A Note on Scholarship

First it will be important to know what I mean by “scholar”. A “scholar” is and academically trained person whose profession, in other words whose 9-5 job, is research and study for the purpose of adding to the existing body of knowledge. Scholars are concerned with research, writing about their research and findings, and evaluating the research and findings of others. They are the true expert source of new knowledge that has been subjected to methodological rigor and that expands the entire body of knowledge from which the rest of us draw. There are many different areas of expertise and scholarship that can bear upon one's understanding of the Biblical text. A few of them include archeology, Biblical languages, comparative religions, textual criticism, cultural anthropology, theology, and numerous others. Of course, no one becomes an expert in all of them. However, it is important to know which of a particular expertise is relevant at a given point in a person’s private personal study.

In addition to Biblical scholarship, there is also apologetics. Apologetics isn’t scholarship. Apologetics is about proving claims. Christian apologists, for example, seek to prove Christian faith claims. Of course, this is different from scholarship. It doesn’t mean apologists can’t be scholars. It means simply that the acts of scholastic activity and apologetics are distinct. Scholarship is ideally, ideologically neutral and is separate from faith and is not concerned with faith claims. Apologetics, of course, is not. For our Christian faith, both (along with devotional Biblical study are necessary). But, scholarship must shape apologetics. Not the other way around. The better the use of sound scholarship, the better the apologists can make compelling cases for his or her faith.

Devotional Biblical study is different from academic scholarship and apologetics. As academic scholarship asks such questions as “what do the ancient records say and what did they mean to ancient audiences?” and apologetics inquires “how can I use the information to convince someone of my ideological viewpoint?”, devotional Biblical study simply asks such things as “what is God saying to me?”.

Will these three sometimes conflict? The honest answer is “yes”. For example, the apologists’ claim that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible is severely at odds with the bulk of critical scholarship. Additionally, several letters which have been attributed to Paul are now believed to have not been authored by Paul. The same is true of the Gospel writers. This often puts critical Biblical scholars at odds with apologists. It is also common for the devoted Christian to sense a textual meaning that is at odds with both critical scholars and apologists. For example, it is quite common for a person to sense a personal message from a given text where that personal message may have little or nothing to do with the objective meaning of the text. These are the realities of devoted Biblical study. Hopefully, as you continue to study these topics you will find that you are becoming better equipped to recognize and navigate those conflicts. As a church pastor for 44 years, I believe all three - Christian scholarship, Christian apologetics, and devotional Biblical study will carry you a very long way to doing that.