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Friendship Rooted in the Good

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Faith

One of Geneva’s core values is vibrant hospitality. What is hospitality, exactly? The Latin root of the term, hospitalitas, means “friendliness to guests.” This raises the further question, what does it mean to be a true friend? Aristotle distinguished between three kinds of friendship. The most superficial kind of friendship is based in utility, where two people like one another for some service they provide. The friendships I have with my dentist and the cashier at Sheetz are like this. Our more substantive friendships, says Aristotle, are those based in pleasure. These are the friendships we form because of some shared interest, such as sports or film. Since I enjoy these things, I have an instant connection with others who do as well. As I discuss NFL games or Coen Brothers’ movies with someone, we form a bond of friendship, even if we root for different teams or disagree on the aesthetic quality of The Big Lebowski. 

However, the deepest kind of friendship, according to Aristotle, is based in virtue. Such friendships involve a shared commitment to the Good. Both persons must be willing to correct and be corrected by their friend toward this end. This, along with life’s constant temptations and trials, naturally presents challenges to such friendships. For these reasons they are uncommon and will only continue as long as both persons continue to prioritize the Good. This is why Aristotle says one is fortunate even to have a few such friendships over a lifetime. 

How, then, should we understand vibrant hospitality or “friendliness to guests”? If Aristotle is right, this friendliness should somehow connect to our commitment to the Good. As a Christian community at Geneva, we understand the Good in terms of honoring Christ in all things. So to act in a genuinely friendly way towards others will always involve acting in ways that honor Christ, whatever the subject matter of our inquiry and conversations. 

The Geneva College Center for Faith & Life aims to be vibrantly hospitable in just this way. Our mission is to generate a vigorous public presence that boldly engages culture with a Christian faith perspective and does so in ways that innovatively deploy Geneva faculty and students. We will do this by addressing contemporary issues through special events (e.g., lectures, conferences, and symposia), a quarterly newsletter, and online content (e.g., interviews and panel discussions), all of which showcases Geneva’s unique brand of integrating faith and learning. In these and other ways, we will deploy faculty to enhance their teaching and broaden their influence as thought-leaders beyond the walls of the College. We will deploy students to better prepare them for a life of faithful and courageous service. The ultimate result will be more effective fulfillment of Geneva’s mission. 

We hope you will join us for CFL events, whether in-person or virtually, as we pursue the Good together and deepen our bonds of Christian friendship! 

By Jim Spiegel, PhD
Executive Director, Center for Faith & Life

This article was originally published in the Winter 2025 issue of the Geneva Magazine.

Opinions expressed in the Geneva Blog are those of its contributors and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official position of the College. The Geneva Blog is a place for faculty and contributing writers to express points of view, academic insights, and contribute to national conversations to spark thought, conversation, and the pursuit of truth, in line with our philosophy as a Christian, liberal arts institution.

Feb 17, 2026

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