This will be a slightly “out of character” post for me. I have always been a fairly effective thinker, but seldom if ever a real scholar. However, I have been thinking about scholarship and its relationship to authority. I believe this is an important moment to consider all three.

First, this is not an emotional or super-fan response to the retreat Rebekah and I just attended. The speaker, Rachel Baard, was really good, and I enjoyed every session – but not in the sense that I was mesmerized, or carried away by rhetorical tour-de-force, or that I now want to tune in for theology lectures at the Seminary (well, maybe a few…)!

Instead, what grabbed my attention was the bedrock compelling authority Dr. Baard spoke with, and how that emerged directly from sound theology and deep scholarship, along with a very real relationship to Jesus.

That sounds like a helpful list. Authority comes along with the following:

• From being rooted in sound theology;
• from thorough, insightful and interdisciplinary scholarship;
• from pursuing theology and scholarship in the context of a deep and abiding personal relationship to Jesus.

What struck me – as a kind of an “ah-ha” moment – is how important the scholarship piece is when recognizing and understanding authority.

The Times we live in:

I take particular note of this because we live in an era – both politically and religiously – where a “know nothing,” or anti-scholar/critical thought mentality is so often celebrated. Also, and this is the dark side of the equation, scholarship is too often dismissed as “elitist”, as if there is something unAmerican or anti freedom about being smart, or taking learning seriously.

I understand that this is part of the “populist” movement, and has great appeal to those who like to take potshots at people they consider privileged or out of touch with “the person on the street.” But this is dangerous territory, because so many oppressive regimes in the past century have utilized a Cultural Revolution to rid themselves of those they do not like or agree with: teachers, writers, artists, musicians, ministers, civic leaders, professors, doctors, psychologists etc.

If you have something to say that’s worth saying, then back it up with solid scholarship and a faithful, humble relationship to God.

So thanks, Dr. Baard, for being a witness both to your love for Jesus and your respect for the creative minds God gifts us with in creation.

To be sure, rejecting thoughtful, careful, prayerful scholarship in matters of faith is akin to rejecting God’s good gifts in creation and – instead – putting forward our obduracy, our personal prejudices, and our pre-conclusive dogmas.

In love, and because love demands the very best of us – DEREK