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BOOK REVIEW God's Harvard: A Christian College on a Mission to Save America by Hanna Rosin Harcourt - September 2007
Reviewed by Dr. Jonathan Dolhenty It probably should be mentioned at the outset that the term "Christian" as used in the context of this review refers to a particular brand of Protestant Christianity -- evangelical or fundamentalist -- which differs in many theological essentials from other Protestant Christian churches. Commonly, these believers are referred to as the "Christian Right" in contrast to members of the latter churches who often are considered "liberal" or "moderate." With that caveat in hand, then, let's begin. I am pretty astute at keeping up on public affairs, especially regarding political and religious issues, so how I missed this important story I can't explain. Of course, it is always possible that I did hear some reference to Patrick Henry College and its special program somewhere along the way and simply let it pass by or didn't focus on it with any deliberate attention. That, if so, has now been rectified. Hanna Rosin, a veteran reporter who has covered religion and politics for many years, has, I think, done an excellent job of exploring the ins and outs of an evangelical Christian college, founded in 2000 by Christian activist Michael Farris, which is dedicated to the proposition that the future of America rests in the hands of a college-trained Christian elite which itself is dedicated to saving America from "secular humanism" or any variant thereof. Rosin's book is titled God's Harvard: A Christian College on a Mission to Save America. I might suggest an alternate title: God's Military Academy. It seems to me that Patrick Henry College is much more than your usual, traditional liberal arts college; at the least it does not share many of the important features I am familiar with in my undergraduate experience. I attended and graduated from a small, religious-run liberal arts college but it was dedicated to, among other things, Enlightenment values such as freedom of thought, free speech, tolerance of differing views, and the exploration of things secular, as well as sacred. My impression of Patrick Henry College from Rosin's description is somewhat at odds with my conception of a true liberal arts institution. Furthermore, by the end of the work, I had formed a picture of an institution preparing an "army of God," marching out onto a cultural battlefield to defeat a "worldly" and "permissive" enemy, intent on "saving" us from our social, personal, and political "wickedness." It seems to me that today that is a pretty ambitious mission. The author spent around eighteen months within Patrick Henry College's surroundings, talking with its president, Michael Farris, interviewing students and faculty, interacting informally with both groups, socializing with some of them outside the campus environment, and even attending classes. The result is an interesting and insightful narrative about a contemporary phenomenon with which, I suspect, few Americans are actually acquainted: the training and nurturing of a young, dedicated, highly sophisticated, and militant cadre of college graduates for direct political involvement (including holding public office right up to the presidency itself) or occupying positions of influence and leadership within various professions in the arts and sciences, all in the pursuit of saving a nation from its currently "godless" path. At Harvard, or Princeton, or Stanford, or at any one of the other thousands of colleges and universities in this nation of ours (including my own alma mater), the fact that many young students major in political science (as I did) or some other relevant discipline to prepare themselves for government work, public service, or elective office, would not come as a surprise to anyone. However, at Patrick Henry College, there is an additional element which makes this subject all the more interesting and, to some probably, worrisome: the intent to produce a generation that can bring about a fundamental and, above all, religious change in the governance and culture of America. The author writes that "They are the 'Joshua Generation,' as Farris likes to say, the first ones savvy enough to 'take back the land.'" Take back the land? Well, I find that somewhat worrisome myself. Now, far be from me to take the position that Farris and his colleagues should cease and desist from their stated mission or tear down their college. This is a free country, after all, and all voices ought to be encouraged and welcomed. I have no problem with religion in the public square; I just don't want it to be running the public square. But that's the Enlightenment secularist in me speaking. That being so, I do think movements on a mission to narrow or censor public discourse or that potentially could "remake" the body politic into their own special (and, all too often, intolerant) image, especially those of a religious nature, need to be carefully analyzed, watched, and confronted. That, to me, is the real value of Hanna Rosin's book. She has examined, albeit with much understanding and kindness, a potential hazard to this nation's political structure and cultural framework. As we have seen over the past twenty-five years or so, the so-called "Christian Right" has become a powerful force in American politics. For seven years now, a particular institution of higher learning -- Patrick Henry College -- has committed itself to becoming the academic evangelical training camp for the future leaders and power-brokers of this nation, as Rosin documents in her book. But there is somewhat of a conundrum here. How does one go about reforming an increasingly secularized and "permissive" society or culture, replacing it with one solidly planted on a traditional Bible-based Christian dogmatic and moral theology, without becoming intimately involved within the "worldly" community itself, thereby presenting to young "reformers" the risk of succumbing to the very temptations of the world that they desire to confront and eliminate? We've already seen a number of seasoned, highly influential evangelical leaders "fall from grace" over the past decades. So, can the graduates of Patrick Henry College handle the task of converting, reforming, and transforming a "godless" culture once they are out of the protected environment of the academy? Only time will tell. Some clues, I think, may be deduced from the informal conversations which Rosin had with some of the students to which she became particularly close. At least I noticed some chinks in the religious armor of some of them. I'll leave it up to other readers to draw their own conclusions about that matter. All in all, God's Harvard is a compelling read and a valuable contribution to the public discourse surrounding the place of religion in American society and politics and the future role of evangelical Christianity within the secular marketplace. Highly recommended! 
Read an Excerpt from this Book Order at Amazon.com God's Harvard: A Christian College on a Mission to Save America, by Hanna Rosin Order at Powell's Books God's Harvard: A Christian College on a Mission to Save America, by Hanna Rosin |
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