What is a Christian Study Center?
A Christian study center is the center of gravity for Christian intellectual life on campus. It is a community of students and scholars pursuing its vocation of living and learning in light of the revelation of Jesus Christ while simultaneously serving the common good of the larger, more pluralistic institution with which it is affiliated.
The vision of Christian learning that animates a study center is cosmic in scope, meaning that it pertains not only to learning about God but about all of life and the world in which we live. We are interested in theology but also in astronomy and zoology and everything in between—art, literature, music, psychology, linguistics, engineering, physics, and so forth. As such we aim to serve those going into every sector and sphere of society.
In this broad vision of Christian learning, Christianity is not relegated to an object of study but also functions as a lens of study. In addition to the rich insights made possible by the methodologies of various disciplines, we also believe that God’s word and Spirit further illumine our studies. As C.S. Lewis once said, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
We affirm the role of reason in inquiry, scientific and otherwise. We also understand reason in the broader context of imagination. The world that God made is a world that he first imagined. Made in his likeness, we too are called to exercise the faculty of imagination. God is creator; we are sub-creators. Like scientific discovery, creative artistic expression is central to our being and becoming human. True human flourishing requires nothing less.
A Christian study center serves as a gathering place for those who are interested not only in knowledge but also in wisdom. We are interested in the Big Questions—questions of meaning, purpose and value. And we are interested in all these things not only as a means toward their several applications but also with a view toward our own formation as persons.
Like other Christian Study Centers, The Octet Collaborative is thus a community of Christian students and scholars, grounded in a particular place, animated by a vision of “thinking Christianly.”
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The Octet Collaborative is a member of the Consortium of Christian Study Centers. For examples of well-established centers serving both their core audience of Christian students, faculty, and alumni, as well as the host institutions they inhabit, see:
Anselm House (University of Minnesota)
Chesterton House (Cornell University)
Center for Christian Study (University of Virginia)
For a recent, book-length treatment of Christian Study Centers, see Charles Cotherman, To Think Christianly: A History of L'Abri, Regent College, and the Christian Study Center Movement (IVP Academic, 2020).