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Contested Issues Within Higher Education at Large

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Pentecostal Higher Education

Part of the book series: Christianity and Renewal - Interdisciplinary Studies ((CHARIS))

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Abstract

In this chapter, the author emphasizes that pentecostal schools might still be a good choice for pentecostal students, also considering that non-Christian universities have struggles of their own. Among these are a number of contentious issues, such as (1) the lack of a unifying center, which leads to a fragmented educational experience; (2) the pervasiveness of secularist and progressive ideas; and (3) the separation of facts and values, which is causing a moral vacuum on campus.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In Chap. 12 I propose, among other initiatives, the need for a pentecostal research university and I recognize that, in such an institution, specialization is a necessity. However, despite being specialists in their specific fields, the fragmentation of the professors’ souls could still be avoided because within a pentecostal setting they would be able to operate within a unifying Christian worldview. In addition, one could explore higher education models in which only some professors focus on research while others are primarily pedagogues and teachers, especially when teaching undergraduates (Bok 2013, 331–337; 2020, 166–170).

  2. 2.

    Regrettably, cases of sexual assault related to athletics/football also affected Baylor, a Christian university, as Glanzer et al. readily acknowledge (2017, 179–181).

  3. 3.

    These demographic and cultural shifts have especially important implications for the pentecostal movement and its involvement in higher education—on both the national and global levels, as I explain in Chap. 12 and in the Conclusion (Chap. 14).

  4. 4.

    Enlow believes that the United States needs to be a welcoming place for immigrants and that it could “easily hold and provide for three billion people” (2015, 206). That number may seem out of place (at least for the foreseeable future), but it might point in the right direction—also so that the United States can compete with a rising China, an argument made in One Billion Americans: The Case for Thinking Bigger (Yglesias 2020).

  5. 5.

    A biblical basis for emphasizing the Christian testimony of both individuals and institutions may be found in the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus uses two different images for telling his followers that they are “the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14a, NRSV). The disciples are to place their light on a lampstand so that “it gives light to all in the house” (v. 15), but Jesus also compares them to “a city built on a hill [that] cannot be hid” (v. 14b). While the former image speaks of the personal life as it is lived out in the context of the home, the latter seems to point to institutional realities in which an entire community of believers is a living and shining witness for Christ. In the context of higher education, this means that we not only need pentecostals who, as individuals, are a light for Christ at non-Christian schools, but we also need pentecostal colleges and universities that are a witness in their entirety, as institutions.

  6. 6.

    Several authors employ the term “postsecular” in discussing contemporary higher education (e.g., Subbiondo 2011, 30–32).

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  1. Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Daniel Topf

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Topf, D. (2021). Contested Issues Within Higher Education at Large. In: Pentecostal Higher Education. Christianity and Renewal - Interdisciplinary Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79689-1_6

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