The Great Tradition of Christian Thinking (Reclaiming the Christian Intellectual Tradition) [eBook]

A Student’s Guide

A college education becomes truly meaningful when faith affects what happens in the classroom every day. Toward that end, David Dockery and Timothy George have written this compelling case for the role of the Christian intellectual tradition in a serious liberal arts education.

Surveying the long-standing history of Christian thinkers—ranging from the Apostles to the Reformers to the 21st century’s greatest theologians—this book introduces readers to the distinctive way that Christians through the years have read the Bible, formulated doctrine, provided education, and engaged the culture.

DAVID S. DOCKERY (PhD, University of Texas) has been president of Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, since 1995. He is a much sought-after speaker and lecturer, a consulting editor for Christianity Today, and the author or editor of more than twenty-five books.

TIMOTHY GEORGE (ThD, Harvard) is the founding dean of Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School, where he teaches theology and church history. He serves as executive editor for Christianity Today and has written more than twenty books.

“David Dockery and Timothy George are veterans of long and distinguished service in both church and academy. The wisdom they bring to their recommendation of the Christian intellectual tradition is biblical, seasoned, experienced, trustworthy, and encouraging. It is a book to enjoy both in itself and as a welcome guide to much, much more.”
—Mark A. Noll, Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History, University of Notre Dame

“David Dockery and Timothy George are among the preeminent Christian intellectuals of the current age. This book demonstrates why. The volume courses with biblical conviction, evangelical vitality, and a breadth that interacts with the great cloud of witnesses from every place and era of the church of Jesus Christ. I commend this book heartily to students, professors, and church leaders.”
—Russell D. Moore, President, The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission; author, Tempted and Tried

“In a clear and concise presentation of the great thinkers of the church, the authors of this book launch a new series that promises to provide students with an important key to unlock the treasure store of the Christian tradition. They show us once again how exciting Christianity is and why it has captured the minds of successive generations. At a time when our faith is being challenged as never before, this introduction to its riches promises to equip the saints of the next generation to claim their inheritance and extend it further to the glory of God.”
—Gerald Bray, Research Professor of Divinity, History, and Doctrine, Beeson Divinity School; author, God Is Love and God Has Spoken

“This appeal to Christian educators to take the great tradition of Christian thinking much more seriously, to find our place within it, and to renew it today, has arrived in the nick of time. For despite the common invocation of ‘integration’ language at our Christian universities, our schools are all-too-often led by pragmatists beholden to the forces of the market more than the life of the Christian mind. David Dockery and Timothy George herein remind us of our heritage, our very reason for being. I pray that God will use their efforts in the lives of countless students, teachers, and Christian college leaders, inspiring passionate commitment to the values and the virtues that attracted us to Christian education in the first place.”
—Douglas A. Sweeney, Professor of Church History, Director of the Jonathan Edwards Center, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

“David Dockery and Timothy George have written a compelling volume that makes a strong case for the pivotal role that the Christian intellectual tradition should fulfill in a serious liberal arts education. Although the volume was written as a student’s text, individuals who care about Christian higher education (administrators, faculty, and trustees) will benefit from reading and applying the principles articulated in this thoughtful work.”
—Kim S. Phipps, President, Messiah College

“Don’t be misled by the modesty of this book’s title. While the book surely is a winsome and accessible introduction to the subject for any inquiring student, it has much more than that to offer. Its authors are two of the most eminent figures in the field of Christian higher education, and their book reflects the immense range of their learning and experience, even though it wears its learning lightly. The result is a compact but powerful work that will be an invaluable tool for all of us who wrestle with the great task of integrating faith and learning and of showing others how the good, the true, and the beautiful find their ultimate source and meaning in God.”
—Wilfred M. McClay, SunTrust Chair of Excellence in Humanities, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

“David Dockery and Timothy George, two experienced and wise Christian educators, have produced the first volume of what promises to be an important series of guides—aimed at students—intended both to recover and instruct regarding the Christian intellectual tradition. This volume, and no doubt the series as well, meets a significant need, not only for students but also for ministers and academics who are charged with the responsibility of helping us all think and live faithfully as followers of Christ. In light of our deeply flawed world, every generation needs a fresh retelling—in literature, theology, the arts, philosophy, or public policy—of the central truths of all human and natural experience, as revealed by the one true and living God through his Son and as authoritatively and indispensably taught in Holy Scripture.”
—Robert B. Sloan Jr., President, Houston Baptist University