Episode 175 The Christian Mind Project with Christian Askeland

Before he died in 2023, Tim Keller recognized the need for what has become The Christian Mind Project. 

He knew that the people who shape culture most significantly are intellectuals and elites.  These individuals and thought leaders teach at institutions like Cornell, Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. 

But in many subject areas, like the social sciences and humanities, Christians are severely under-represented.  One might say that there is anti-Christian bias in those places. 

Christian Askeland is heading up a project to recruit, mentor, and educate the best Christian minds for positions like this.  He stopped by to talk with David Capes on The Stone Chapel Podcast. 

Who Is Christian Askeland?

Dr. Christian Askeland holds a PhD from Cambridge University and is one of the most consequential Coptic scholars in the world. 

He was with us before on The Stone Chapel Podcast to discuss the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife.  Learn more about him by following the link to that podcast found below.

He is currently Senior Researcher at Museum of the Bible. And he is Director of Education for Inspire, an evangelical outreach that attempts to recruit promising Christian undergrads for careers in the academy.

The Christian Mind Project

Askeland and Capes discuss a major project being launched by Inspire to do something about the disturbing lack of evangelical Christian presence in influential places. 

In April 2024, a weekend symposium of college leaders and foundations will gather at the Lanier Theological Library in order to address the problem.

As you will learn, there is no quick fix.  This is a project that could and should last a century.  The Anti-Christian bigotry in elite institutions will not give way quickly or easily.  A sustained effort is needed.

More Resources

To hear Christian Askeland’s podcast on the so-called “Gospel of Jesus’ Wife,” click here.

For an important article on the subject of the need for The Christian Mind Project by Tim Keller, read this.

You can find a transcript of this podcast here.

Want more Stone Chapel Podcasts on some great topics? Just click here.

You can get information on upcoming lectures at Lanier Theological Library by clicking here.