‘Calling’ or ‘vocation’ is something we mention fairly often at Faith in Scholarship. In modern English it’s mostly used, in both secular and church contexts, to refer to profession: often to a certain kind of demanding, valued profession, such as medicine or pastoral work.
In my work as a lecturer over the past year, I've had the privilege of working particularly closely with students from a number of different nationalities and cultures. This has been especially exciting for me because it fits into a lifelong love for other languages and other places. As a student I loved being part of the meetings of international students at my university Christian Union, and seeing how people from very different parts of the world (and with wildly contrasting life-stories) could come together in worshipping Jesus and encouraging one another.
A case of Christian philosophy shedding light on a scientific discipline, and the glorious diversity to be found among research programmes
Taking stock of my career and why I'm here (a guest post by Richard Vytniorgu)
God's image in humanity is marred by sin and violence. But in Christ his image is restored in us, and we are called to be locations of his presence on earth as his Spirit works in us.
Richard Middleton on the human calling to image God and how this relates to our scholarly work.
Does academic work matter? This is a question most academics come up against at some point in their career, and in day to day life: while most of us at least started because we love our subjects, everyday work in the lab or the library can be monotonous and frustrating, sometimes seeming pointless. At the same time, academic culture often encourages us to make our identity as intellectuals into an idol, and this makes any doubt or difficulty feel like a personal failure.
An invitation to Transforming the Mind 2017, the annual National Christian Postgraduate Conference.
In the week after Easter I had the privilege of travelling to the Republic of Macedonia to take part in a conference on 'The Bible and Literature'. It was co-hosted by the Macedonian Academy of the Sciences and Arts - a research university in the capital city of Skopje - and the Balkan Institute for Faith and Culture, a Christian organisation seeking to engage with academic circles and promote interfaith discussions in Macedonia and surrounding areas.
FiSch contributes to a research project on the implications of holistic vs reductionistic paradigms in biological sciences.