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Nine Questions to Ask Before Attending a Christian College

John Mark Reynolds, 2004.

What can be done with Christian colleges? Parents need to learn to ask hard questions about their school of choice. You are paying for a Christian, Christ-centered, education. What does the school mean by this? Some of my favorite questions:

1. Do all your teachers believe the great saints of the Old Testament were historical persons? Was Adam? Was Eve? Was Noah?

2. Could all of your teachers assent to the Nicean Creed?

3. Do you hire non-Christians? If so, are they in tenure track positions?

4. What is the climate for traditionalists on your campus? If I oppose women in the priesthood will I be in a tiny minority?

5. Are all your faculty pro-life? Are any pro-choice? (Ask both questions.)

6. Is there an objective truth? Is it knowable? Do we know some of it?

7. Is there a hell? Is anyone in it? What sort of folk go?

8. Am I my brain? Do souls exist?

9. What is sin?

These are just a few questions. . . and not the most important. There are the sort that will tease out the spirit of our age. Beware weasel words. How hard would these questions have been for Luther, Aquinas, or Chrysostom? How hard should they be for a real Christian college? If you are a traditional Christian: beware! In my experience, many Christian colleges don’t like you, want to move your child away from your positions, and do want your money for second rate educational goods.

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