What is the Best Christian College/University in the USA?

College Search & Selection
141

<p>In terms of global reputation, would have to agree w/ Skater Girl, hands down. Now, does that mean anything in any specific situation? Not really.</p>

<p>One of the more interesting, rapidly growing Christian colleges in a terrific location …Belmont University - Nashville. Big time music school and a nearly unique program in music/business. Developing some world-class grad programs too in sciences, healthcare, law (from a Christian POV). Neat campus that is really getting some $$ invested in it. Baptist heritage, multi-denominational. Pervasive Christian campus culture absent the dogma of many others.</p>

142

<p>The best christian college is either Notre Dame or Georgetown. I would say Georgetown though.</p>

<p>There are a lot of random christian colleges mentioned in this thread that aren’t even ranked in the top 50. lol.</p>

143

<p>agree with informative</p>

144

<p>Both great schools, neither on the best day forward, would generally be called “Christian” colleges, and neither would desire to be labeled as such. They are increasingly as secular as secular can be. Especially Georgetown. ND still speaks to catholicism, but not Chritianity, more broadly.</p>

<p>Lest anyone doubt this, check out Notre Dame’s published “Mission Statement.” Wreaks of humanism without a single mention of God, Jesus Christ, Judeo-Christianity, etc. Sad …</p>

<p>The University seeks to cultivate in its students not only an appreciation for the great achievements of human beings, but also a disciplined sensibility to the poverty, injustice, and oppression that burden the lives of so many. The aim is to create a sense of human solidarity and concern for the common good that will bear fruit as learning becomes service to justice.</p>

<p>Georgetown takes a modestly different stance but the bottomline remains precisely the same, failing to even mention Chritianity, Jesus Christ, etc. while touting diversity of faiths and beliefs. So much for the exclusivity of Christs crucifixtion, resurrection, and promise of eternal living. Secular humanism in the priest’s robe …</p>

<p>**Georgetown is a Catholic and Jesuit, student-centered research university.</p>

<p>Established in 1789 in the spirit of the new republic, the university was founded on the principle that serious and sustained discourse among people of different faiths, cultures, and beliefs promotes intellectual, ethical and spiritual understanding. We embody this principle in the diversity of our students, faculty and staff, our commitment to justice and the common good, our intellectual openness and our international character.</p>

<p>An academic community dedicated to creating and communicating knowledge, Georgetown provides excellent undergraduate, graduate and professional education in the Jesuit tradition for the glory of God and the well-being of humankind.</p>

<p>Georgetown educates women and men to be reflective lifelong learners, to be responsible and active participants in civic life and to live generously in service to others.**</p>

145

<p>They are catholic institutions, the original christianity and the foundation for the protestant versions of Christianity. Unless you don’t know you’re history, no one would say that catholic institutions are not “chistian.”</p>

146

<p>Sorry dude, you can equivocate all you like. I can’t imagine JC saying … “right on!” </p>

<p>The problem, like GT and ND, you’re living in the legacy of history. Heck, Princeton, Yale, Harvard and … Oberlin … they were all once “Christian” too. Nah, your jive might be rationalizing your contention, but ain’t selling here. Call me … Christian. :)</p>

<p>And it seems neither Gtown nor ND are shucking it either. Their words, not mine. And definitely not yours. </p>

<p>Remember … catholic is defined as “general” or “universal” but means a specific, branch (not denomination) of Christianity. It’s at most, a subset, at worst, as many orthodox Christian scholars would and have noted, not even Christian. I’ll not debate that, merely note it.</p>

147

<p>Where I live Notre Dame is still considered Christian/Catholic. Georgetown is considered secular with a Catholic heritage (akin to Wake Forest having a Christian heritage).</p>

148

<p>Have to agree with Creekland.</p>

149

<p>I too have heard ND deemed catholic. Conversely, I’ve never heard it referred to as a “Christian” college. Now, as has been bantered ad nauseum on this thread, some of this is terminology, some theology. Both in this case, I’d venture the opinion. I’ve not a clue how an alleged Christian college can applaud diversity and fail a single inkling or mention of the Christ Jesus, the Almighty Creator, and/or the resurrection. </p>

