Converting the Blue Devils presents the stories of nine friends and colleagues who studied at Duke Divinity School and eventually converted or reverted to the Catholic faith. While each man tells the story of his own unique journey, they all arrive at the same destination: the conviction that the fullness of the Christian truth, goodness, beauty, and unity they long for is found in the Catholic Church.
What was it that made Duke during these years so amenable to Catholicism? This volume attempts an answer, and in so doing it sheds light on a wider movement of young, orthodox, intellectually-motivated Christians who are turning to the truth that flows from the Tiber.
About the Authors
D. Hayden Hagerman is Associate Academic Editor at Word on Fire Academic, a PhD Candidate at Marquette University in historical theology, and Hank Center Fellow in the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. He is a graduate of the divinity school at Duke University, and he is currently writing a dissertation on the Virgin Mary in the patristic period. He and his wife Abigail have three children.
Joshua Miller is a doctoral candidate in historical theology at Marquette University and a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee at Saint Francis de Sales Seminary. His research is focused on Christology and the ecumenical councils in the fifth and sixth centuries. He holds a Master of Theological Studies from Duke Divinity School (2017) and a Bachelor of Arts from Trinity International University (2015).
What People Are Saying
"This is a wonderful volume of personal testimony in the highest sense. In the narratives of others we are invited to find ourselves. And in our own narratives, rightly conceived, we begin to see sympathetically and deeply into the lives of others. The stories of intellectual seeking and of the grace of conversion found in this volume suggest in convergent ways that God works in the human mind and heart through the search for truth and understanding. In the context of today's university, often riddled with unresolved epistemic and moral conflict, Catholic Christianity represents an opportunity. Her great figures, like John Henry Newman and Thomas Aquinas, inspire us to conversation with one another that leads us toward a plenary truth about God, creation, and the unity of the disciplines, with Christ at the center. This is a lovely volume to convey both that ideal and its realization in a living communion of persons."
Rector Magnificus
Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum)
"The roots of Duke University are Methodist and Quaker and go back to 1838, and its divinity school is as respected as any in Protestant America. Yet here we are, witnessing a wave of conversions to Catholicism, affecting not only individuals but also families and communities. The stories of conversions from Duke are so numerous as to be unsurprising now. But what has become common does not cease to be extraordinary. These pages present an ongoing inspiration and an occasion of perpetual thanksgiving."
Father Michael Scanlan, TOR, Chair of Biblical Theology and the New Evangelization
Franciscan University of Steubenville
"To all appearances, today's secular university is an especially unpromising place to look for a stream of intellectually attentive conversions to Catholicism. Yet at Duke, as at other American universities, this is just what has been happening. As the candid and deeply moving narratives in this book show, a journey to Catholicism can start at any point and can follow many different paths. But all these testimonies bear witness to the courage that seeks the full measure of the truth that is in Christ, come what may, and to the joy of finding it in the one fold of the Redeemer."
Lehman Professor of Christian Doctrine
Perkins School of Theology
Southern Methodist University
"Converting the Blue Devils will do a great deal of good for two groups: those considering Catholicism and cradle Catholics (like myself). The former will find the truths of the Catholic faith presented as a common point of arrival from diverse points of departure. The latter will find themselves more grateful for the gift of the Catholic faith when they see it through the eyes of some of the most articulate and courageous Christians of their generation. Consistently inspiring."
Associate Lecturer, Faculty of Theology
Pontifical Gregorian University
