"the matter is quite simple. the bible is very easy to understand. but we christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. we pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly. my god, you will say, if i do that my whole life will be ruined. how would i ever get on in the world? herein lies the real place of christian scholarship. christian scholarship is the church's prodigious invention to defend itself against the bible to ensure that we can continue to be good christians without the bible coming too close. oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? dreadful is it to fall into the hands of the living god. yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the new testament."
-Soren Kierkegaard
i have to admit that to a large extent i agree. i agree despite the indictment this passage makes against the very thing i am doing with my life at this moment. i am a christian scholar in the making. now, i do not believe that the bible was written for scholars only. nor do i believe that you must understand the text in its original language to fully appreciate or know its true meaning. christian scholarship is important insofar as it holds our teachers accountable to sound biblical theology, centered around christ and authoritative as the foundation of truth. do men and women hide behind their lexicons and commentaries in lieu of service to the needy? do we spend entirely too much time in multiple bible studies when we could be out learning experientially about our faith? yes, both are unfortunate realities for many christians. so, i agree to the extent that christian scholarship may serve as an impediment to doing our faith. but i also see its purpose for the church.
i'm looking for the real deal. i'm looking for a church in fort worth not content with just showing up sunday morning and not focused on ministry to itself. i'm searching for people who give their whole lives to others, like jesus. i want to see that. so far it's been hard to come by. i'm not looking down upon the traditional ministry positions my brothers and sisters at the seminary are working towards. we need solid pastors willing to challenge their complacent bible belt church body. we need youth pastors who will show selfish and self-conscious teenagers how to look outside themselves to see who jesus really is. i just don't think my place is there, at least not right now. maybe my place is on the street with the dirty and forgotten.
did you know that since the row v. wade hearing in 1973 we have killed 50 million babies in the u.s. through abortion? bloody hands. what is this nation? who are we kidding, god bless america?? i will never sing that song again; instead while others are mindlessly singing those absurd words i'll be lifting up an intercessory prayer for the forgiveness of "the greatest nation." or maybe i should pray for a little justice?
-Soren Kierkegaard
i have to admit that to a large extent i agree. i agree despite the indictment this passage makes against the very thing i am doing with my life at this moment. i am a christian scholar in the making. now, i do not believe that the bible was written for scholars only. nor do i believe that you must understand the text in its original language to fully appreciate or know its true meaning. christian scholarship is important insofar as it holds our teachers accountable to sound biblical theology, centered around christ and authoritative as the foundation of truth. do men and women hide behind their lexicons and commentaries in lieu of service to the needy? do we spend entirely too much time in multiple bible studies when we could be out learning experientially about our faith? yes, both are unfortunate realities for many christians. so, i agree to the extent that christian scholarship may serve as an impediment to doing our faith. but i also see its purpose for the church.
i'm looking for the real deal. i'm looking for a church in fort worth not content with just showing up sunday morning and not focused on ministry to itself. i'm searching for people who give their whole lives to others, like jesus. i want to see that. so far it's been hard to come by. i'm not looking down upon the traditional ministry positions my brothers and sisters at the seminary are working towards. we need solid pastors willing to challenge their complacent bible belt church body. we need youth pastors who will show selfish and self-conscious teenagers how to look outside themselves to see who jesus really is. i just don't think my place is there, at least not right now. maybe my place is on the street with the dirty and forgotten.
did you know that since the row v. wade hearing in 1973 we have killed 50 million babies in the u.s. through abortion? bloody hands. what is this nation? who are we kidding, god bless america?? i will never sing that song again; instead while others are mindlessly singing those absurd words i'll be lifting up an intercessory prayer for the forgiveness of "the greatest nation." or maybe i should pray for a little justice?
2 comments:
really great post.
cant wait to hang out!
~katy
I really like your thoughts (thought I don't like it how my wife is secretly commenting on your blog again). I was telling Anne tonight that if you were what I consider to be the traditional Texas seminary student, I would probably feel inclined to challenge you to a bout of fisticuffs when you come to the City. I'm glad that you're more interested in living the faith than writing about it using ten dollar words. More than glad, I'm quite encouraged. You should move to NYC. We really need people here who understand what it means to serve a city rather than exploit it. There are about 1.8 million people here living in extreme poverty; thats lots of opportunities to do Matthew 25 and live against old Kierker's indictment!
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