Establishing a Career as a Christian Academic: Advice from an Old Academic to Those Beginning the Journey
Douglas Groothuis
“The Western contemporary intellectual world is a battleground or arena in which rages a battle for men's souls”
—Christian Philosopher, Alvin Plantinga¹
Now that you have finished (or nearly finished) your doctorate in your discipline and have started teaching, you will need to balance and integrate several priorities to be a godly and successful professor and scholar. As a well-published senior scholar (b. 1957) and long-time professor (Denver Seminary, 1993-2024), who has taught at both Christian (full-time) and secular (part-time) schools (colleges and seminaries), I hope these reflections will guide you into wisdom at you begin and develop your career.
First Things First Always
The first thing is to keep the first thing as the first thing. In whatever we do, we should follow Jesus’ command:
So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6:31-34).
The antidote to worry, says Jesus, is to remember God’s comprehensive care for you and to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.” That means to accept his gospel (John 3:16) and to strive to love God with all your being and to love your neighbor as yourself, and to do this according to the golden rule (Matthew 7:12; 22:37-39). These are nonnegotiable in the Christian life, whether we are academics or artisans or architects. Paul affirms the same principle of divine priority when he writes: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31) and “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" (Colossians 3:17).
Every walk of life is fraught with temptations to compromise, cut corners, or to be dishonest, and the academy is no exception. But we should study, write, and teach in the fear of God.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all who follow his precepts have good understanding.
To him belongs eternal praise (Psalm 111:10).
This verse sets up a contrast: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7). Sadly, there are fools in the academy, who work the system at the expense of true “wisdom and instruction.” Since the fallen human heart can deceive us (Jeremiah 29:7), we should guard our hearts against deception by regular Bible reading and meditation, consistent church attendance, and Christian fellowship and prayer.
Let me be specific. Your academic career can tempt you to neglect your spiritual life and your most significant relationships (especially with family) in order to pursue your career. Academic life is competitive and performative. You must produce—get the doctorate, find a tenure-track job, prepare courses, teach courses, and do what is necessary to receive tenure (if your school offer that), such as publish peer-review papers and read papers at academic conferences. It is a high stakes profession. If you are successful, the rewards are outstanding. You can research and teach about what you care about. You can choose your textbooks (and may even write them, as I have). Your schedule is not tied down to a set 9-5 framework, but is more open ended. You may receive acclaim as an expert in your field and converse with other experts.
But if you fail in the academy, the sting can last a lifetime. Many get to the ABD stage (all but dissertation) and remain there. But ABD is not a degree or a destination; it is a mark of failure. Even if you receive the Ph.D., you might fail to get tenure (or a longer-term contract). While it is possible to recover from this academically, it is difficult and many academic careers are thwarted at this point. Because of this pressure, some may obsess on their career activities to the detriment of their devotion to Christ and at the expense of their most important relationships. But as Jesus said, “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” (Matthew 26:26).
However, if you have discerned God’s will to be an academic and if he has brought you thus far, you can reasonably infer that you are on the right road. As such, you can devote yourself to your career in a way that balances the various priorities of a godly life without panic and in God’s peace. When we are tempted to panic, we can call to mind biblical truths such as these.
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:4-9).²
As you pursue your career, you should keep in mind three intellectual areas of knowledge to develop: (1) Your knowledge of the Bible, theology, Christian worldview, and apologetics (2) Your knowledge of your discipline per se (3) Your knowledge of your discipline from a Christian perspective. Let us consider each.
The Knowledge of Christianity
Many Christian academics have gained a solid knowledge of their discipline (2), but lack much knowledge of Christianity (2) as well how a Christian worldview should shape their discipline (3). In his essay, “Being a Christian Academic,” Christian philosopher, William Lane Craig, notes that
What is shocking to me…is how many Christian academics seem content to have a profound knowledge of their chosen area of specialization and yet little better than a Sunday School knowledge when it comes to their Christian faith on which they have staked their lives and eternal destiny. I've been stunned by conversations with Christian professors which reveal what little grasp they have of Christian doctrines like the Trinity, the two natures of Christ, or the attributes of God. It also surprises me when I see their loss for words when called upon to explain why they believe that Christianity is true. Though brilliant in their chosen fields, they are like uninformed laymen when it comes to their Christian faith.³
Academics are intellectuals by definition, so they should be intellectuals about their Christian convictions as well. We need to be transformed through the renewing of our minds by the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit (Romans 12:2; John 14:17). Those critical thinking and research skills required for advanced degrees can and should be applied to one’s own Christian faith and one should not stall or atrophy in one’s engagement with God’s living truth (Hebrews 4:12).
Many books and other resources are available on theology, worldview, apologetics, and Bible study, but I offer just a few. Millard Erickson’s Christian Theology has served as a clear, biblically based, and thorough systematical theology, and is out in a third edition. I similarly appreciate the work of John Frame, Systematic Theology. A classic Reformed Statement of doctrine that I find deeply biblical and rewarding is The Westminster Confession.⁴ A modern classic on the nature of worldviews and how Christianity relates to other worldviews is James W. Sire, The Universe Next Door, 5th ed. My book, Christian Apologetics, is a thorough defense of the Christian worldview. I co-wrote a shorter work with Andrew Shepardson called, The Knowledge of God in the World and in the Word.
