Yesterday Wheaton College celebrated the inauguration of its eigth president: Dr. Philip G. Ryken. The ceremony was wonderful. The charge of president emeritus Dr. Duane Litfin and the inaugural address by Dr. Ryken left me deeply moved and spoke encouragement for Wheaton's future. For the passing of the baton to such a man as Philip Ryken, we ought to bless and thank God. This is the sort of man Wheaton College needs for its next chapter, more than many, I think, realize.
President Ryken's address leaves me leaping for joy. The title of the address was this: “A World Servant in Christian Liberal Arts Education.” Pastor Ligon Duncan says of the title, "Don’t miss the word servant—it is not a mere slogan in the lexicon of Wheaton’s new president but a concrete aspiration. It is also clear that Phil will not be satisfied with a reductionist or ambiguous or atheological definition of evangelicalism."
I loved Dr. Ryken's vision for the "reintegration of learning with faith." He said that reintegration is a more fitting way of thinking of faith and learning than is the "integration of faith and learning." Why? Because faith really is more fundamental. And as he eloquently pointed out, the departure from faith in the garden was the first instance of learning divorced from faith. And what a disaster that was. So faith, he avered, must undergird and inform all learning. Dr. Ryken also spoke of the need for Wheaton College to move toward more global engagement, even learning orthodoxy from the thriving church in the south and east. Yes! And amen!
For the cause of Christ in the next generation, we ought to pray for Dr. Ryken and others in his position of influence. May God be pleased to do a new and greater work at Wheaton college in the next couple of decades and beyond.
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