Introduction—Stewardship Reconsidered: Academic Work and the Faithful Christian

Abstract

This introduction invites readers to consider a Christian understanding of stewardship within the academy, particularly as it relates to the formation of doctoral students and new faculty. Drawing from the work of the Carnegie Initiative on the Doctorate, Scales and Howell follow the claim that stewardship of an academic discipline might serve as a useful framework for doctoral student formation.  Further examining the (mis)appropriation of the term stewardship within the history of the church, the authors highlight potential pitfalls. Scholars may fail to acknowledge that God is the source of our knowledge or may assume that intellectual goods can be selfishly owned rather than freely shared. 

Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. (1 Corinthians 4:1–2, NRSV).