One of the most significant needs of the worldwide evangelical church is developing its next generation of intellectual leaders.  Currently when evangelicals are sent off for PhD studies and then enter scholarly careers at leading universities, they are given the proverbial fatherly push into deep water "to sink or swim."  Sadly, many struggle to stay afloat and some spiritually sink.  They experience an intense sociological pressure to give up or compromise their basic convictions.

As Bruce Winter, Fellow of St. Edmund's College, Cambridge University, and former Warden of Tyndale House, writes,

"A doctoral programme can greatly increase the knowledge of the next generation of scholars, but it is possible for this process to be accompanied by a spiritual regression akin to a frog turning into a tadpole, with all head and no heart for the Lord and His kingdom."

It is vital to help scholars think through their discipline early in their career from a biblical viewpoint.

The purpose of the Cambridge Scholars Network is to teach and encourage young evangelical scholars at three critical levels:

1. The Cambridge Scholars Network will seek to help young scholars establish a spiritual context for academic study.   Many scholars experience the academic world as a dry spiritual desert.  The Cambridge Scholars Network will seek to describe the dangers of such an environment, and to map out and help construct the spiritual foundations that are necessary both to survive and thrive in a rigorous academic environment.

2. The Cambridge Scholars Network will seek to develop the critical thinking skills that are necessary in successful academic work.  The Cambridge Scholars Network will seek to provide the building blocks of effective critical thinking and logic that are essential to succeed in an academic career.  During the Cambridge Scholar’s Network each participant will discuss a previously submitted paper which will be carefully assessed in argumentation, presentation and critical thinking.

3. The Cambridge Scholars Network will seek to provide an opportunity to raise and think through various apologetics issues.  Many young scholars experience the intense world of doctoral studies as a setting where their ideas, values and lifestyle come under intense intellectual pressure.  Sometimes, as a result, a young scholar's discipline becomes more important than whose disciple they are.  The Cambridge Scholars Network will seek to help these Evangelical Scholars think through their faith in response to various apologetic challenges and opportunities.

To learn more about the Cambridge Scholars Network click here.