Faith in the University: Restoring Christ to the Academy

As a Christian academic, there is a double calling to return Christ to the academy.

Cambridge Apologetics 2026 Summer Conference (Unashamed), 12–13 June, Christ Church Cambridge.

In a Western world that often seems increasingly secular, many of us feel a familiar reluctance to speak openly about our Christian faith in the workplace or in academic institutions. Yet, as a Christian scholar, one has a distinct, double calling: not only to pursue academic excellence but to return Christ to the heart of the academy.

During my PhD at Imperial College London, I became a member of the IFES Europe Association of Christian Postgraduate Groups. Through this fellowship, I began to better understand and articulate what it truly means to live out this dual vocation; and founded the Imperial Christian Postgraduate Group (ICPG).

Signposting the Gospel

Speaking at the Postgraduate Leaders Conference in Gnadenthal, Germany; Dr Tim Laurence reminded us of a vital truth: through our daily studies and research, we should be able to actively signpost people toward Christ and the Gospel. This does not mean turning every campus conversation into a sermon, but rather letting our faith animate our work and the manner we conduct ourselves. At the very same conference, Prof Tom Rizzo highlighted the immense weight of our witness within the university ecosystem. He noted that it is far easier to persuade our secular colleagues of the truth of Christianity if our actions, choices, and professional behaviour align with Christian values. Quite simply, we cannot convince anyone of the truth of the Gospel if we do not openly behave like Christians.

The Way, the Truth, and the Life

Earlier this summer at the Cambridge Apologetics Conference, Glen Scrivener beautifully unpacked the foundational scriptural arc of “Adam, Christ, and Faith Alone”. Through the disobedience of Adam and Eve came the Fall of creation; yet Christ arrived to live the sinless life Adam should have lived, dying a perfect death on the cross to save us from sin and death. Through His resurrection, we are given the ultimate gift of eternal life — but only through faith in Christ alone. As Jesus famously tells us in John 14:6:

“I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.”

It is only through this faith that we receive salvation. In ‘Words of Life’, Dr Timothy Ward explains how we encounter our Triune God in action through the very “speech acts” of Scripture. The Father presents himself to us as a God who makes and keeps his covenant promises. The Son comes to us as the Word of God, knowable to us through his words. The Holy Spirit ministers these words to us, illuminating our minds and hearts, so that in receiving, understanding and trusting them, we receive, know and trust God himself.

Designed for Relationship

This relational heartbeat of God is something we see woven into the very fabric of human life. In Have You Ever Wondered?, Andy Bannister and Gavin Matthews observe that:

“Jesus claimed to be God himself, stepping into space and time and history. As the very one who made us, he is also the one who knows what we really need, what we were truly designed for; which is to be in relationship with Him.”

We see an example of this relationship reflected in marriage — a covenant made before God between two people. Human marriage reflects Christ’s profound relationship with His own bride, the Church. As Genesis 1:27 dictates, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Jesus reinforces this beautifully in Mark 10:6–9, when He says; “But from the beginning of the creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’; so then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Our Shared Witness

Whether we are research students or working professionals, our daily labour matters. Through our work or studies, our work integrity, and our personal witness; we have a unique opportunity to signpost our colleagues to Christ and God the Creator—the one who beautifully thought out and created all things good.

Dr Tafara Makuni