Reasons to Believe How to Understand, Explain, And Defend the Catholic Faith

One More than a Feeling On the Love of Learning and the Desire for Dunking I was the freshest of freshmen. Like almost everyone in that incoming class, I was living away from my home and family for the first time, and I was hungry for everything that Grove City College had promised us. Indeed, I'm sure that I wanted it more than most of my classmates. I had been an academically inclined high school student, the type who was tempted to capitalize the word "Learning" when it was used as a noun. I was a relatively new Christian, but already steeped in theology, and there at Grove City College I could study with noted thinkers of the evangelical and Calvinist worlds. What's more, Grove City was not an isolated Christian institution. It was part of a cultural movement. Two other evangelical Calvinist campuses sprawled nearby, Westminster College and Geneva College, and all the lands in between those campuses and oursmostly small towns and farming communitieswere dotted with pastoral and communal experiments that drew inspiration, energy, and even members from the colleges. So, as I took my first steps away from home and into the wider world, I had a true freshman's openness to new experiences and ideas. And the college and its orbit had plenty to occupy my mind and senses. Still, it wasn't an easy transition for me. The college couldn't fit all the firstyear men in the freshmen dorms, so some were dispersed to live with the upperclassmen. I was among the dispersed. The upperclassmen were kind and welcoming; but, I have to admit, I felt isolated. Some of this feeling, I'm sure, was just gardenvariety homesickness. Some of it, too, was the sense of being the "odd man out" among a horde of old buddiesthe guy to whom they had to explain all their inside jokes. But a big part of it was a mismatch of interests and ideals: here I was, eager for Learning and intellectual companionshipmaybe even a disputation or two. And theretheywere, worldweary juniors and seniors, for whom college had long been demystified and its professors demythologized. Gradually, though, I reached out across the gulf that separated me from my fellow freshmen. I got to know two guys, Doug and Ron, especially well, as they shared my interests and my longing for likemindedbut, even more, likeheartedChristian fellowship. Those two were easily the most popular firstyear men on campus. Getting to know them over the opening weeks of the semester, I heard a lot about the church they attended. In fact, Doug and Ron were so enthusiastic about it, they talked about little else; and all other subjects seemed to lead them back to the main theme of their conversation, which was their newfound church. "Dunked for Real" The place was more than ten miles away, between our campus and Westminster's. Every Sunday its worship service was standingroomonly. The singing raised the roof; the preaching was electric. The congregation was a mix of local farmers and students and professors from the colleges. They had built up a network of social services, including adoption, foster care, and programs for troubled youth. Every service ended with a "laying on of hands," at which people were apparently healed of ailments ranging from depression to cancer. Every month or so, after the service, many new members would be baptized by total immersion in the nearby creek. These events were the favored topic of conversation on the way to and from classes, and they were the inevitable destination of our table talk in the dining hall. A few weeks into the semester, I finally agreed to join my newfound frienHahn, Scott is the author of 'Reasons to Believe How to Understand, Explain, And Defend the Catholic Faith', published 2007 under ISBN 9780385509350 and ISBN 0385509359.