All in the Family: A Case for Redemptive Diversity

Christian colleges and universities affirm that believers are one body in Christ, yet they often disagree about what this claim requires. Some see efforts to address exclusion as part of Christian reconciliation; others fear it threatens a shared identity or divides the campus. This article develops the concept of redemptive diversity to examine that tension. Drawing on African American, Hispanic, and Asian American theological traditions, it considers biblical themes of oneness, corporate sin and repentance, family, love, liberation, and hospitality alongside sociological accounts of collective identity, social boundaries, and organizations. Redemptive diversity is more than the presence of people from diverse backgrounds. It asks whether members belong, whether their accounts of exclusion can be heard, and whether they have a meaningful part in shaping the life of the institution. For Christian colleges and universities, redemptive diversity calls for examining who defines communal norms, whose knowledge is trusted, and how institutional decisions give visible form to the reconciliation they profess. Appendix 1 provides examples of redemptive diversity in a Christian university, and analyzes biblical themes, sociological questions, and thoughtful institutional responses.