An academically oriented Study Bible is a rich resource for biblical commentary and background. I have used various versions of the NIV Study Bible for nearly forty years and find it insightful and edifying.⁵ I commend The Reformation Study Bible as well. A number of other Study Bibles have more of a devotional or application emphasis, such as The Life Application Study Bible.
Your knowledge of Christianity, both intellectually and experientially, should be shaped by your life in a Bible-believing church, but also in your institution. If you work for a Christian college, university, or seminary, your employer should provide opportunities for fellowship and prayer through chapel services, prayer meetings, and other special meetings. If you serve at a secular school, try to find other Christians on faculty with whom you can have fellowship. As the Psalmist said:
How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together in unity!
It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
down on the collar of his robe.
It is as if the dew of Hermon
were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing,
even life forevermore (Psalm 133).
Knowledge of Your Discipline
I need say little of this area of knowledge, but will only note that even though one can never know everything about one’s discipline or seem to know even enough about one’s discipline, a certain ardor for knowledge is necessary and this should be submitted to the Lord for discipline, direction, and inspiration. Paul writes of discipline in the Christian life with sports metaphors.
Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize (1 Corinthians 9:25-27).
That great student of life “under the Son,” the Preacher of Ecclesiastes, confessed the difficulty but worth of his intellectual labors.
Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.
The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one shepherd. Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.
Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.
Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.
For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil (Ecclesiastes 12:9-14).⁶
Sanity and sanctity are found by observing God’s ordained pattern of six days of work a week and one day of rest. As Jesus said, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:10). Academic life can be intense and demanding, and we all need rest, recreation, and relaxation in of service as teachers, mentors, and writers. Burnout must be avoided, given its dire consequences for oneself and others.⁷
Knowledge of Your Discipline from a Christian Worldview
The subject of what is often called “the integration of faith and learning” is deep, rich, and vitally significant for Christian scholars. In general, we should seek to develop what Harry Blamires called “a Christian mind” for all of life, but particularly for our academic disciplines. A Christian mind is
a mind trained, informed, equipped to handle data of secular controversy within a framework of reference which is constructed of Christian presuppositions. The Christian mind is the prerequisite of Christian thinking. And Christian thinking is the prerequisite of Christian action.⁸
Our Christian presuppositions (or guiding assumptions) comprise our worldview. James Sire defines a worldview:
A worldview is a commitment, a fundamental orientation of the heart, that can be expressed as a story or in a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially true, or entirely false) that we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently) about the basic constitution of reality, and that provides the foundation on which we live and move and have our being.⁹
Everyone has a worldview and one’s worldview decisively influences one’s perspective on the world.
Worldview formulations are not substitutes for the Bible, for systematic theology, or for creeds—all of which are significant for a Christian mind. Rather, a worldview perspective is one way of summing up and concentrating major philosophical claims. (Or speaking of someone’s worldview can mean their overall view of life, their set of beliefs.) There are various schemas for describing the Christian worldview. A common framework comes from the Reformed tradition, but can be embrace by all Christians. This involves worldview as a cosmic story of metanarrative of creation, fall, and redemption-consummation.
Creation. Biblically understood, the universe is the handiwork of a triune, supernatural, personal, and moral being who created it out of nothing. Unlike unitarian monotheism (Judaism, Islam, and Unitarianism), Scripture teaches and the Christian creeds affirm that the divine being is one God who exists eternally in three coequal persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So, the universe has not always existed; neither did it pop into existence without cause or reason. The origin of the universe is supernatural, not natural, based on the unique creative action of the Trinity. Further, the universe is not itself divine (pantheism) but contingent on God for its creation, conservation, and culmination. What God created was good, since it came from a Perfect Being.50 Humans are “very good” since they bear the divine image and are ordained to glorify God by cultivating the creation through godly relationships.
Fall. Despite its divine origin and good nature, the universe is fallen. The first humans disobeyed God’s clear command and thus turned against God, themselves, and creation (Gen 3). This disruption adversely affected the entire universe such that it groans in awaiting its final redemption (Rom 8:18-26). Women and men are now incapable of serving God properly given their own resources, and nothing in this fallen world can redeem them. We are prone to selfishness, obsession, addiction, idolatry, and false religion of all kinds. We worship the creation rather than the Creator. As such, we are under God’s righteous condemnation and without hope in ourselves (Rom 1:18-32).
