Identifying a scholar as "Christian" is relevant, because it is unavoidable that all Christian scholars are biased. Yes, much of Western university tradition descends from Christians institutions, that's true. The fact that the university system has descended from Christian institutions is really about the only way that specifically Christian fields have been able to endure in the system and to be treated as legitimate.
But let's face facts, "theology" is not a legitimate field of study on par with other secular fields of study like biology or physics or anthology, etc. Theology is inherently biased, with a predisposed foregone conclusion at its core.
Unlike real sciences and fields of academic study that start with open ended questions seeking unknown answers, theology starts with an assumed answer and then works to fit evidence to the assumption. This is a central fact that has to be acknowledged because when you look at the field of biblical studies, which is dominated by Christian theologians, you can see the impact of this approach quite clearly.
Time and again, over and over and over and over and over (I could keep going), Christian theologians discard or even fail to consider solutions to problems that result in answers that don't support their starting assumption.
In the field of Christian theology every answer has to ultimately be compatible with the conclusion that Jesus is the real, one and only, son of God. If you ever come to an answer that contradicts that ultimate conclusion then it must be rejected. And as such, Christian scholars have done an excellent job of training themselves to avoid all paths that lead toward answers that put the legitimacy of Christianity in question.
Christian theologians don't put forward scholarship that seriously undermines the legitimacy of Christianity, period. As such, Christian scholars are incapable of ever engaging in honest research or analysis, point blank. That is simply the truth of the matter.
And look at the history. "Christian scholars" have basically been wrong about every single thing. Biology was the last major field to remain under the domain of Christian scholarship until Darwin came along took that away.
The existence of atoms? Christians said impossible, they were wrong.
Biological evolution? Christians said impossible, they were wrong.
The age of the earth? Christians said it was not older than human existence, they were wrong.
The nature of disease? Christians said it based on spirits, they were wrong.
The history of civilization? Christians relied on the Old Testament as real history, they were wrong.
The existence of the Patriarchs? Christians said they were real, they were wrong.
Indeed you can't really come up with any subject Christians have ever been right about.
Now it turns out that Christians have entirely misunderstood the very writings that they based their whole religion on. The reality is that Christians fundamentally misunderstood the writings of the Bible and have been confused about them from the very beginning. The origins of Christianity are based on Roman misunderstanding of Jewish stories.
Christians have completely and fundamentally misunderstood the writings of the Bible so thoroughly that Christian scholars to this day can't find their way out of the hall of mirrors they've built for themselves.
Identifying a scholar as "Christian" is relevant, because it is unavoidable that all Christian scholars are biased. Yes, much of Western university tradition descends from Christians institutions, that's true. The fact that the university system has descended from Christian institutions is really about the only way that specifically Christian fields have been able to endure in the system and to be treated as legitimate.
But let's face facts, "theology" is not a legitimate field of study on par with other secular fields of study like biology or physics or anthology, etc. Theology is inherently biased, with a predisposed foregone conclusion at its core.
Unlike real sciences and fields of academic study that start with open ended questions seeking unknown answers, theology starts with an assumed answer and then works to fit evidence to the assumption. This is a central fact that has to be acknowledged because when you look at the field of biblical studies, which is dominated by Christian theologians, you can see the impact of this approach quite clearly.
Time and again, over and over and over and over and over (I could keep going), Christian theologians discard or even fail to consider solutions to problems that result in answers that don't support their starting assumption.
In the field of Christian theology every answer has to ultimately be compatible with the conclusion that Jesus is the real, one and only, son of God. If you ever come to an answer that contradicts that ultimate conclusion then it must be rejected. And as such, Christian scholars have done an excellent job of training themselves to avoid all paths that lead toward answers that put the legitimacy of Christianity in question.
Christian theologians don't put forward scholarship that seriously undermines the legitimacy of Christianity, period. As such, Christian scholars are incapable of ever engaging in honest research or analysis, point blank. That is simply the truth of the matter.
And look at the history. "Christian scholars" have basically been wrong about every single thing. Biology was the last major field to remain under the domain of Christian scholarship until Darwin came along took that away.
The existence of atoms? Christians said impossible, they were wrong.
Biological evolution? Christians said impossible, they were wrong.
The age of the earth? Christians said it was not older than human existence, they were wrong.
The nature of disease? Christians said it based on spirits, they were wrong.
The history of civilization? Christians relied on the Old Testament as real history, they were wrong.
The existence of the Patriarchs? Christians said they were real, they were wrong.
Indeed you can't really come up with any subject Christians have ever been right about.
Now it turns out that Christians have entirely misunderstood the very writings that they based their whole religion on. The reality is that Christians fundamentally misunderstood the writings of the Bible and have been confused about them from the very beginning. The origins of Christianity are based on Roman misunderstanding of Jewish stories.
Christians have completely and fundamentally misunderstood the writings of the Bible so thoroughly that Christian scholars to this day can't find their way out of the hall of mirrors they've built for themselves.