Christian and Connor begin school today, actually kindergarten and pre-school. Older scholars are drifting back to the Seminary campus, zeroing in on the new academic year. To many people the life of a professor seems a leisurely way to make a living. Teach a little, read a lot, write articles and books, travel and lecture, faculty meetings and theological talk... With problems troubling church and society, can we afford this?
Do you know where the Gospel of Mark ends? Take a look, read the footnotes, and you might be surprised. Over the weekend I read "The Constantine Codex" by Paul Maier. While it's a novel with plenty of fiction, it's based on historical facts, like uncertainty about the ending of Mark. Such things occupy scholars, and Maier is a scholar, professor of ancient history at Western Michigan. Most people don't have time or specialized training for such in-depth study but scholars do, which is why they have a less frantic life than many people.
The real question, says Dan Aleshire of the Association of Theological Schools, isn't money but value. Does a Bible-believing church value scholarship? Without it, Bible critics and scoffers will popularize falsehoods...and today's little scholars like Christian and Connor could grow up not knowing the truth.
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