articulate the truths of Scripture. The classical learning model established in the earliest version of Harvard was intentionally created to further the Gospel of Jesus Christ. An early motto adopted in 1650 was “For the glory of Christ.” How far Harvard has fallen from its faithful beginnings. FROM EDEN TO THE MODERN CLASSROOM You hardly need me to tell you what challenges Christian higher education is facing today. While Harvard chose the Latin word for truth, Veritas, as its first motto, it has long since given up on the concept. Secular higher education is no longer committed to pursuing truth. In fact, many deny either that truth exists or that it can be known, because any universal “truth” is considered exclusive and therefore, by definition, discriminatory. While the “woke” agenda is a clear challenge, it is actually just a symptom of a far deeper and more sinister systemic problem: the rejection of biblical truth. Historians George Marsden and James T. Burtchaell wrote about the fall of higher education from its religious foundations to what we have today. They both found that universities rejected biblical truth in the name of academic freedom or to follow the lead of European higher education institutions. In pursuit of respectability, they sacrificed faithfulness. When higher education severed its foundation in the timeless truth of Scripture, it set itself adrift. How could it be surprising, then, that most fields are not only secular but antithetical to Christian beliefs? This division is the most drastic in liberal arts fields like English, history, sociology, and political science. Without the foundation of Scripture, these fields moved radically away from the truth. These fields are some of the worst examples of man’s Edenic attempt to put his own autonomy above God’s truth. But it need not be so. The founders of Harvard had good reasons for including these fields in their educational requirements. They understood these fields develop our minds to think critically, to understand the revealed truth of theWord, to see the beauty of God’s creation, and to communicate God’s truth to a truth-starved world. The problem is that secular higher education doesn’t teach these fields with those goals in mind any longer. TRUTH RECOVERED At Cedarville University, our vision is “For theWord of God and the Testimony of Jesus Christ.” The authority of Scripture is the foundation for each of our programs, including liberal arts, education, psychology, and social work. Instead of discarding these fields because secular institutions have mishandled them, we TYLER DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS CENTER FOUNDERS HALL CENTER FOR BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL STUDIES MADDOX HALL CENTENNIAL LIBRARY MILNER BUILDING BOLTHOUSE ACADEMIC CENTER APPLE TECHNOLOGY CENTER MAIN STREET (STATE ROUTE 72) The Bolthouse Academic Center is positioned on the eastern side of campus along Main Street (State Route 72) in Cedarville. The back of the building will form a future campus quad bounded by the Apple Technology Resource Center, the Center for Biblical and Theological Studies, Milner Hall, and the Tyler Digital Communications Center. BOLTHOUSE ACADEMIC CENTER N 8
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