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And it's not enough for key faculty to be Christians. That's why, despite Haynes's excellent work on the Rhodes Consultation and Michael Nelson's forthright testimony of faith when he first came to Rhodes, nothing was more important in strengthening their college's Christian character than what they did on April 24, 2001. That's the day they stood together in their academic robes on the platform at the Rhodes Awards Convocation. Haynes received the college's award as the outstanding teacher of the year, and Nelson received the award as the outstanding research scholar of the year.

For if Christian professors aren't good teachers, good scholars, and good colleagues, then there won't be any good reasons for having Christian colleges. It's that simple.

Michael S. Hamilton is a historian of American religion at Seattle Pacific University.

Copyright © 2005 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Our full coverage of the turmoil at Baylor University goes back five years.

More CT articles about Christian higher education include:

Myths of the Faith-Based Campus | Why Blue America need not be appalled by religious colleges. (May 04, 2005)

No Compromise | Christian school in Colorado alleges discrimination in voucher program. (Feb. 09, 2005)

Christian Ed That Pays Off | Grand Canyon University becomes the first for-profit Christian college. (Feb. 02, 2005)

Open or Closed Case? | Controversial theologian John Sanders on way out at Huntington. (Dec. 22, 2004)

Masters of Philosophy | How Biola University is making inroads in the larger philosophical world. (June 13, 2003)

Presbyterians Regain Pakistani College | Christians aim to reclaim the school's neglected religious heritage.

Christian College Denied Accreditation | Agency troubled that Patrick Henry College teaches creationism in biology CLASSes. (July 01, 2002)

Books mentioned in this essay, are available from Christianbook.com, Amazon.com, and other book retailers. They are linked below.

Educating for Shalom: Essays on Christian Higher Education
By: Nicholas Wolterstorff
Eerdmans Publishing Co.
Pages: 328

Conceiving the Christian College
By: Duane Litfin
Eerdmans Publishing Co.
Pages: 280

Scholarship and Christian Faith: Enlarging the Conversation
by Rhonda Hustedt Jacobsen (Editor), Douglas G. Jacobsen (Editor)
Oxford University Press
Pages: 208

How Christian Faith Can Sustain the Life of the Mind
By: Richard T. Hughes
Eerdmans Publishing Co.
Pages: 172

The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life
By: Parker Palmer
John Wiley & Sons
Pages: 199

Professing in the Postmodern Academy: Faulty and the Future of Church-Related Colleges
by Stephen R. Haynes (editor)
Baylor University Press
Pages: 360

Conflicting Allegiances: The Church-Based University in a Liberal Democratic Society
By: Michael Budde & John Wright
Baker
Pages: 272

Christian Liberal Arts
by Jr., V. James Mannoia
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 240

Christianity in the Academy: Teaching at the Intersection of Faith and Learning
By: Harry L. Poe
Baker
Pages: 208

Worldview
By: David Naugle
Eerdmans Publishing Co.
Pages: 391

The Life of the Mind: A Christian Perspective
By: Clifford Williams
Baker
Pages: 96

Shining Lights: A History of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities
By: James Patterson
Baker
Pages: 160

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June 2005, Vol. 49, No. 6