Christian Academics

On the heels of the last post - and just for the record - I'm not into apologetics. (See here, here and here.) I aspire to do serious scholarship. My obvious affinity with apologists is their resolute trust in the Biblical texts. My sharp disinterest with their approach (aside from notoriously sloppy overreaching) is the aggressive evangelical agenda. I am evangelical, but I believe the best and proper vehicle for reaching out to the lost is simply to live within the walls of the ecclesia of Jesus Christ. Without a viable church experience, there is very little to evangelize a person to. Some folks are occasionally converted with arguments, but they are converted by a touch from the spirit of God. Individual christianity is rough enough, but if the poor new christian thinks it's all about arguments, God have mercy on their souls AND on the nimrods that 'won' them. But I digress...

In my opinion, academic support for the faith is so believers can have a bit more confidence when confronted by other claims. Not that I'm building "support for the faith". In my dreams, academic study of Biblical Context may yet advance to the point where even professional ministers should have a much harder time making ridiculous claims from a verse here and there. And as long as we're 'preaching to the choir', I humbly submit that the choir both needs and deserves to hear much better preaching. Not that I believe in preachers.

But that's a whole other issue... ;)