What is a Scholar?

Hello friends and welcome to The Candler Foundry Scholar’s Blog! Every two weeks, we will consider an idea or a text from the perspective of a biblical scholar. Don’t worry—like all Candler Foundry endeavors, the content and delivery of this material strives to be engaging and accessible for you. Let’s look at a few things to get us started.

What is a scholar?

Sometimes people mistake the meaning of the word “scholar,” assuming it means “expert.” Now don’t get me wrong, scholars are experts! But the word “scholar” comes from the Latin word scholaris which just means “student.” In other words, scholars are not defined just by what they know but more so by what they continually study. The work of scholarship and learning is never finished!

What does scholarship mean?

It means asking questions. Because scholars are students, scholarship is just as much about asking questions as it is about knowing answers. While this blog will hopefully help you learn and know more about the biblical text and theology, one of our goals is actually to consider the quality of our questions and maybe learn to ask different or better questions.

It means reconsidering previous assumptions. The method of revising our questions gestures toward another aspect of scholarship: we continually revisit and revise our assumptions and beliefs in light of what we learn or better understand.Remember the measure of knowledge is growth and movement.

It means articulating a thoughtful response. As scholars ask questions and reevaluate assumptions, they eventually create a response that includes evidence for their way of thinking. This is a really important step, not because it is public, but because it allows us to mark our progression and evolution in our understanding. And—as you’ll see in the point below—it gives others something to consider and respond to. Even for non-professional scholars, this step provides a way to mark your own growth in how you consider and respond to ideas about topics like the Bible.

How is scholarship done?‍

Often, we think of scholars as lonely, solitary figures in dark rooms pouring over ancient texts (check out Rembrandt’s idea of what a scholar looks like!).

But the true defining aspect of scholarship is that it happens in community.Scholarly publications require peer-reviews where other members of the community read and respond to the written work. Scholars give lectures where the intellectual community listens and asks questions. And writers and lectures themselves demonstrate how their ideas are formed by or interact with other thinkers. In other words, scholarship is a community endeavor.

As you interact with this blog, remember that it doesn’t merely present scholarly ideas, but scholarship is also produced in your interaction with it! At the bottom of each blog post, you have the option of asking questions or suggesting topics or texts for us to consider in future posts. Thank you for joining in this exciting and fun work of scholarship about topics that matter and make a difference in our faith and in our world!

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