<p>And we are in full agreement. WFU has a Baptist legacy that has virtually disappeared beyond the presence of Wait Chapel, a Babdust chaplain, and honorable mention in the Demon Deacs History Book. Too many NSF grants and outta state humanists wanting to enroll and pay. But the faculty’d offer a vote of no-support were the pres to call the place “Christian” unfortunately. The trending toward the yard in Cambridge is relentless.</p>

<p>btw, Creekland must live in a monastery in Brooklyn. :wink: PA’s Amish would not deem NDU anything more than catholic. And while many catholics are Christians, most Christians aren’t catholics. And now confronting theology, as noted, R.C. Sproul, G.K. Chesterton, I.Packer, and many other orthodox reformed Christian scholars would suggest that catholicism with its works salvation, deification of mama Mary, etc. is not what JC proclaimed … by faith alone. Just saying. Believe what and who you choose.</p>

150

<p>Notre Dame… 85% Catholic. The other 15% is majority Christian of other denominations. </p>

<p>**So over 90% Christian. **</p>

<p>

Catholicism is a part of Christianity. Indeed, most Christians are Catholic.</p>

<p>There’s a Protestant church down the street. I’ve never heard it called just “Christian.” Ergo, Protestants are not Christians. Do I win at logic now?</p>

<p>

Oh yeah, doesn’t sound like something Jesus of Nazareth would have said.</p>

<p>

It’s okay; I can’t imagine you speaking for the Lord, anyway.</p>

<p>

Except those other schools aren’t affiliated with the largest Christian Church in the world, nor are they run by priests.</p>

<p>

I’ll call you an anti-Catholic Protestant lost in the days of discrimination that have long since passed.</p>

151

<p>

Orthodox Christianity, which split with Catholic Christianity in 1054 AD in the Great Schism, is more akin to Catholicism than it is to Protestantism. Where are all of these Orthodox Christian scholars you speak of?</p>

<p>

World Christian population: 2.2 billion people
World Catholic population: 1.2 billion people</p>

<p>1.2/2.2=0.545454545… So ~54.5% of all Christians are Catholics. Assuming you believe in arithmetic, that makes a majority.</p>

152

<p>All Catholics are Christian by definition (technically, they are the original christians). </p>

<p>Not sure where people are coming from thinking Georgetown (run by the Jesuits), BC (run by the Jesuits) and ND (Run by the freaking catholic church) are not christian. That is some funny posturing.</p>

153

<p>I mean, honestly, these people have had no contact with these schools.</p>

<p>Look at the Notre Dame emblem. Go on a Notre Dame visit. Watch videos on the Notre Dame website. Look at the Notre Dame churches. Then tell me where you do and do not see God, Jesus, scripture, Christianity, and what have you. Giant murals and statues of Jesus all over the place. >90% Christian student body.</p>

<p>As for Georgetown… Hm, run by The Society of Jesus… Somehow, I find that Christian. And their crucifixes on campus and in their emblem, as well as the Churches and Jesuit education taught by men in clerical collars.</p>

154

<p>All you need do is read what their mission purports doing … anything else is merely coincidental or artifact. But definitely not intentional. Anyone looking @ either of these fine institutions is sufficiently bright to glean the vision. And sadly, as both have noted, nary a note or nod in the direction of the Cross and Christ.</p>

<p>And after all, isn’t that what it is all about? Like our culture, there are many in denial of the secularization of it all. And these are two monuments to what was once and no longer.Heck, Harvard, Yale, MIT has a Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Probably Muslim Student Association too. All in the name of diversity. And I’m fully confident GtT and ND are equally diverse. So what.</p>

<p>Heck, Harvard, Yale, MIT has a Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Probably Muslim Student Association too. All in the name of diversity. And I’m fully confident GtT and ND are equally diverse. So what.</p>

<p>Christianity, as all apologists of any note note, is exclusive. One way. And it’s narrow. And all that so flies in the face of so many academics and their mission statements and visions. Nothing to do whatsoever of winning souls for Christ. Zilch. And in the end, that may be the primary compelling argument in defining those institutional missions. But be sure, if one can and will read, neither Gt nor ND has any desire toward this end.</p>

<p>It is so easy to rationalize and defend what we’d hope for. So shoot at me.
And read it all for yourself. Decide and choose what you will. But be clear about why and what you’re choosing, absent of wishful thinking and fond memories.</p>

