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Charles Taylor begins his well-known work, The Sources of the Self: The Making of Modern Identity, with the simple observation that if one wants to explore the topic of identity, one must also examine the topic of the good. This is necessary because "[sjelfhood and the good, or in another way selfhood and morality, turn out to be inextricably intertwined themes."1 Taylor's claim is buttressed by contemporary scholars who find that the underlying reason many individuals move from moral understanding to action emanates from a sense of identity.2 Anne Colby, Thomas Ehrlich, Jason Beaumont, and Jason Stephens summarize the findings this way: "Most explanations of the psychological constructs and processes that mediate moral judgment and action have converged on the important role of the individual's sense of moral identity. In this view, moral understanding acquires motivational power through its integration into the structures of the self."3 In other words, people act morally to avoid betraying their perceptions of selfhood. In this paper, we merely wish to make a more particular argument related to Taylor's claim and the psychological findings. We will assert that if one wishes to address the topic of moral education at Christian colleges and universities, one must also address the topic of Christian identity.
The relationship of Christian identity to moral development at Christian colleges and universities is not a prominent theme in the scholarship on Christian higher education. Most scholarship in this field over the past decade addresses the task of preserving and fostering the Christian identity of Christian colleges.4 One of the few books addressing this topic is Arthur Holmes' Shaping Character.5 In only four brief pages, Holmes outlines the relationship of moral identity to moral character, a general Chrishan understanding of identity, and some general suggestions for forming students' moral identity. For instance, he suggests that the study of literature fosters reflection upon the moral identity and that the modeling of teachers and the act of worship all help order one's loves and give coherence to one's identity.
In this paper, we seek to expand this discussion. Specifically, we set forth a Christian understanding of identity and identity formation that we believe can assist Christian colleges and universities in shaping the moral character of their students. Thus, in the...