Our small group is currently working through STR’s Tactics in Defending the Faith interactive course. We’ve only covered two of the six sessions so far, but we are finding what we are learning to be very helpful. At our last meeting, someone mentioned that the tactics we were learning would we good for teenagers who will soon be headed off to college.

We talked a bit about the kinds of challenges that believing students will face on the college campus. I mentioned the books below as good resources for parents to help prepare their kids for what awaits them at the university. I haven’t read either one, but have heard the authors interviewed on the content of the books.

Budziszewski’s book (How to Stay Christian in College) is particularly good on issues of world view. I believe that the postmodern flavor of relativism is the most threatening poison on the campus. It is so insidious because it is not a direct attack on Christian beliefs. It doesn’t say that Jesus didn’t exist or even that He didn’t rise from the dead, but that whether He did or not is merely a personal value. Relativism doesn’t refute; it marginalizes and trivializes. And worse, it does this with a smile that seems accepting and tolerant.

It is my view that our kids should hear the greatest challenges to their faith within the safety of thier own homes. As they mature enough to learn to respond, we ought to be throwing the best the world has to offer at them (and helping them work through the responses). Then, when they get to college, not only will they be alert to the challenges, they will likely have a better understanding of the challenge offered that those who offer it. In that case, putting down those challenges will be child’s play. They will be more likely to change those around them than be changed by them.

How to Stay Christian in College (Th1nk Edition)

University of Destruction: Your Game Plan for Spiritual Victory on Campus