155

<p>

</p>

<p>I would agree that higher education has nothing to do with winning souls for Christ. That’s evangelism. Education assumes that a student is a work in progress, learning ways to critically review what s/he encounters in order to make informed decisions about right and wrong. Evangelism assumes that once one accepts a doctrine, their quest for right and wrong is fulfilled. For example, 64% of American evangelicals say that if a new scientific finding contradicted their faith, they’d reject the factual evidence in order to maintain their faith. That approach won’t fly at a serious college or university. Many prospective students don’t understand the distinction between decision-making on the basis of factual evidence and decision-making on the basis of pre-determined doctrine, and assume that non-Christian colleges and faculty are anti-religion. They aren’t necessarily anti-religion, they’re pro-critical thought.</p>

156

<p>Tell us you’re kidding. Please. </p>

<p>I’m not making any excuses for Gt, ND, or UGA. But if you’re telling us somehow higher education, notably alleged Christian higher education is not and should not be about winning souls, man you have drunk a ton of cool aid. The culture has gotten over you like Niagara Falls has Buffalo. Wow. </p>

<p>What is the “approach” that Christian education should take? Do tell. What you fail to grasp is that its the pablum of watered down Chritianity that has allowed and enabled higher education to disintegrate to its current role. You’ve managed to capture and portray much of the essence of the problem. </p>

<p>Tell us what you think will “fly” at a “serious college or university?” </p>

<p>No need, really. You’ve pretty much illumined the issue in your reflection. </p>

<p>btw, “non-Christian colleges and faculty” are anything but “anti-religion.” Indeed you are among THE most religious people on the planet. That’s why, as Dinesh D’Souza (a college president, btw) has described it this way …</p>

<p>“A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kindom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross.” He goes on, “They [You] have assumed a revers mission: instead of being the church’s missionaries to the world [and students], they have become the world’s missionaries to the church. They devote their moral energies to trying to make the church more democratic, to assure equal rights for women, to legitimize homosexual marriage, and so on. Liberal Christians reject all the central doctrines of Christianity.” </p>

<p>And the truth is that it is pervasive and suffucating in most of higher education. And as you illustrate, even in purported Christian higher education. Rather than committing to portraying and delivering Christ into the lives and learning of students, the professoriate somehow thinks higher education somehow gets a pass from His calling and commandment to His followers. All in the name of the culture. Then proclaiming doing anything else would somehow make that college or university less than “serious.” </p>

<p>In fact, the idea that “critical thinking” trumps critical Christianity is precisely where the problem lies and started some 150 years back in “intellectual” Germany. </p>

<p>Now, let me repeat. It’s fine for Gt and ND and wherever else (most campuses for sure) to aspire to being a “serious” university. But please don’t try to persuade in the name of intellectualism that such is Christian higher education.</p>

157

<p>

This series of incoherent, rambling statements cannot change the fact that Georgetown and Notre Dame are run by Catholic priests and Catholic orders.</p>

<p>Points you failed to address:</p>

<p>-Notre Dame is over 90% Christian</p>

<p>-Notre Dame and Georgetown are run by Catholic priests</p>

<p>-The emblems, campuses, basilicas, and priests speak to the Christian nature</p>

<p>-You do not have the experience with these universities, beyond anti-Catholic propaganda stemming from 19th century Nativism, to make accurate assessments of their level of faith</p>

<p>New points:</p>

<p>-Faith and critical reason are not mutually exclusive. A Christian college or university has failed if it neglects one of the two. Do not paint this as science vs. religion, because only the blind on either side call it that.</p>

<p>-Acceptance of those of different faith does not run counter to the message of Christ, but rather, it is necessary for it. To love all and to hate none, to accept all and see getting the word of Christianity to them as working with them in friendship rather than trying to convert them before you have accepted them as a person.</p>

<p>-Allowing others to be educated and served by Christians increases the good will towards Christians and increases the likelihood that more will become Christian. Maybe this differing of views is why Catholics are growing in number in the US and Evangelicals are shrinking in number.</p>

<p>-A Christian university is a university that is both officially Christian and teaches in the name of Christ. Georgetown and Notre Dame fit this perfectly. Your disdain of Catholics and/or your desire to have some small, intolerant Evangelical college considered the “best” Christian college cannot change that. Sorry.</p>

