Cliff Mak & John Montague

Letter from the Editors

— Originally published in print // Permalink

Why start a Christian journal at Berkeley? Who will read it? Who will make it happen? Questions like these were thrown at us from the moment we began planning this journal, and it is with these in mind that we’ve put this issue together.

We believe the current state of the Christian community at Cal necessitates action on our part. A brief stay in Berkeley will reveal that the student population is fragmented. And in the student body, Christians, too, are inevitably affected, splintered off into their respective fellowships and churches; there exists no real and continual place for Christians from all the groups to come together and fellowship. We hardly know each other, let alone know the God we worship. We hope this journal, a forum for dialogue and discussion, will help remedy the problem.

Moreover, at a campus famed for its diversity and activism, it is unfortunate and shameful that Christians have not had the tenacity to make their presence known among the tumult of the crowds. Where every other group has a voice on campus, the Christian presence (if we can call it that) is noticeably silent. Whether it is to preach the gospel in love or to speak out against an injustice the love of the gospel should not tolerate, we have yet to find our voice. We hope that this journal will provide a suitable vehicle for the many protests, pleas, and concerns of those working within—and also examining from without—the Christian body.

And lastly, this is Berkeley’s chance to test its metal. Many of our East Coast counterparts—from Harvard to Princeton and Duke to Virginia—have recently started their own Christian-focused publications or have been running them for years. These projects are part of what we hope is a Christian movement towards a more thoughtful engagement with the university. The question, then, is not “Why start a journal?” but “Why haven’t we started one yet?” We find ourselves behind the game, but let’s hope we are neither last nor least in this continuing project.

We’ve assembled a great staff for this first issue, and sheer Providence has made its completion possible. We hope you enjoy it and perhaps, more importantly, take something fruitful from it away with you with which to form, speak, and live thoughts of your own.

In Christ, in whom all things hold together,
Cliff Mak
John Montague