Why faith cannot be excluded from academic studies

HY4101 is getting a bit intellectual. But for the first time in the course, I began to have my own viewpoint on the issues discussed in class. Fortunately or unfortunately, the topic is about Christian historiography, the topic that me and my group were supposed to present on.

Dr Mark Emmanuel today gave a rather... crappy and incomplete lecture on Christianity, and therefore Christian historiography in my opinion. The most pertinent issue that I think he didn't address properly is the God in the OT and the God in the NT.

However, before I risk my own grade and start criticising him on this, he mentioned that faith is one thing and learning about how Christian do history is another. One is just faith and one is an academic exercise. However, this is one point that I begged to differ. The reason is simple. He mentioned that some of the points he raised will be confronting for Christians, ie challenging to the faith, and yet there was the claim that it is just an academic exercise. The contradiction is seen here, that if it is just an academic exercise, it wouldn't be confronting to Christians at all. The point here lies that the confrontation between 'academic' (note the quotation mark) exercise and the Christian faith is real. One cannot separate faith away from the world, or in this case, academic world. I thank God that I know enough to know where I stand in the KOG, and therefore, the Christian part of the lecture is nothing but a short uncomfortable distraction to me. I'm not so sure for the rest of my classmates, but I'm glad that it struck a mini debate about Christianity in the class.

So, coming back to the OT God and NT God, Mark mentioned that the God in the OT is a God of wrath and the God in the NT, coming in the form of Jesus Christ, is a God of love. He admitted that he doesn't read his bible (he's a Catholic), so I take his words as a pinch of salt. Separating him from the issue, this is a popular conception that a lot of people, including Christians, have. But a simple comparison of the OT and NT will tell us otherwise.

The concept of love can easily be found in the OT and the NT. Take a look at the following verses:

And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
- Exodus 34:6

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
- Deut 6:5

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.
- Deut 7:9

Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love.
- Psalm 48:9

But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever.
- Psalm 52:8

I think I have shown enough to show that the God of the OT is also a God of love. Now take a look at the following passage again:

13"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.[c]

15"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.

16"Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' 17You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18You also say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.' 19You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22And he who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.

23"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

25"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

27"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. 28In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

29"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30And you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' 31So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers!
- Matt 23:13-32

The God of the NT is equally a God of wrath as in the OT. My point here is not to show that God is wrath or love. But my point here is to show that the biblical qualities of God can be found in both the OT and the NT. Jesus, coming down as God Incarnate, is the God that the OT has spoken about. He is no different from the Father. Yahweh and Yahushuah is the same God in both NT and OT.

Let me make the issue clear here. While I'm tempted to criticise Mark for not reading the bible carefully, I have to leave him out of the issue, because I believe that this is an issue that not only him is facing but a lot of us out there are facing. So the moral of the story?

Read the OT and the NT!!