John A. Bernbaum

Summary: An inside account by a founder and President of the Russian-American Christian University, from the surprise invitation received from Russian leadership to its closing.

The period of 1989-1990 was a heady time as the Iron Curtain fell and country after country overturned Communist leadership and talked of embracing democracy. Then the changes came to the Soviet Union itself under Gorbachev and Yeltsin as glasnost and perestroika gave way to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the spinning off of republics as autonomous nations, leaving Russia, a large, but much diminished country, struggling to convert from a command to some version of a capitalist economy, and failing miserably in the effort.

This book originates in that era. A group of Christian college leaders with the Christian College Coalition (now the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities) who had ties with evangelical mission efforts to Eastern Europe sought to discern what opportunities this might present to build ties of understanding and opportunities for Christian influence in a country that had been officially atheist since 1917. They determined to explore possibilities for student study and cultural exchanges during a 1990 visit when a more daring proposal came from a Russian governmental official. Please come and set up a faith-based university in Russia!

John Bernbaum, then a vice president with the Christian College Coalition, was part of this delegation and was tasked to follow up this proposal, a task that eventually led to his presidency of the Russian-American Christian University (later the Russian-American Institute). In this work, he offers a first-person account of the history of this initiative from the initial proposal to the decision to close the doors years later.

Bernbaum traces this history from working groups to a joint Russian-American and the first classes in 1994-1995. He recounts the beginnings from agreements and charters, setting up tax exempt status in the US and gaining licenses in Russia. He describes the expansion of the program from initial English Language programs to a full program of undergraduate courses and the first graduation in 2001 (of 19 students). He traces the various moves to different temporary facilities and the nearly ten year process from 2001 to 2010 in securing land, gaining permits, building, and gaining occupancy permits for their own academic facility and the "perfect storm" that led to the closure of the Russian American Institute in 2011 and the sale of its building in 2014. It is a narrative of a both extraordinary and less than perfect Russian-American partnership.

The external events in Russia were critical to this history, as the initially open and supportive relationship with the Yeltsin government gave way to the Putin era, and an increasing chilling of American-Russian relations, coupled with increasing suspicion of any American effort in Russia. At first this manifested in community opposition and bureaucratic delays culminating in a reclassification of their tax status increasing annunal taxes from $2,000 to $500,000 coupled with a refusal of reaccreditation.

The brightest spot in the narratives are the descriptions of the students and their eager welcome and embrace of instruction by a joint American and Russian faculty. We also see how forming deep relationships of integrity with Russian officials overcame many barriers until political pressure became too great. This was matched by the generosity of Bernbaum's American partners.

The deep regret of course was that international relations finally made it impossible to continue this effort. The narrative offers evidence that the students who came through the program, the many faculty from both countries who taught in the program, and the student exchanges and programs in English and Russian that were formed, built bridges of understanding and equipped a cohort of students with a Christian vision for their work in Russia. One hopes this is a kind of "mustard seed conspiracy" that will one day bear great fruit in Russia, and in American relations with that great country. One also hopes and prays that the spiritual hunger that originated this initiative will be sustained and grow.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher. The opinions I have expressed are my own.… (altro)

Psychologists have long believed that both love and work form the essence of meaning for most people. Christians in the helping professions have produced many worthy studies and ways to help people in their love relationships, but have written little theology, let alone provide helps, on helping people with their jobs and careers. We have been long on love, but short on work.

Bernbaum's book is designed to alleviate this problem. Produced by the Christian College Coalition, this volume appears to be an excellent study guide on work for both high school and college. It has wide margins for easy note-taking, actually turning an essay into a book, lists of organizations regarding work, and abstracts of the best books available on the subject. Each chapter is followed by study questions and biblical passages for further study.

The authors do an adequate job in outlining the purpose of work, the fallen aspects of work, and the nature of "calling" in the Christian life. They stress that Christians glorify God in their jobs, rather than search for self-fulfillment. A holistic view of human nature facilitates the concept of work as worship, rather than a dualistic view which places work in a secular realm and worship in a spiritual realm.

These are the only redeeming qualities about Why Work? and answers the book's own question. The rest of the book is full of inaccuracies, prejudice, and rhetoric, in the worst sense. They misread the Reformation view of work to mean they encouraged a static society, even though Weber has demonstrated that it was their work ethic that transformed a static society into a highly mobile society. (Our authors discount Weber's thesis in two sentences, not using an ounce of proof.) Indeed, Luther and Calvin themselves were part of the rising middle class, Marxists authors contend.

Their analysis of Adam Smith and the free market is flawed at best and misrepresentative at worst (pp. 26-27). The authors even represent the historical development of industrialization, saying that it worsened humankind's economic condition (pp. 27-38). They need a good dose of Capitalism and the Historians by Hayek. The authors go on to contend that greed was the driving force of industrialization, ignoring the lives of hundreds of the wealthiest entrepreneurs and inventors that had as varied motivations as there are people: greed, workaholism, worship of God, love of creativity, helping the poor, solving problems that people had, and so forth (pp. 30-31). They believe that more industrialization diminished the role of craftsmanship, ignoring the beautiful craftsmanship that is now available not only to the wealthy, as it was merely three hundred years ago, but to the masses (p. 31). The authors cry out against upward mobility, advocating rather what they call "downward mobility." Our incomes, including the income of the poor, must go down rather than up (pp. 34, 44-47).

In short, they want to return to the middle ages, an age they appear to idolize for its simplicity and death. They encourage a limited lifestyle, limited economic growth, and increased emphasis upon ecology and wealth redistribution (p. 47). They believe salaries should be based upon need rather than performance in the marketplace (pp. 46-47). Throughout their book they show a disdain for business, a poor understanding of economics, and condemn competitive societies as unjust by definition (cf. pp. 54-55).

If you want a book that will encourage your high school student to dislike work, business, upward mobility, free market capitalism, and technology, this is the one you will want to buy. It will make most people feel guilty for wanting to improve themselves or for participating in just about any occupation in our modern industrial society.… (altro)