Jean-Luc Marion on the Life of a Christian Scholar

Amid this memorial notice for Jean Elshtain (at the site of the splendid Lumen Christi Institute at the University of Chicago), the philosopher Jean-Luc Marion offers a tribute that is also (most especially as we prepare to start a new academic year) a magnificent summary of the vocation of a Christian academic:

Jean Bethke Elshtain had a tough-thinking mind and a friendly open heart, while most people—in the academy as well as outside it—are the reverse: weak in thought, hard in feelings. Her books on (just) war, gender and feminism, culture and democracy were not only able to raise the level of discourse, fuel fierce debate, and engage vigorously the most well-received idols of our days, but they also gave back to moral and political philosophy a renewed dignity as serious science....Christian faith gave her enough certitude to display radicality in thinking, unlimited energy in interacting with interlocutors, colleagues and students, and an obviously deep and sincere friendship for all. In her presence, I was proud not only to teach and work with her in Swift Hall, but also to share the same creed.