Cedarville Magazine 251 N. Main St., Cedarville, OH 45314 1-888-CEDARVILLE | magazine@cedarville.edu cedarville.edu/magazine Teaching is a joy. Teaching at Cedarville, where the students work hard, are respectful, and don’t take themselves too seriously, is a blessing. But even at Cedarville, professors, after connecting the dots between timeless ideas, or bringing all their wisdom to bear on a vital issue, are sometimes asked, “is this on the exam?” My response is something along the lines of Walker Percy’s. “You can get all A’s and still flunk life.” What we do in the classroom isn’t about the exam, and it is much larger than a grade. It is about the kind of people we hope to be, the discovery of how we fit into God’s plan, and a growing realization of how God’s gifts might help us navigate and influence the world. A former student, a political science major, highlights the difference between grades and life. Colleen spent her junior year away from campus. She was a stellar student — carrying a 4.0 GPA to our Washington, D.C., Semester in the fall and to Oxford in the spring. In D.C., she worked at the International Justice Mission, a nonprofit organization that works to protect the vulnerable, especially women and children, from slavery and trafficking. At Oxford, she took a course on “The Inklings,” the literary group that included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. While there, Colleen suffered her first, and last, A- as an undergraduate. When she returned to Cedarville, I asked about her time in England. She beamed despite the blemish. Colleen went on to teach English in China, earn a master’s degree at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and get married. She is working on a PhD in American studies, a field focused on the creation and analysis of culture. Her life is still unfolding, but it has so far been spent pushing herself to search the world, know God more deeply, and reflect on His justice, beauty, and truth in a fallen time and place. Colleen, it seems, is passing life. In all of the disciplines that fit under a Cedarville school titled and dedicated to “arts and humanities" along with all those areas highlighted in this issue of Cedarville Magazine, the students, faculty, and staff live at the intersection of faith and culture. They draw upon revelation to comprehend reality, looking for what can be reformed and turned toward the glory of God. This process is never simple; it requires clear eyes and hopeful hearts. But the age in which we find ourselves makes it even harder. The Christian influence on our culture feels like it is fading. The world celebrates darkness and confusion, but we serve the God of light and truth. Our responsibility, as we train in the middle of the cornfields, is to carry His message in all the ways He has equipped us. Whether that is through a careful legal argument, a delicate hand on the potter’s wheel, or as a guide to a layered literary narrative, the task is the same. We must have the courage, when confronted by a cold and sometimes hostile world, to proclaim His truth as we point people to the Savior. Mark Caleb Smith serves as Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities. He earned his PhD in political science from the University of Georgia. PREPARING STUDENTS TO PROCLAIM TRUTH 40 IN CLOSING
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