Baylor Institute for Faith and Learning

The Institute for Faith and Learning was founded in 1997 to "assist Baylor University in achieving its mission of integrating academic excellence and Christian commitment, and its goal of becoming a university of the first rank committed to its Baptist and Christian heritage." [http://www3.baylor.edu/IFL/aboutus.htm] This is encapsulated in verse 12:2 of the Epistle to the Romans, which calls for Christians to be transformed by the renewing of their minds, discerning what is good, acceptable, and perfect. In 2000, after independent review, the Michael Polanyi Center was merged into the institute.

Mission

Officially, the Institute is to “serve as a local, national, and international house of study that cultivates careful reflection, rigorous scholarship, and vital practice that substantively unite the life of the mind and the faith of Christians.” [http://www3.baylor.edu/IFL/aboutus.htm] The Institute then lists five directives: [http://www3.baylor.edu/IFL/aboutus.htm]

1. To study the role of religion in American higher education.

2. To encourage interested faculty members to develop ways to reconnect religious faith, as expressed in Christian intellectual traditions, to contemporary academic research.

3. To foster a community of scholars dedicated to the integration of faith and learning in teaching and scholarship.

4. To support Baylor's aim of becoming a university of the first rank while maintaining a faithful commitment to its Christian identity.

5. To inspire students, both graduate and undergraduate, to see the importance and vitality of Christian higher education, and to explore service to the academy as a Christian vocation.

Controversy

See William Dembski

External links

* [http://www.baylor.edu/ifl/ Institute's HOMEPAGE]
* [http://www.baylor.edu/ Baylor University HOMEPAGE]