How is the study of mathematics related to Christian faith?

One might posit that there is little connection. Excellent mathematics was being done long before the advent of Christianity. Christian thought, like most ethical and metaphysical thought, has made little use of mathematical formalism.

If you ask what the connection is between water or food and Christianity, you might get a similar reaction. People were washing and eating quite effectively long before Christ established baptism or the Lord's supper and endowed these common things with new meaning.

I see the connection as founded in truth, meaning, and relationships.

An adequate answer to the question of the relationship between mathematics and Christianity begins with a basic understanding of each.

What is mathematics? What role does mathematics play in how we know the world?

Mathematics seeks to describe and reason about things in a precise and generalized way. Mathematical discourse trains you to understand the structure of another person's ideas independent of whether you share their presuppositions, and it equips you to understand the fundamental patterns of reality and apply them in the physical world.

Why study math?

because it is beautiful
because it is true
because it is good and can be used for good
- It is valuable in itself.
- It helps us learn a pattern of reasoning and conversation that is ordered toward truth and understanding.

What is the purpose of academic study?

to know and understand the world and equip ourselves to act in it.
to participate in the conversation of the academic community.
- to have a conversation that is ordered toward truth and verifiability
- to understand the ideas of other people, and their antecedents and consequences, independent of whether we agree with them
to equip ourselves to be responsible caretakers of the world
to know who we are and why we are here
to live a full human life

What is the purpose of human life?

to know, love, and serve God.
to be united to God and share His love.
to bear God's image and to bring His wise and loving care to bear on the world around us.

(The idea that life has a meaning depends on the existence of God.)

What is Christianity?

Christianity provides an answer to the question of the meaning and purpose of life. Some details follow.

What does Christianity have in common with other theistic belief systems (notably Judaism and Islam)?

Personal Theism. A belief in a personal God who is Creator and Judge.
Revelation. A belief that God is knowable and has acted in the world to reveal Himself.

What distinguishes Christianity?

Well, it depends what you are distinguishing it from, but wrapped up in the person of Jesus Christ are the following characteristic concepts which seem to set Christianity apart from other philosophical systems:

Trinity. (relationships -- God is three persons in loving unity.)
Incarnation. (physical presence -- Jesus is God in a human body.)
Atonement. (reconciliation -- Jesus died for our sins.)

How does mathematics illuminate Christian thought?

Formal reasoning helps clarify the assumptions and validity of an argument.
Mathematics is a rich source of analogies that reflect fundamental relational patterns.
- e.g. coordinate invariance and tensor transformation illustrate the unity of truth underlying diverse points of view. The fact that multiple coordinate frames all reference the same reality means that there is a way of translating between them.

How does Christianity provide a framework that gives meaning and purpose to mathematical enterprise?

By giving meaning to human culture-building. My starting point is the Genesis narrative: God puts the man and the woman in the garden to cultivate it. Human culture is taken up and transformed by the kingdom of God. The final book of the Bible, Revelation, describes the fulfillment of God's kingdom-building project.

How does Christianity change the way we live our lives as mathematicians?

Like other human labor, mathematics is carried out in the context of interpersonal relationships. Christian belief is intended to transform all our relationships.