Europe
Europe REGIONAL CONSULTATION ON BIG ISSUES IN THE UNIVERSITY
Woltersdorf, 23-25 March 2018
The consultation brought together students, faculty and staff from all over Europe.
The three questions they discussed were:
What are the big issues?
What can we do?
How can we help others?
Discussions covered topics such as gender, the environment, freedom of speech and many others.
Download the report on findings from the consultation.
Reflections from participants
“It was inspiring to hear stories about how Christians (students, writers, researchers etc.) engage with the academic sphere. It made me aware of how important it is for Christian intellectuals to be present in the academic life and discussions, to be recognized in your own field though your craftmanship, and use reputation to represent a Christian worldview. It would be nice if we could show the world that Christians can be critical thinkers and also can contribute to science and to society.”
- Hungarian participant
“When I was a first year student, I heard a saying that “all truth is God’s truth”. Back then I didn’t really understand what it means. I thought that God’s truth is biblical teaching, the Gospel, and the things that are taught in university are some worldly wisdom, which doesn’t have much to do with my faith. But as years went by, I began to understand what this saying means. Of course, not every theory and information that we receive in the university, is truth. Some are actually completely contrary to what the Bible teaches. But in each academic field there is truth somewhere. We can be successful businessman, brilliant designers or musicians, influential journalists, because of wisdom that comes from God. He cares about all areas of the world, not just the faith of people. What kind of student do you want to be? One that is rushing through university years, barely touching the environment in which you study, because there are always some more “Christian” things to pay your attention to? Or you wish to be 100% Christian AND 100% student, who is not missing out on an opportunity to glorify the Lord with your academic course and to bring righteousness and light into the field you have chosen. The choice is yours.”
- British participant
“We can and should train our minds to see two worldviews—the Christian worldview and the worldview underlying whatever piece of information we have in front of us, such as a research project that gets funded (why that project?) or something a classmate says in passing about anything from gender issues to note-taking. But we can and should also embrace them both where they meet, living with both feet in heaven and on earth.”
- Portuguese participant