The Marks of a Christian Scholar: A Vocational Description (Part One)
Mark Eckel, ThM PhD, Professor of Leadership, Education & Discipleship[1]
Capital Seminary & Graduate School, Washington, D.C.
“The Christian scholar-teacher must be a person who believes in Christian higher education, who is committed to the mission of his or her institution. It is not enough to hire faculty who happen to be Christians, even if they are fine scholars. We must find and keep faculty who are committed to the project.â€Â [2]
“RBB,†he said. My response registered a facial question mark. “Really Big Brains,†he smiled. “That’s what you professors have: really big brains.â€
“RBH,†I said. He returned the questioning look. “Really Big Heads,†I smiled. “That’s what can happen to professors: we can get really big heads.â€
Humility is the essence of knowledge. I have lost count of how many times I have intoned such a statement in classes. The first mark of Christian scholars is that we should know we do not know how much we don’t know (Luke 14:7-11; Rom 12:3; Phil 2:3-4). We should begin every thought where the gospel begins: we are dependent upon God. Knowing how much we do not know measures the creature by The Creator (Isa 55:8-9). Aseity[3] identifies our dependency (Acts 17:24-28). [Read more…] about Getting a “Big Head”?