Andrew, see below for my notes on Daniel Hill's paper. 
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Miriam

 Serving Christ In Academia - Daniel Hill
Discussant - Miriam Sampson

This paper seems to me to be quite a personal reflection, based on the realities of everyday life and experience in academia. It is written from a distinctively Christian point of view, thought it seems to me that a paper exploring similar themes could be written from within a number of different faith traditions. That might be something that we would like to explore within our discussion.

To start with some interesting points about the paper. Firstly it's distinctive in that it explores a number of different aspects of academic life, not just research. When we talk about scholarship it's  easy just to think about the subjects of study and the way in which they are studied. However the way that we pass on knowledge to others is important as well, so it's appropriate that this paper also includes some reflections on teaching. Although I have not taught in a university myself for many years I'm told that administration takes Increasing amounts of time and energy these days, so it's appropriate that reflections on this aspect of academic life are also included.

Much of this paper discusses the choices that people are required to make In academic life, and this, I think, is a valuable area to explore. However I suspect that a number of people here would come to different conclusions about some of the areas of choice discussed, and we could fruitfully explore this area in our discussions.

I would like to share a few specific observations, and I will take these in the order in which they arise from within the paper.

Firstly, on the first slide Daniel suggests that he wants each of us to apply the Bible for him or herself and that application will vary according to  personal circumstance. While this is no doubt true and important, I would like to suggest that there is something missing here, namely the sense that there is a possibility of a Christian academic community engaged in a joint enterprise of being obedient to Christ within scholarship. Is this not one reason why we are here this weekend, to explore the possibility of establishing a shared perspective, of working together as a community, of supporting and encouraging one another? Much contemporary Christianity has bought into the individualism of the world around us, and I would like to suggest that we would do well to explore what it means to be the people of God in academia, as a community, rather than just as individuals.

My second point relates to the discussion of motive. This is glossed over rather quickly, and in such a way that it could relate to any area of employment, and is hardly distinctive to scholarship. I feel this section of the paper could be enriched by a wider perspective taking  into account overarching biblical themes such as creation, fall, redemption, the age to come. How, for example, does the creation mandate given in Genesis relate to our motives for serving God in scholarship rather than in some other area of work? Tom Wright talks about Christians not building God's kingdom - because God himself does this -  but building for God's kingdom. What is distinctive about the way that scholarship can build for God's  kingdom, and what might our motives  be for serving God in this particular way?

The discussion of the manner in which one undertakes the academic tasks is also interesting. I am reminded of a discussion I had just over a year ago with a visiting Chinese scholar who had recently become a Christian while he was in the UK. He was reflecting on the difference it would make to him in his academic life now that he was following Christ. He felt that his relationships with his students would need to be distinctive. He suggested that the relationships of many of his colleagues with their students were not good, and they almost treated them as servants, giving them routine tasks to do that the academics did not want to do for themselves, for example tedious jobs such as collating marks for the class. This lecturer was keen to explore how his relationships with his students could  be different, now that he understood that people were made an image of God and each one was valuable. He wanted to be able to convey this to his students through his behaviour, even though in the context of a Chinese university there was very little he could say about his Christian faith within the classroom. I suspect that this issue of the manner in which a Christian academic relates to colleagues and students might more significant in some cultures and contexts than in others and we could explore the implications of this.

The section on content would benefit, I think, from being informed by some of the other approaches we have encountered so far, e.g. the idea of a worldview and the  approach to the integration of faith and scholarship that comes out of that, which we began to explore at the end of this morning. There is little suggestion in this paper that Christians could constructively critique other approaches, introduce their students to a range of questions to be asked about the presuppositions that underly the various perspectives informing scholarship today, and explore the way that these might be linked to different faith commitments. I think this is an area we could usefully open up in discussion.

And so to the section on choice, which forms the bulk of the paper. I would just like to throw a few questions into the mix. 

First of all, in relation to administration, would a Christian want to get involved in the equality and diversity committee or working group within their institution? If so why, and if not why not? What distinctive contribution might a  Christian be able to bring in this context?

Secondly, in relation to research and teaching, how might the claim that "all truth is God's truth" influence the choice of research and teaching topics? If all truth really is God's truth, why should  Christian faith be threatened by the teaching topics in Daniel's list? For example  the course on the politics of gender in Britain might provide an opportunity for a Christian to uncover some of the contributions of biblical thinking to gender equality which are frequently overlooked by historians speaking from within most secular perspectives. A number of the other topics mentioned, particularly in the teaching list, could provide opportunities to pose questions and uncover assumptions.
 
When it comes to positive research choices, I feel the suggestion that work on areas that might benefit the church  would be a criteria,  is rather narrow. John 3.16 tells us that God so loved the world that he gave his only son and we frequently read in the OT that He has compassion on all that He has made.  I would expect to see Christians  pursuing research topics  that would benefit the whole of creation and of humanity. For example I would love to see Christians at the forefront of research about biodiversity, climate change and renewable energy, about disability, about sustainable economic growth, as well as about  philosophical fundamentals, pure mathematics, aesthetics etc etc.

That is not to say of course that Christian scholars might not want to use the fruits of their scholarship for the benefit of the church, for example to support the churches in apologetic efforts to particular groups of people or in relation to particular topics. For example, I happen to be reading at the moment a book by the Oxford mathematician, John Lennox, entitled "Has Science Buried God?" where he engages with the "new atheists", questioning a number of their presuppositions, and taking apart a number of their arguments. This is not primarily an academic text; it is primarily there to support Christians in their apologetic task to people living within a scientistic worldview. Prof Lennox brings his scientific and philosophical understanding and his considerable skills as a logician to bear, to reveal some of the contradictions in  positions taken by Dawkins and others among the new atheists. In this way he is undoubtedly doing a service to the church, but I suspect his main motivation is that of engaging with an important issue and seeking to uncover the truth.  This surely should be at the heart of the Christian scholar's efforts; if we believe that all truth really is God's truth then our commitment  should be to exploring, uncovering and applying truth,  wherever that leads us, while  trusting that God will use that for His glory.