If I Had to Send My Kid to a Christian College...

Where would it be?

In my mind, a Christian college (CC) would have this fundamental purpose: To consecrate knowledge to the glory of God and equip individuals to winsomely do the same.

In other words, a successful CC would not fall into the gutters of infidelity and vapidity that lie on either side of this purposeful road. Many of our historic Ivy Leagues traded in their Christian roots for greater, perceived academic relevance long ago. Many contemporary CCs are quickly moving in that direction, especially the Dutch Reformed block in the Midwest.

At the same time, there are a good many CCs, like Christian high schools, that either nurse the same intellectual wounds a public schools, just with Bible verse band-aids, or embrace an anti-intellectualism that makes faith subjective, knowledge unnecessary, and experience primary.

The following is my list of "Runner-ups," followed by the school where I would send my kid to college if he decided he had to go to a CC.

Runner-up: Liberty University. They have a robust and incredibly broad academic program, enabling any student to get the content that should come with their degree. It seems that that they've also moderated their fundamentalist persona with regard to theology and politics, which allows for greater freedom (say, to be Reformed) and the ability to stand apart from the crowd crying for the restoration of a mythical Christian America. Its online education program is also likely the best in the country (hugely popular in the military). At the same time, you will still be pigeon-holed if you get a degree from Liberty. If someone knows of Liberty, and they are not a Christian, Republican, or from the South, then they may very well hold a negative view of Liberty and you as a result.

Runner-up: Covenant College. This school is tied to one of the healthier denominations in the country (the PCA), cares about worldview, and has been tied to some reputable names in the academy. I would imagine that the spiritual infrastructure is such that it would make the school the most conducive of all those mentioned to encourage young believers in their growth in grace. While that is great, I believe that to be a subordinate aim in the life of a college (see above) and believe it be the proper prerogative of the Church. I have also received reports over the years from trusted friends at the school that there is a growing emphasis on cultural transformation, which always puts me on guard, due to my experience at Calvin.

Runner-up: Wheaton College. The school with the reputation as the "evangelical Harvard" would likely not have made this list a few years ago. An emphasis on continued relevance seemed to diminish the fidelity of the school, and combined with the rise of anti-intellectualism in general, there seemed to be little to stand in the way of a slide toward heterodoxy. Enter Phil Ryken as president. He is one of the better preachers and standard-bearers of biblical Reformed orthodoxy today. By God's grace, if any president can arrest Wheaton's decline, it is this one.

My choice: Grove City College. This college has historically stood alongside Wheaton as a model of theological fidelity and academic rigor. Its campus even bears the ivy so familiar to the Northeast and its towering institutions (though, they too, are now much diminished). It is reputed to have once suffered a decline in theological decline that was arrested and reversed. Now it boasts an array of top-notch evangelical scholars have earned a place at the larger table of academic scholarship, not through theological compromise, but through a robust defense of orthodox Christianity. I also think the Bible and theology faculty members are second to none, and largely seminary-caliber.

Of course, this is all a subjective exercise that will naturally rely of assumptions and impressions alongside the occasional fact. The Christian student faces a more important decision than where to go to college. He must decide how he will go to college. A coherent, confessional worldview is much easier to attain and employ earlier in life than foisting it upon a shoddy foundation later in life. Growth in grace requires attending to the means of grace (Word, sacraments, and prayer) in the Church and individual discipline (Word and prayer) in one's personal life.

And for me, these considerations make attending a CC much less important. If I were a prospective college student again, I would find the prospect of applying an already developed Christian worldview in the broader academy to be an exciting prospect. I would also find the best possible Church in the area, and find older believers there to help mentor me in the exciting task of consecration in the "secular" environment. But again, that's just me...