How Scholarship Protects us from the Bible
By Trevin Wax on Oct 13, 2007 in Christianity, Quotes of the Week | 
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“The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obligated to act accordingly.
“Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world? Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship.
“Christian scholarship is the Church’s prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close.
“Oh, priceless scholarship, what would we do without you? Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament.”
- Soren Kierkegaard
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Trevin – Great quotes. I didn’t know that you dig Kierkegaard.
Tony Kummer | Oct 13, 2007 | Reply
I read him once for Dr. Johnson. He kept picking at the scabs on my cold orthodoxy – it was very uncomfortable but very profitable.
Tony Kummer | Oct 13, 2007 | Reply
I don’t dig everything Kierkegaard, but I like a lot of what he says. My favorite authors are ones who challenge me… even if I wind up disagreeing in the end.
Trevin Wax | Oct 13, 2007 | Reply