letter from the founder and ceo
Faith and
Intellectual
Pursuit
I am thankful for
Christian thinkers who
unabashedly love the
Lord, yet devote their
minds to examining
deep aspects of the faith.
I
matt bennett is the founder and
CEO of Christian Union. He earned
undergraduate and MBA degrees from
Cornell, and launched Christian Union
in 2002 in Princeton, New Jersey.
Matthew W. Bennett
Many blessings to you in Christ,
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who unabashedly love the Lord, yet devote
their minds to examining deep aspects of
the faith. I think of people like Os Guin-
ness, Eric Metaxas, Don Carson, Doug
Sweeney, Tim Keller, Kay Arthur, and
countless professors at seminaries like Trin-
ity Evangelical Divinity School, Reformed
Theological Seminary, Asbury Seminary,
and so many others. I also thank God for
the opportunities I had when I was grow-
ing up. In high school, I was exposed to
C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity and read it
through five times. My Methodist church
and YoungLife in Houston never discour-
aged me from going deep in the faith, and
provided numerous opportunities for in-
vestigation.
A year ago I was in Uganda and asked
Christian ministry leaders if there was a
tension in their country between strong
faith and intellectual pursuit. They said no
such tension existed among Christians. I
pray that, as a nation, we would never
worship inte llectualism, nor see it as a sub-
stitute for faith in Jesus Christ, but would
see it as an ally in the quest to know God
fully and wholeheartedly.
recently spoke with a Brown Univer-
sity alumnus who desired to go deep
in his faith, but encountered a stum-
bling block because, as a youth, he was
told “just to believe” and not have too many
questions.
This is a story that I have heard many
times and it saddens me because it pits faith
against intellectual curiosity. As the Scrip-
tures make plain, the two go together. Many
students at our nation’s most academically
robust universities feel that Christianity isn’t
really for them because they have the op-
portunity to go deep on every other subject,
but sometimes receive discouragement from
going deep in the faith.
I can understand how young people
may feel this way. Not too long ago, I
shared a table with a number of Christian
leaders when I noticed the conversation
drifting toward a tone of anti-intellectual-
ism. When I pointed this out, one of the
leaders boldly said, “Tell me a single Chris-
tian leader who was strong in the Lord,
yet who also was intellectual.” Such a direct
challenge took me aback, but after my
initial shock, I responded, “Well, for start-
ers, we can look at Jonathan Edwards, one
of the leaders of the Great Awakening.
Some call him the strongest theologian or
philosopher that America has ever pro-
duced.” The point was quickly conceded
and the conversation turned to other mat-
ters. It struck me as an odd challenge giv-
en that Colossians 2:3 tells us that in Jesus
Christ is “hidden all the treasures of wis-
dom and knowledge.”
I am thankful for Christian thinkers
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