Initiative on
Faith & Public Life
Equipping Christians to think deeply about faithful participation in contemporary public life.
Students
Our core audience is undergraduate students who are interested in exploring questions of politics, public policy, economics, business, and society in a way that is integrated with the convictions of their faith. Covering a variety of topics and taking
place throughout the year, our programs give students the opportunity to engage in serious, nonpartisan dialogue with experts and peers on pressing issues, and be prepared for their future careers and vocations. Featured programs are listed below.
Summer Honors Program
For Love of Neighbor: Politics for the Common Good
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Faculty
Since 2012, the Initiative on Faith & Public Life has built a community of leading Christian college professors who are interested in the intersection of faith, politics, economics, and society and share a commitment to equipping future leaders. There are currently over 300 professors in our network, representing institutions (both religious and secular) across the country and world.
Our Academic Network members form a real intellectual community of faculty who encourage and challenge each other. They also help our team recruit students, facilitate events on their campuses, and receive access to complimentary books and other resources, as well as occasional invitations to faculty-only seminars and conferences.
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Blog
A Missing Link in Poverty Alleviation: Humility
Ultimately, humility provides an understanding that investing in individual relationships is essential in alleviating relative poverty. It means living under the consideration that we are merely vessels, used by God as He wills, for His glory and name. We do not possess the answers or end-all-be-all solution, yet, we do possess the God-given capacity to invest in relationships that sow good. And thus, with this proposed framework, the aim to care for those who are poor invokes something from all of us.
Waste of a Space Race?
In the end, the debate is not whether billionaires should pay their fair share in taxes or engage in more philanthropic activity. It’s about whether or not a society should allow its best and brightest to engage in innovative activity that will generate opportunity, promote flourishing, and help solve societal ills. Many think that these billionaires are simply engaging in a “bucket list” activity that will hurt the populace. Unfortunately, those thoughts are shortsighted. Without true innovators, we may not find the answers to tomorrow’s crises.
The Insufficiency of Identity
The modern Western world gives incredible value to identity. Without an identity, you will not have peace. You will be either a mindless husk of a person, absorbing whatever happens to come down your gullet, or tossed by the winds of harsh modernity. Therefore, the path of “self-discovery” and finding an identity is deemed essential for all. However, this presents a problem for religious individuals (at least those who believe in a deity), since it does not necessarily include any external definition. Sure, the eventual joining of a social group – perhaps religious – is often the outcome of finding an identity. But the lack of external impetus is troubling, to say the least, since God, as an external actor, is off the table.
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