AFCF February 2007 Panel Discussion

FEATURED EVENT ON FEBRUARY 24, 2007

Panel Discussion of
Mark Noll’s America's God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln
Richards Hall Chapel
Columbia Union College

About the Author of "America's God"

Mark Noll - author of "America's God" - is one of the most celebrated historians and authors of American religious history. He is Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History at Notre Dame University. Mark Noll recently joined the history department at Notre Dame, after 27 years at Wheaton College as a member of the history and theology departments, where he taught a range of courses from American intellectual history and the general history of Christianity to modern British history and the history of history-writing. Professor Noll will not be present at the panel discussion of his book.

About Our Panelists

Among our several distinguished panelists is Prof. Nicholas Miller, Director of the Andrews University International Institute of Religious Liberty, an attorney with a rich background in theology and church history who recently published a review of Noll's book. Prof. Miller is currently working on his doctoral dissertation at Notre Dame with Dr. Noll as one of his advisors. Our other panelists include Drs. Emory Tolbert of Howard University and Doug Morgan and Roy Branson from Columbia Union College.

Reviews of Mark Noll’s Book

According to Wall Street Journal’s review:

"America's God deserves to be hailed as the most comprehensive treatment of early American religious thought. But it is far more than that, since Mr. Noll is tracking here not only the rise and fall of American theology but also the genesis of American civilization...Mr. Noll laments the passing of Christian republicanism and in the end suggests that a dose of Jonathan Edwards ('the last of the Puritans and the first of the evangelicals') may be just what contemporary America needs. You do not have to agree with that assessment to appreciate this fine book, which brings some of the nation's greatest thinkers very much alive."--Wall Street Journal

According to the review in Books and Culture:

"Those who might consider America's God an old-fashioned work about a bygone era and might therefore pass Noll by will do so at their peril...Argue over interfaith services after 9/11, prayers by football teams at public schools, in 'creationism' versus 'evolutionism,' Focus on the Family; 'the virtues,' the American moral condition, 'under God' in the Pledge of Allegiance, the political power of the Religious Right--engage in any or all of these debates, and you will be contending in the shadow of the achievements of Noll's cast of characters."-- Books and Culture

AFCF Statement of Mission

January 20, 2006


“By an evangelical 'life of the mind' I mean more the effort to think like a Christian –to think within a specifically Christian framework—across the whole spectrum of modern learning, including economics and political science, literary criticism and imaginative writing, historical inquiry and philosophical studies, linguistics and the history of science, social theory and the arts.” Mark A. Noll



Striving to be, with integrity, both Adventist believers and intellectuals, and recognizing the need to develop an authentically Christian mind and to engage modern culture on the level of ideas,

the Adventist Faith and Culture Fellowship sees its purpose in

encouraging, developing and nourishing a vigorous intellectual life in the Adventist community with the purpose of working out sound principles that could “sustain penetrating, and penetratingly Christian intellectual endeavor.”

In the words of Henry Blamires the Fellowship strives “to reflect Christianly” on the world and the human person and to respond to the following needs:

1. The need for a “deep” reading of the Scriptures along with the “broad” reading;

2. The need for an open, in-depth intellectual and spiritual fellowship with colleagues;

3. The need to reflect on the ways of overcoming the dangers and consequences of isolationism, exclusivist tendencies, intolerance and closed mindedness;

4. The need to share one’s deepest convictions, dreams and hopes in regards to the church and our Christian responsibility in the world, in an atmosphere of trust, mutual understanding and total openness;

5. The need to enter into an open, genuine dialogue with the surrounding culture and the need to understand and engage its pressing ethical issues;

6. The need to develop deeper understanding and appreciation of the most vibrant streams in other Christian and religious traditions and in both high and popular cultures;

7. The need to use the mind to the glory of God;

The Fellowship strives to accomplish the above goals through intellectually and spiritually stimulating meetings, conferences and seminars.