Writing for outlets like the Washington Post leads to lots of interesting email. Some critics claim that my job as an educator at a religious institution is hopelessly impractical and a bad deal for my students

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is an excerpt from Against All Gods: What’s Right and Wrong about the New Atheism by Phillip E. Johnson and John Mark Reynolds. This chapter is written by John Mark Reynolds (IVP).

A Wonderful Education
The best thing about the new atheists is that they are starting some good conversations. For too long “religion” has been treated as totally private and not subject to scrutiny inside of education. That is too bad, because it infantilizes religion and cuts off a great many interesting conversations.

Conversations about religion can be wonderful and help us all shape a better life for ourselves.

Writing for outlets like the Washington Post leads to lots of interesting email. Some critics claim that my job as an educator at a religious institution is hopelessly impractical and a bad deal for my students. Whenever a critic wishes to really let me have it, he or she will point out that I work at Biola University (formerly the Bible Institute of Los Angeles) where the faculty is required to agree with a creedal statement. How can I do philosophy or even real education in such a constricting environment?

Leaving aside the fact that Biola University has not been a Bible institute for over half a century, the critic is really concerned about the compatibility of faith with reason. Isn’t faith the opposite of reason?

As one email put it: Christians believe things despite the evidence. If true, that obviously makes living a rational life impossible. For the critic, faith is a set of opinions, and though you can repeat opinions, perhaps in a clever way, you do not need an education to have them.

Read More: www.crosswalk.com/news/11634838/page0/

Read More: http://www.crosswalk.com/news/11634838/page0/