This article advances an argument for an explicitly Christian approach to higher education in general, and to the teaching of Communication in particular. The author argues that the relationship between secular learning and Christian vocation, hammered out over long centuries by the early Fathers of the Church, has been transposed in the early 21st century by Christians who fail to grasp the intellectual and spiritual necessity of integrating all learning within a framework of Christian truth. Ideas for integrating Christian faith with the subject of Communication, especially in the teaching of public speaking, are offered.
Author: Martin J. Medhurst
Dr. Martin J. Medhurst is Distinguished Professor of Rhetoric and Communication at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He has previously held tenured positions at the University of California, Davis, and at Texas A&M University. His areas of scholarly research include presidential rhetoric, civil-religious discourse, and cold war rhetoric. He is the author or editor of 10 books and more than 60 articles and chapters, including work appearing in the Journal of Church and State and the Journal of Communication and Religion. He is the founder and editor of Rhetoric & Public Affairs, an interdisciplinary quarterly, and serves as a series editor for Michigan State University Press, Texas A&M University Press, and Baylor University Press.