News and Events

ENC to Co-sponsor Conference ‘Scandal of the Evangelical Mind: 15 Years Later’

Published: September 25, 2009

Fifteen years ago, historian Mark Noll shook up the evangelical community by declaring “the scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind.”

Next week, Eastern Nazarene College will co-sponsor a two-day conference marking the 15th anniversary of the publication of Noll’s Scandal of the Evangelical Mind. To be held October 1-2 at Gordon College in Wenham, Mass., the conference will feature a keynote address by Noll, a scholar named by Time magazine as one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in America. The event will also include a series of panel discussions, lectures and book signings featuring 10 notable authors and academics, including Eastern Nazarene College professors Karl Giberson and Randall Stephens.

“Mark Noll is one of the best-known evangelical scholars in America, and the publication of his book was considered by many to be a wake-up call to evangelicals to value intellectual engagement,” said Stephens, chairman of Eastern Nazarene’s history department.

Stephens noted that at ENC’s spring commencement exercises, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough challenged graduates to follow the example of Quincy native John Adams and “embrace the life of the mind.”

“That’s exactly what we’re trying to do with this conference,” Stephens said. “Encourage evangelicals to embrace the life of the mind.”

Co-sponsored by Gordon College, the conference is free and open to the public.

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