Thread by @GunnerGundersen

10 reflections on the Evangelical Theological Society annual meeting (#ETS2021) that just concluded in Fort Worth:

1/10: Many of our leading evangelical scholars are aging. The next generation must be ready to take the torch. This readiness must mean sharp minds, soft hearts, proven integrity, a saturation with Scripture and theology, and the love and courage to stand.

2/10: There are some terrible mis-uses of Scripture under the guise of scholarship. Credentials, publications, expertise, and name-recognition mean nothing if you twist the text. Watch your own doctrine carefully, and don't believe everything you hear.

3/10: I watched several people raise a fair objection or make a true point with a sarcasm or edge that made them unpersuasive. You can lose a room while winning an argument.

4/10: There are lots of people who don't agree with you. The best thinkers and communicators respect the counter-evidence, anticipate the hard questions, and deal with the best objections straightforwardly.

5/10: The people with public influence aren't necessarily those who do the *best* work but those who *share* their work. So if you want to shape the conversation, share your work. But remember: just because someone's shaping the conversation doesn't mean they're doing good work.

6/10: We are all standing on others' shoulders, or as this year's ETS president said, drinking from wells we didn't dig. There should be a deep-seated humility as we go about the scholarly enterprise, knowing that in every field of study, we are not originators but heirs.

7/10: It's typical for academicians to neglect the humanity of their audience. But careful scholarship with a dull presentation creates uncompelling scholarship. A less-persuaded audience is the fair punishment for a boring speaker.

8/10: No one should spend his or her life interpreting Scripture alone. Blind spots are an inherent weakness of solitary thinking. But in community, even the best thoughts are bettered by the shaping power of fellowship.

9/10: The Word of God is its own best defender. It presents a pure and perfect ecosystem of truth which gives life, explains the world, and corrects our wayward ideas. We don't need to domesticate it. We need to unleash it.

10/10: Good friends are as important as good ideas.