Council for Christian Colleges and Universities

Abstract The term ‘natural theology’ provokes a variety of reactions, spanning from whole-hearted endorsement to passionate rejection. Charged as it is with polemical and pejorative undertones, this debate begs for an intervention. If the scholarly community is to engage constructively with the concept and practice of natural theology – either by way of acceptance, rejection, or something in between – clarity in its definition and identification is imperative. The aim of this paper is to try to shed some light on three of the most common definitions of ‘natural theology’ in contemporary scholarship, to provide clarity about the ways in which they differ, and to propose some conceptual refinements in the hope that, if adopted, more fruitful discourse may take place in relation to this much-debated and interdisciplinary phrase.

Protestantism has been considered particularly weak for sustaining ethnic boundaries among immigrants. Recognizing the global adaptability and indigenization of Pentecostalism, however, we expect that immigrants from more pentecostal nations will likely retain their Protestantism in ways that affirm their ethnic identity. Using ethnographic data, our research demonstrates how a Guatemalan pentecostal church in Oregon successfully preserves its homeland culture, revealing how the structure of Pentecostalism at La Iglesia de Restauración (affiliated with Elim churches) sustains ethnic continuity with its native indigenous culture. This Latino Protestant church affirms Pentecostalism’s capacity to encourage transnational relationships through a variety of social mechanisms, including provision of ethnic symbols and a space to use them, use of homeland languages (both Ki’ché and Spanish), and promotion of a homegrown leadership. Moreover, the doctrinal division between “world” and “church” discourages assimilation into American culture while simultaneously reinforcing maintenance of “godly” indigenous practices that are legitimated as appropriately religious.

Academic freedom is an important and contested subject in academia today. Across the secular educational landscape, speech codes have been enacted to prohibit expression that is considered hate spe...

As the conclusion to a three-part series assessing the denominational identity of American evangelical colleges and universities, this article presents findings from Phase III of the CCCU Denominational Study. Data for this research were gathered via an online survey that was completed by 3,160 full-time undergraduate students attending 16 denominationally affiliated evangelical Christian colleges. Similar to national trends, the results indicate that more students identify as nondenominational than any other particular Christian denomination. In addition, most students view their denomination as having little importance to their faith lives, and are likely to base their college choice on an institution's Christian identity, not its denominational identity. Nevertheless, students do not have negative views of their denomination and typically hold similar beliefs to the denomination of their institution. These results are discussed in light of their implications for Christian higher education, followed by a concluding consideration of the wider implications of the results of this three-part series for the future of denominational identity in evangelical Christian higher education.