God calls us to love him as whole people, with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Too often, modern Christians have neglected to love God with their whole minds, fearing that intellectual inquiry endangers faith. But when we dare to question, test, and learn with open minds and hearts receptive to God, reason strengthens our faith, deepens our relationship with Christ, and equips us to be better citizens of the university and the world. The truly abundant life embraces our whole humanity—spirit and intellect, reason and faith, theory and practice, eruditio et religio.
We believe that Christians are called to excel in every field of academic study to the glory of God—from history to biology to economics to engineering to computing, and more. Connecting students and faculty with scripture, the best of the Christian tradition, and brilliant thinkers today, we foster the exploration of life's important questions from a distinctively Christian perspective.
CCS is a resource for everyone at Duke who is interested in the Christian intellectual tradition— for faculty, graduate students, and undergrads, Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox, cradle Christians and people of no religious faith looking for answers or arguments. By hosting conversations on questions that matter, CCS fosters deep friendships with like-minded lovers of truth.
Bridging the gap between what we learn in church on Sunday and what we learn in lectures and labs throughout the week, we equip students and faculty to engage the university with Christian understanding. Students and faculty who are well-informed about Christian doctrine, respectful and curious about other sources of knowledge, and eager to dialogue across differences will be winsome witnesses for Christ at Duke and beyond.
CCS offers both for-credit and extracurricular seminars, master classes, and reading groups on a wide range of topics, like “Science and Faith,” “Can the New Testament Be Trusted?” and “Beauty, Suffering, and the Cross.” We partner with Duke faculty to offer half-credit house courses and full-credit departmental courses. We also offer extracurricular seminars, master classes, and reading groups.
Each Wednesday, CCS hosts an informal social time to relax and connect with fellow Christians. Drop in on Wednesday evenings for free food and lively conversations on everything from Duke basketball to infant baptism, from tech addiction to contemporary Christian art.
The CCS House, located just off of East Campus, is open Monday-Friday as a study space. Whether you’re looking for a quiet spot to write, a meeting space for your study group, or a break over board games, enjoy a house that feels like home. Our growing library of theological books is also available as a resource—you’re welcome to browse and borrow.
As a center for scholarship, we support Christian Duke faculty in the work of research and teaching. Events like the Triangle Roundtable and back-to-school cookouts build networks of friends and colleagues. Focused working groups of 3-10 faculty partner together for mentorship, research collaboration, and theological training.
Minds don’t think. People do. And people think in homes.
The Faculty Theological Collaborative supports Christian professors at secular universities through advanced theological training, living examples that unite faith and scholarship, and rich interdisciplinary faculty fellowship. This three-day workshop is built around a series of dialogues and workshops themed after the Christian concepts of fall and redemption—the conditions of brokenness and God’s restoration of it—using biblical metaphors that resonate with our academic disciplines: payment of debt (economics), justification (law), reconciliation (sociology), healing (medicine), and many more. Join us to explore how Jesus is at work in your field of study to redeem and restore a fallen world.
The Faculty Theological Collaborative is a joint project of Regent College and members of the Consortium of Christian Study Centers. Faculty associated with any Christian study center or center for Catholic thought are welcome to participate.
