrays Wolterstorff's evolving thinking on education while paying tribute to him as one of the premier Christian philosophers of our day.

The biblical challenge of shalom is one which ought to draw all Christians together in a common struggle so that God's will might be done and God's kingdom might come on earth as it is in heaven. People, as well as structures, need to be transformed. People who are caught in oppressive structures need to be liberated from the values and perspectives inculcated by these structures. The shalom maker, as a result, is involved in a mission of conversion--converting people to a new understanding and way of life. This conversion, based on God's love for them in Jesus, frees them from old patterns of thought. If we struggle for shalom, we shall suffer because we are actively confronting and resisting the structures of oppression and working for the liberation of powerless and oppressed people. Shalom love is not love at a distance, not love in the abstract, not love in the rocking chair--it is the love of confrontation, of strike, of protest, and of disobedience to the structures of violence. Shalom love is suffering love because it is militant love struggling for human liberation, justice, and shalom, which is God's will for our world.

Children living in poverty have the same God-given potential as children in wealthier communities, but on average they achieve at significantly lower levels. Kids who both live in poverty and read below grade level by third grade are three times as likely not to graduate from high school as students who have never been poor. By the time children in low-income communities are in fourth grade, they're already three grade levels behind their peers in wealthier communities. More than half won't graduate from high school--and many that do graduate only perform at an eighth-grade level. Only one in ten will go on to graduate from college. These students have severely diminished opportunities for personal prosperity and professional success. It is clear that America's public schools do not provide a high quality public education for the sixteen million children growing up in poverty. Education expert Nicole Baker Fulgham explores what Christians can--and should--do to champion urgently needed reform and help improve our public schools. The book provides concrete action steps for working to ensure that all of God's children get the quality public education they deserve. It also features personal narratives from the author and other Christian public school teachers that demonstrate how the achievement gap in public education can be solved.

For the past 30 years, philosopher and educator, Nicholas Wolterstorff, has been speaking and writing about the multi-faceted, biblical idea of shalom and the phrase, educating for shalom. This study describes and analyzes the content of more than 100 voices of Christian higher educators who have written about the idea of educating for shalom as it refers to institutional vision, missional goals, and educational models. Within the context of this study, Wolterstorff's ideas about educating for shalom frame these educators' ideas in Chapter 3, as a summary of his ideas from his writings and speeches are presented in Chapter 2, and a follow up via personal email communication is presented in Chapter 4. The organizing framework for this study comes from Joldersma's description of five aspects that summarize Wolterstorff's treatment of shalom: 1) the goal and purpose of education; 2) the analysis of the social context; 3) the idea of Christian learning and scholarship; 4) the curriculum; and 5) the nature of teaching (Wolterstorff, 2004, p. xiv). This study presents three summary findings: 1) there is an array of credible examples of educating for shalom within the context of Christian higher education; 2) there is fertile ground within Christian higher education for embracing the motto, educating for shalom; and, 3) the phrase, educating for shalom, is a unifying motto that Christian higher educators articulate through their overlapping conceptions of a biblical meaning of shalom and their overlapping ideas of what it means to educate for shalom.

Based on the teachings of Jesus and a biblical foundation, this book presents a new framework for education and teaching, referred to as the shalom education model, that addresses four essential questions in education (why teach, what to teach, how to teach and who are teachers?). After explaining the theoretical background of shalom, the book investigates a range of contemporary educational issues including gender identity, bullying, disability, linguistic and cultural diversity, and social justice, and presents practical guidelines that can be applied to classroom teaching. The book also emphasizes the role of teachers as missional leaders who help students unlock their full potential.

Our world is growing increasingly complex and confused—a unique and urgent context that calls for a grounded and fresh approach to Christian higher education. Christian higher education involves a distinctive way of thinking about teaching, learning, scholarship, curriculum, student life, administration, and governance that is rooted in the historic Christian faith. In this volume, twenty-nine experts from a variety of fields, including theology, the humanities, science, mathematics, social science, philosophy, the arts, and professional programs, explore how the foundational beliefs of Christianity influence higher education and its disciplines. Aimed at equipping the next generation to better engage the shifting cultural context, this book calls students, professors, trustees, administrators, and church leaders to a renewed commitment to the distinctive work of Christian higher education—for the good of the society, the good of the church, and the glory of God.

When Carly unthinkingly makes fun of Sara's last name at mail call, her bunkmate refuses to be consoled. But their mutual love of music brings harmony to Shabbat dinner as well as to their friendship, and Carly finally gets the chance to reveal a secret of her own.

Ross Langmead will be remembered as one of Australia's leading missiologists, having established his credentials as a young man in founding Westgate Baptist Community after writing a report on the struggling churches in the west of Melbourne. His distinguished academic and teaching career led him to join the faculty at Whitley College until his death in 2013. He will also be remembered for his seventies folk group, Daddy's Friends, and the songs of love and justice he wrote over forty-five years that are still sung today. This biography starts with his missionary family upbringing and traces the influences that shaped his passion for sharing Jesus with the urban poor. He was a key player in the radical discipleship movement in Australia; his understanding of incarnational mission was that Christians need to be the people of God just where they are. Above all, he lived simply that others might simply live, his passion extending to ecomissiology and support for the unemployed, indigenous, and refugees. He would want this book to inspire readers to make a difference in the world.