Stupid Scholar

Purpose

In accord with our Lord’s greatest commandments (Matthew 22:37-39), the chief purpose of this blog is to honor God and help all those created in His image at the same time. I hope that the method and content of this blog will highlight the beauty and glory of God expressed through His Word and through His Church. Likewise, my prayer is that the reader will be challenged, convicted, edified, and taught, not by my feeble intellect, but the very voice of our King. To Him alone be the glory now and forever, amen!

Methodology and Content

To that end, this blog will focus around three main topics of conversation.

1. Biblical Studies. As the Word of God, the Bible speaks to people of all generations from every race, tribe, class, personality, and culture. Understanding what God has to say is of utmost importance, since He is the Immortal, Invisible, only-wise God.

As an aspiring biblical scholar, I will interact with scholarly writings within the field of biblical studies, in addition to pastors and theologians. This will include biblical criticism, which, as John Barton of Oxford rightly notes, is the attempt to understand what the text means without the lens of theological preconvictions (The Nature of Biblical Criticism; Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2007; pp. 187-88). I believe this is a necessary precondition of biblical theology, and I do not assume that all biblical criticism is hostile to the Word of the God, although it sometimes can be.

Articles about bible studies will include exegesis (interpretations) of particular texts, reviews of scholarly texts, abstracts and critiques of articles, and discussions of biblical linguistics, language, literature, history, and culture.

2. Christian Theology. An understanding of God’s Word naturally leads to an understanding of God Himself. Indeed, even though I am not a theologian, I believe that strengthening, deepening, and reforming one’s theology is the best reason to engage in biblical studies. If our theology does not accord with God’s Word, it needs to be amended so that it does.

My own theology is from the Reformed perspective, as outlined in Westminster Confession of Faith and the Anglican 39 Articles. However, I believe that these documents are neither God-inspired nor infallible, and there is much to be learned from Christian brothers and sisters of other persuasions (Catholic, Baptist, Arminian, Orthodox, Methodist, etc.). Thus, this blog will interact with a myriad of different perspectives.

Articles about theology will include commentaries on creeds, dialogs between various perspectives, critiques of theological writings, interactions with great Christian thinkers throughout history, summaries of beliefs (sacraments, ecclesiology, pneumatology, christology, etc.), and some apologetics. The ultimate purpose will be to arrive at the “fullness” (πληρῶμα) of the Truth.

3. Church Practice. Orthodoxy (right belief) cannot be separated from orthopraxy (right action), although they can be distinguished. Theology cannot simply stay in the mind, it must affect the heart and the hands. Thus, it is imperative to examine how churches and their people (laymen and clergy) should and do apply the Word of God to everyday life.

How people “do theology” says a lot about their beliefs, and anything a Christian does makes implications about what he or she believes to be true and important.

Articles about church practice will include discussions of corporate and private worship, hymnody, morality, prayer, churches, pastoring, and the intersection of theology and the secular world (politics, science, evangelism, etc.).

Obviously, these three areas are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, one cannot have a solid theology without a solid understanding of the Bible, and one’s practice is inseparable from one’s beliefs. They are all intimately connected. Thus, many, if not most, posts will fit more than general category.

In order to show into which area a given post falls (at least in my estimation), I have categorized every post accordingly. The respective categories are found at the end of each post. Tags, then, are used to classify the content into more specific subject areas.

A Positive Approach

While I do believe that many Christians hold beliefs which are contrary to the Word of God or inconsistent with their theological traditions, it is not my intent to condemn, judge, or offend. I desire that my critiques be as fair, objective, and uplifting as possible. Lord willing, I will admit my own errors and reform my own thoughts and practices to confirm to our Lord’s intentions.

Hopefully, this blog will be a source of encouragement, stimulation, and even conviction. I encourage feedback, discussion, charitable debate, suggestions, and rebukes. Please comment thoughtfully and often, but please read The Policies on commenting first.