Purpose & History
In our increasingly secular and, as Carl Henry used to say, “neopagan” world, young Christians must sort through a host of intellectual ideas and socio-cultural issues that run against the grain of the Christian faith. Facing these challenges, it is vital that the next generation of Christians receive the resources necessary for sustaining and strengthening their faith. The Christ on Campus Initiative exists to inspire students to think wisely, act with conviction, and become more Christ-like by providing relevant and excellent evangelical resources on contemporary issues.
Financed and executed by the Henry Center (also financially supported by the MAC Foundation), the Christ on Campus Initiative began in 2007 when a small group of campus ministers from around the nation gathered to discuss the questions facing the present generation of students. An ongoing editorial board, led by D. A. Carson and Scott Manetsch, continues to commission and circulate literature for students, addressing an array of important intellectual and practical issues from an evangelical Christian perspective. All the essays are intellectually rigorous, culturally relevant, persuasive in argument, and faithful to historic, evangelical Christianity.
For more information about the Christ on Campus Initiative, its leadership, and its activities, visit the CCI website.
CCI Essays
A Christian Perspective on Sexual Identity
Mark Yarhouse
How do we view homosexuality in light of a Christian sexual ethic? Perhaps this will come as a surprise, but homosexuality is not the focal point of the Christian sexual ethic. Rather, same-sex behavior is one of many sexual acts that fall outside of the context of a life-union between a man and a woman, including pre-marital and extra-marital sex, pornography, and so on. Christianity begins with a broader sexual ethic that affirms the good of physical creation and the good of our inherent sexuality. This essay engages the intersection of religious and sexual identities and the much-debated topic of Christianity and homosexuality.
Human Flourishing: Toward a Theology of Work and Rest
Danielle Sallade
What keeps people from flourishing today? For many college students, busyness causes high levels of anxiety, fear, and depression. A flourishing life is not only one that “goes well”, but also one that is lived well. This essay offers hope to students by illuminating that flourishing is possible for those living in right relationship with God, their environment, their neighbors, and themselves. Explore how you, too, can flourish.
Sin: Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be
Cornelius Plantinga
Lots of North Americans use the word sin only on dessert menus and when telling an inside joke. If they hear the word used seriously, they might conclude that they are in the presence of a Puritan. There are few contexts left in which the word is said and heard straight. Even preachers often mumble when it comes to sin. Yet most people would widely agree that the world is broken—that things aren’t the way they’re supposed to be. This essay describes sin, its real effects on humanity, and how Christians can contribute to human flourishing.
Atheism: Five Arguments for God
William Lane Craig
Surprisingly, almost none of the so-called “New Atheists” (like Richard Dawkins) have anything to say about arguments for God’s existence. Instead, they tend to focus on the social effects of religion, questioning whether religious belief is good for society. One might justifiably doubt whether such arguments really address the core of the issue, especially in light of significant Christian counterarguments. This essay presents five arguments for God’s existence that interact with the reasoning which atheists commonly provide.
A Christian Perspective on Islam
Chawkat Moucarry
Being monotheistic religions, Christianity and Islam share significant common ground despite their theological disagreements. This common ground should be appreciated if our interaction with Islam is to be informed and fair. We can find a way forward by dispelling myths about both Islam and Christianity, seeking to understand Muslim beliefs and practices better, and engaging in charitable dialogue. This essay explores all of these points, giving Christians insight into how to approach Islam today.
Who Was Jesus of Nazareth?
Craig L. Blomberg
Jesus of Nazareth is the most influential person to walk the earth in human history. To this day, more than two billion people worldwide claim to be his followers — more than the number of adherents to any other religion or worldview. But just who was this individual, and how can we glean reliable information about him? Explore the evidence for the historical Jesus and discover why Jesus of Nazareth matters.
Do Christians Have a Worldview?
Graham Cole
He took the blade. It was bright silver. He loved the way it glistened. It felt good in his hand. He cut deep into her chest again and again. He showed no emotion, no recognition of her humanity. She lay motionless, her life gone. He made no attempt to cover the body. Later that night over a beer he openly talked to a stranger in the bar about what he had done. The stranger felt ill…
What are we to make of this? Should someone have called 911? Should he have been arrested? Is this a Hannibal Lecter story? It all depends. To make sense of it, this narrative fragment needs placing in a larger picture or frame of reference. Frames of reference are keys to reading the world of our experience. Examine how to assess frames of references like postmodernism and discover what makes a worldview Christian.
Jesus Christ and Religious Diversity
Harold Netland
Until the modern era, Christians largely took it for granted that Christianity is the one true religion for all humankind. By the late twentieth century, however, a growing number of self-proclaimed Christians called for a radical pluralism in which Christianity is just one among many possible ways of responding to the divine. Explore the idea that all the major religions are more or less equally true and how Christians can respond to religious diversity today.
Naturalism in a Biblical Worldview
Kirsten Birkett
Can science provide answers to the ultimate questions of life? How unbiased is the scientific endeavor? Does science have any limits? These and other questions arise from the popular modern acceptance of naturalism, a belief that only natural laws and forces work in the world and that the supernatural does not exist. This timely essay explores science and the naturalistic worldview from a Christian perspective, suggesting ways for Christians to engage with science today.
Christianity and Sexuality
Christopher Ash
Why is sex so fascinating? That’s one question. Why pay any attention to what Christians believe about sex? That’s quite another. And yet the fascinating nature of sex points to a religious reality. Historically, sex and religion have always been hard to separate. This thought-provoking essay explores why sex is so fascinating, what God says about sex, and how Christians can respond to sex in our culture today.
Who Chose the New Testament Documents?
Charles Hill
“The fundamental irony of Christianity! The Bible, as we know it today, was collated by the pagan Roman emperor Constantine the Great.” So says Teabing, a character in Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code. While significantly flawed and historically fallacious, Dan Brown’s myth is common in the popular imagination: the Christian bible was formed through the manipulation and power-plays of the fourth century institutional church. In this article, Charles Hill offers the faithful Christian a solid grounding for understanding the origin and formation of the Christian scriptures that we call the New Testament. Beyond power-plays or mere functionality, the early church recognized the Word of God as divinely and providentially intended, and understood themselves as recipients, or inheritors, of God’s word.
