The world of biblical studies is, unfortunately, not filled by people seeking to do God’s will for God’s glory. What is most disappointing to me is to see this among evangelicals. This is not a new problem, as illustrated by this letter by John Newton (1725-1807), circulated by GraceGems.
Dear friend,
I truly pity those who rise early and study late—with no higher prize and prospect in view, than the obtaining of academic honors! Such pursuits will before long appear (as they really are) as vain as the foolish games of children! May the Lord impress them with the noble ambition of living to and for Him. If these scholars, who are laboring for pebbles under the semblance of goodly pearls, had a discovery of the Pearl of great price—how quickly and gladly would they lay down their admired attainments, and become fools—that they might be truly wise! Their academic studies, if taken in the aggregate, are little better than splendid trifles!
Friend, what a snare have you escaped! You would have been nothing but a scholar—had not God visited your heart and enlightened you by His grace! Now I trust you account your former academic gains, but loss—compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus. What you have attained in the way of learning, will be useful to you—if sanctified, and chiefly so by the knowledge which you have of its insufficiency to any valuable purpose in the great concerns of life—knowing God and walking with Him!
You can spend all your life studying, teaching, and writing about the Bible and yet have wasted your life.
A professor at Southeastern Seminary has struggled with the “Danger of Seeking the Acclaim of the Academy” and gives some specific counsel in that regard.
This brings to mind Eta Linnemann, considered by the guild to be a first-rate New Testament scholar. Yet when she was saved, she recognized that her scholarship was all rubbish. She passed away a couple of weeks ago, but as her very existence was a stinging rebuke to so many who consider themselves religious, some notices of her passing were less than kind. She is, no doubt, now receiving the praise of her heavenly Father, which far surpasses the highest accolades of man.
Attacking someone who has just passed away, as some do, is quite untactful (and on a public blog for that matter!). Disagreeing with an individual is one thing, but upbraiding that person after s/he has died is shameful.
Thanks Todd for the reminder not to pursue academics for the sake of recognition. That’s a great letter by John Newton.
I hadn’t heard that Linnemann passed away.
On a lighter note. Did you see Stephen Colbert take on Bart Ehrman on the Colbert Report. Look it up on Comedy Central….amazing.
Stratkey – I had heard about this before, but didn’t get around to watching it until you mentioned it. Very funny! Not what you expect from a comedian and a scholar. Here’s the link:
http://tinyurl.com/c8urwo
You can also hear Pete Williams debate Bart Ehrman. Follow the link from:
http://www.dennyburk.com/?p=3202#comment-47758
…I like how Ehrman says we can’t trust the Bible ’cause we don’t know what the Bible originally said, but then he argues that the original text in Mark 1 read that Jesus was angry—and not compassionate—when he healed the leper. So do you or don’t you know what the original text is?
Great reminder from John Newton. Thanks.
Benj – the beauty of Ehrman’s position is that he gets to decide what is original or not. It’s the perfect way to exclude the evidence that doesn’t fit your theory.
And, Todd, without the exclusion of evidence from our theories, which of us would ever get our dissertations done. I think I am going to put mine on the shelf for a couple of weeks and go visit Newton’s tomb.