Redemption/consummation. Yet God has not left his erring creation to rot in its ruinous ways. Immediately after the fall, God clothed our first parents and made an oblique promise that a liberator would come and undo what the serpent had initiated (Gen 3:15). God continued to pursue humans east of Eden by graciously selecting a particular people for his redemptive purposes, inspiring prophets, giving visions, and intervening in history—all with a view toward the revelation of the divine Messiah. In the fullness of time God sent the Son (Gal 4:4), who did not hold on to his equality with the Father but came into the world to culminate God’s plan of redemption (Phil 2:5-11). He accomplished this by living a perfect life through the Holy Spirit, by dying a horrendous death to atone for human sin and set us right with God, and by rising from the dead to defeat all the powers of death and darkness, sin and Satan. Redemption will be culminated and consummated in the eschaton when Jesus Christ returns, evil is finally judged, creation is purged, and all things remaining are transformed into glorious manifestations of goodness, truth, and beauty within a world without curse, pain, or tears (Rev 19–22). Christ’s prototypical resurrected person will dwell with the resurrected persons of the deemed, who are raised immortal and incorruptible (1 Cor 15:12-58). Thus, the Christian worldview inspires us to give full vent to our yearnings for paradise—a paradise indwelt by the Prince of Peace and his children. As John writes, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure” (1 Jn 3:2-3).¹⁰
How we relate our Christian worldview to our particular discipline is a long and fascinating story, but we must embark on this quest and it should be sustained through one’s academic career. Although Paul’s context is church discipline, what he says about the life of the mind in relation to falsehood, bears on Christian scholarship.
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
Although I cannot elucidate it here, Paul put this into intellectual orientation into practice when he addressed the philosophers at the Areopagus in Athens (Acts 17:16-34).
An excellent guide in how to think as a Christian in relation to the great worldview issues has been written by one of the foremost Christian intellectuals of our day, J. P. Moreland, in his book Love Your God with All Your Mind.¹¹ Every Christian scholar and professor will benefit from his brilliant insights and compelling vision for the Christian mind.
Practical Matters of Professional Development
Academics need to be a part of their intellectual tribe with respect to their discipline. This happens formally and informally. Formally, scholars should belong to one or more professional organizations pertaining to their specialty. I have belonged to the Evangelical Philosophical Society (EPS), for example. The Society of Christian Philosophers (SCP) casts a broader net by what is meant by “Christian,” but is an academically rigorous and significant organization. The standard professional society for philosophers is the American Philosophical Association (APA), but the yearly dues are expensive, so I only belonged for a few years early in my career. These organizations alert members to professional conferences and grant possibilities; they may post job openings and publish newsletters and journals.
These organizations may be focused on a discipline alone (such as the APA) or have a particular orientation within that discipline (such as the EPS and SCP). There is also The Journal of Sociology and Christianity, although I cannot vouch for it. Christian scholars should consider participation in both kinds of organizations, but not neglect their own intellectual formation as a Christian concerning their area of study. What is it worth if one ascends to a high level professionally, but fails to develop a Christian worldview and a Christian mind about one’s discipline (see Matthew 16:24)?
Although I have no facility in or much knowledge about grant writing (I have never written a proposal), securing a grant can allow time for deeper research into one’s discipline. Several organizations offer grants to evangelicals for research. Among them is the Lilly Foundation and the Pew Trust. Ask fellow faculty at your school and other scholars outside your school about the possibilities.
Beginning and Continuing the Academic Journey
Academic life offers hearty rewards to those who successfully prosecute it, since it means a career of researching, writing, and teaching about what one takes to be interesting and meaningful. There is the thrill of intellectual discovery and the thrill of passing it on. One can contribute to scholarship and help shape people for good through knowledge. For the Christian, this is done before the eye of God and in the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10). I am grateful to my Lord, Jesus Christ, for the academic life he has given to me by his grace. I hope that this essay will encourage other Christians to find goodness, truth, and beauty in their academic pursuits.
1. Alvin Plantinga, The Twin Pillars of Christian Scholarship (Grand Rapids, MI: Calvin College and Seminary, 1990). Booklet.
2. For a list of many similar Scriptures, see Rebecca Merrill Groothuis (1954-2018), “Bible Verses for Times of Stress,” bible-verses-for-faith-in-times-of-stress.pdf (faithandhealthconnection.org).
3. William Lane Craig, “Being a Chrisian Academic,” Being a Christian Academic | Grad Resources | Lectures | Reasonable Faith
5. See Douglas Groothuis, “An Informal Guide to Study Bibles,” An Informal Guide to Study Bibles (douglasgroothuis.com)
6. For more on the intellectual virtues commended in Ecclesiastes, see Douglas Groothuis, “Chasing After Wisdom,” Touchstone, Chasing Wisdom by Douglas Groothuis | Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity (touchstonemag.com).
7. See Christopher Ash, Zeal Without Burnout (The Good Company, 2016).
8. Blamires, Harry. The Christian Mind: How Should a Christian Think? Regent College Publishing. Kindle Edition. I highly recommend reading this modern classic.
9. Sire, James W. The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog (p. 6). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.
10. This section on creation, fall, redemption/consummation is taken from Groothuis, Douglas. Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith (pp. 80-81). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.
11. J. P. Moreland, Love Your God with All Your Mind, 2nd ed (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2013). The first edition, published by NavPress in 1997, contains high quality material not included in the second edition, and thus is worth reading as well.
Indeed. Thank you for the reminders.