As I review the mission and vision of ESN, I see a number of distinctive elements that should be attractive for those desiring to be Christian scholars, those who are presently Christian scholars, and the academy in general. ESN's desire to be a redemptive influence amongst the people, ideas, and institutions of the academy is both noteworthy and greatly needed. I also am encouraged by the fact that there is a place in this network for all Christian scholars regardless of their gender, ethnicity, academic discipline, or the institution for which they work. I look forward to seeing the fruits that emerge from the future efforts of the ESN.

J. B. (Ben) Arbaugh, Curwood Endowed Professor, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
 

One of the joys in reading Paul Anderson's Professors Who Believe is to see how many of the faculty who tell their stories recall the role of their own undergraduate and graduate-school professors in understanding a call to the academy and then encouraging these young scholars in the transition from one side of the podium to the other. Because I believe that from an eternal perspective I have no higher calling than helping my students discern their calling, the work of the Emerging Scholars Network represents one of the most important developments in Christian higher education in a very long time.

Marc Baer, Professor of History, Hope College
 

I share the vision of the Emerging Scholars Network. Christian students working in a post-Christian academic environment desperately need the type of encouragement and support that ESN will provide. It is my hope that God will use ESN to help nurture and train a new generation of Christian scholars dedicated to the Lordship of Jesus Christ over heart and mind alike. For those currently "emerging" as scholars, there is no time to waste in providing such aid. Now is the time for such a forward-thinking and strategic initiative!

William Lane Craig, Research Professor of Philosophy, Biola University-Talbot School of Theology
 

As a professor who firmly believes in integrating faith with learning, I am thrilled that InterVarsity has put its talents and energies into encouraging the development of Christian scholars. There is a great need for Christian students to become meaningful contributors and respected voices in their scholarly fields. Many of us have worked, either individually or through Christian academic societies, to provide students with opportunities to let their faith engage their discipline, and vice versa. Through ESN, Christian professors and InterVarsity staff can partner together to encourage present and future scholars to be salt and light in the university.

Judith M. Dean, International Economist, Washington, DC, and former Associate Professor of Economics, SAIS, Johns Hopkins University
 

I am delighted to strongly endorse the Emerging Scholars Network. Christians whom God has gifted with academic talents are often left to fend for themselves if they boldly strike out into academia. Nurturing and positively encouraging such students that they can utilize their gifts in God's service at an early stage in their career development is an idea that is long overdue. I am convinced that ESN will be used by God to raise up a new generation of scholars characterized by both professional excellence and deep Christian commitment who will serve Christ and his kingdom in the university setting. I wish I had had similar encouragement and guidance as a fledgling scholar! I pray that the Lord will bless this ministry, and I look forward to what He will do through it in the years to come.

Jeff Hardin, Professor of Zoology and Director of the Biology Core Curriculum, University of Wisconsin-Madison
 

InterVarsity's mission includes having "a redeeming influence among the people, ideas, and structures" of higher education. Central to fulfilling this mission is the flourishing of the Emerging Scholars Network, which is a concerted effort to identify, train, and encourage the next generation of Christian scholars. This is a long-term, strategic investment in both the quality of higher education and also in its Christian character. I believe the Emerging Scholars Network will have long-lasting impact on the tenor and vitality of tomorrow's universities.

Alec Hill, President, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA
 

There is no more urgent task for the Church in America, than that it should make the strongest possible corporate effort to encourage faithfulness to the Great Commandment in all areas of scholarship and intellectual enterprise. To the extent that the Emerging Scholars Network can contribute to the spreading of salt and light in the university, it will have been obedient to the biblical call to consecrate both gifts and privilege.

David Lyle Jeffrey, Provost, Baylor University
 

Given the expanding opportunities to provide a Christian voice in higher education, it is imperative to nurture Christians who are called to an academic vocation. The Emerging Scholars Network will serve as an invaluable catalyst to encourage scholars at all levels — from undergraduates through senior faculty — to integrate their faith into their life and work in academia. ESN's goal of creating mentoring networks among Christians within and across diverse kinds of academic institutions will make the Christian community more readily visible on campuses nationwide, as well as within the academic disciplines, and will enhance the revival of the "Christian mind" throughout the wider Christian community.

Paul F. Jeffries, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religion, University of Dubuque
 

ESN is a long-overdue kingdom remedy for what ails our colleges and universities today. In harmony with the work of God's Spirit, the witnessing community in the academy needs an organization like ESN to encourage, challenge, and edify its members, both those who are already established in the academy as faculty, so many of whom have been living there as "closet Christians" by choice or by necessity, but also those who are students who might have an equipping and a calling to choose the academy as a field of service for kingdom work and are open to being challenged to serve God in the academy.

Greg Moore, Assistant Professor, Political Science and East Asian Studies, Eckerd College
 

Now is the time to be intentional about identifying, encouraging, and supporting the next generation of Christian scholars. Unfortunately, while well-intentioned, for many years churches and ministries have not seen the big picture and therefore have not encouraged believers to consider a calling to the university and intellectual labor as important work for the Kingdom of God. This ignores or misunderstands the desire of God to redeem the university and see His Truth and Grace embodied within the academy, and throughout the culture as a result of the influence of higher education. But God continues to gift and call believers to serve the Kingdom as Christian scholars. The Emerging Scholars Network is, without question, the single most exciting example of this moving of God currently afoot. With unusual insight the Emerging Scholars Network seeks to cultivate this next generation of Christian scholars, an endeavor that is long overdue. But its time is now and, in light of the urgency of the hour, my heart takes courage to see it launched. My prayer is that God would see fit to let it flourish.

J. P. Moreland, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Talbot School of Theology, Biola University
 

I can hardly think of a more strategic effort that will result in the flowering of Christian scholarship. A day will come when academicians look back on this as a key factor in the transformation of the academy.

Bob Osburn, Director, The MacLaurin Institute
 

The university world has long needed a more visible presence of Christian scholars who make a stellar contribution to academic excellence and a total commitment to discovering and disseminating the truth about God's world — its nature, its institutions, and its people. ESN is slated to have a profound and positive influence on the coming of age of individual scholars and of Christian scholarship in general. I wholeheartedly endorse the goals and aspirations of the ESN.

James W. Sire, retired Senior Editor, InterVarsity Press, and campus lecturer, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
 

I wholeheartedly endorse the Emerging Scholar Network. Christian scholars have long needed the support that such an organization will provide. This association will help believers to formulate a Christian scholarly viewpoint that will help further discourse in the academy. May God richly bless this ministry.

George Yancey, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of North Texas