158

<p>Lots of secular, cultural fluff, determined to portray the symbols of antiquity as proof of being a Christian insitution. Look @ virtually all the “seals” and symbols of Ivy Leagues. No diff. And as for 90% Chrisitians. Secular society says precisely the same thing. </p>

<p>There’s a reason liberal, mainline denominations and churches are shriveling and conservative ones growing like topsy.</p>

<p>You do hit one nail on the head, imo. You note, “A Christian university is one that both officially Christian AND teaches in the name of Christ.” You’ve not read the mission statements of either apparently. Nary a mention of the Messiah. A bunch of humanism though. Evangelicalism has nothing to do with this tho. </p>

<p>As JC noted, luke warm doesn’t make it. Your efforts are stellar, clothing them in statistics, language, the “garb.” Many churches even do the same. You’ve managed to capture and portray the conflict well, though.</p>

<p>As D’Souza writes, “This is the way of secularization: the idea that as an inevitable way of science, reason, progress, and modernization, the West will grow more secular, followed by the rest of the world. The more confident exponents of secularization believe, as Peter Berger puts it,‘eventually Iranian mullahs, Pentecostal preachers and Tibetan llamas (and maybe evangelical radicals?) will all think like professors of literature at American universities.’ For a good part of the past century, this seemed to be playing out. Many secularists reveled in it, but now we see that’s not happening. Liberal churches are fading while conservatives are growing.” </p>

<p>What you are attempting to argue, i.e. that ND, Gt, and a whole bunch of others reflect your notion of Christianity … and therefore are “Christian.” I’d beg to differ. Universities of catholic heritage, some continued trappings, lots of symbolics. Virtually no substance in terms of pervasive professing of the amazing sacrifice and miracles of the cross and resurrection, and the exclusive Way to life, learning, etc. Show me any professor proclaiming that in either of these places? And I’ll show you a failed tenure prospect.</p>

<p>btw, your stats are intriguing. If there is growth in catholicism, it is a function of places like St. Vincent, Franciscan, Christendom, and a rising evangelicalism among a minority of non-gay priests. A HUGE minority. ;)</p>

159

<p>

</p>

<p>For what it’s worth, I agree with both of these points.</p>

<p>Out of curiosity I asked around here (asked Catholics - some of whom send their kids to Catholic high school) about Georgetown and why people consider it mainly secular vs ND. The reason I got is due to the content of the classes for comparison. Supposedly, at Georgetown, the content of the classes is secular much in the same way it would be if a Catholic priest were teaching in a public high school. The perception is that at ND it’s different. It’s hearsay. I have no idea if they know what they are talking about or not. If one wanted to know “for sure,” I’m at the point where I would tell them to e-mail some current students and ask.</p>

<p>But… I was curious and figured I’d post the response as to “why” the stereotype in case others were wondering. It just might be a stereotype worth “busting,” but nonetheless it is one that exists in my area (NOT an Amish area of PA - in spite of what Whistle Pig says).</p>

160

<p>btw, anyone interested in gaining more insight to the phenomenon being exhibited here, i.e. trying to excuse the watering down of so-called Christian higher education that it might “fit” the culture it no longer serves, at least in regard to expounding the message of Christ in every subject matter because it is no longer deemed relevant or “serious” should consider D’Souza’s book, “What is so Great About Christianity.” It has been listed on the NY Times #1 best-seller list. </p>

<p>fyi, D’Souza was reared a catholic, though he has departed that denomination. He is a Phi Beta Kappan graduate of Dartmouth, having first come to America as a Rotary International Scholar. Today is among America’s leading Christian apologetic scholars.</p>

<p>Perhaps you’ve seen him more recently, having written both articles and a book analyzing and explaining much of Pres. Obama’s seemingly bizarre (for a US president) and un-American statements and actions (in Forbes and the Washington post, articles.) in the context of being anti-colonialist. The book’s another of his NY Times best-sellers. Here’s one link to get a summary:</p>

<p>[Dinesh</a> D’Souza - Why Barack Obama is an anti-colonialist](<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/07/AR2010100705485.html]Dinesh”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/07/AR2010100705485.html)</p>

<p>And as noted, he is also a college president in NYC.</p>