What does it mean to be a Christian Scholar?
Ed. Note: This essay was originally prepared as part of an Application for the Summit Oxford study abroad program. These are my initial views on a very broad question. If you have anything to add to this discussion please send me your ideas with this form. A reasoned and informative discussion would delight me.
This prompt asks a broad question, one with many answers from many perspectives. One could say that it is the Christian beliefs, the theology, which makes a Christian scholar. And it is correct that Christianity makes many useful truth claims about reality which inform and orient the search for knowledge. But the basic framework of an atheist, or a Muslim, or a Hindu makes these same foundational claims. So that answer concerns itself more with what it means to be a Christian and less with what it means to be a scholar. One could also answer from a vantage point within the Body of Christ: what parts do the scholars among us play in advancing the Kingdom of God? I’ve chosen to answer from a different viewpoint, one more foundational to this inquiry. Specifically the question: what differences exist between believing and non-believing scholars? Do we use a different scientific method, design different experiments, or utilize a different version of reason?
Scholars seek knowledge. They attempt to know and understand the world around themselves. These seekers must have perseverance because true and innovative knowledge never comes easily. They ‘must want knowledge so badly they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable’, as C.S. Lewis puts it. Scholars must also possess a humble mind. Scholasticism concerns itself with knowing things other people don’t, not to elevate the scholar, but because other people haven’t found those answers yet. Learners must always guard against the temptation of pride—‘that is the greatest difficulty’, says Lewis. But these caveats are only peripheral to the main task of learned men. Exploration and discovery within the domain of ideas, these form the creed of scholars. But why explore? And what should be discovered? Remember that scholasticism is only a tool wielded by men.
What’s more valuable, a new prime number or a new genome? What is knowledge about embryonic stem cells worth? Going up another level, who makes these decisions? Humans have a natural curiosity about their habitat. At a basic level, this justifies investigation into our surroundings. When have we learned enough or do we ever reach that point? Christ talked about this when he said ‘you shall love the Lord your God with all your mind’ (Mark 12.30). He never meant for us to stop using our minds, and learning is a primary function of the mind. He also said ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’ (Mark 12.30). This precept sets conditions on the value of knowledge. It gives us a value hierarchy to measure our learning with.
Ultimately this is what it means to be a Christian scholar. No functional differences exist; the same logic applies, the same observations, the same hypotheses, the same experimenting. Values make the difference, set Christian scholars apart from atheists, Muslims, and Hindus. So what does it mean to be a Christian scholar? Scholarship of the highest caliber, motivated by love for the Lord, and subject to love of his people.
