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The Pastor as Scholar and the Scholar as Pastor

By John Piper and D.A. Carson - 128 pages

Reviewed by Andrew Laird

28 Oct 2011

7:51am Friday, 28th October 2011

I first encountered the material in this book as a podcast a few years ago, shortly after it was delivered by Don Carson and John Piper at a conference in the United States. Two years later and it's been turned into a short, but helpful, book with some extra reflections from both authors.
The key premise of The Pastor as Scholar & The Scholar as Pastor is simply this: scholarship and pastoral affection are not mutually exclusive. In fact, as both Carson and Piper argue, they should always work hand in hand.
Both take a different approach in how they argue for this - Piper is autobiographical; Carson is analytical - reflecting their individual styles. And yet each writer oozes with both scholastic rigour and pastoral warmth and affection (the form and style of the book a very reflection of its thesis).
Piper tells the story of his journey into "romantic rationalism", learning through the work of C.S Lewis and Jonathan Edwards and a few key lecturers that serious scholarship and "soul-stirring feeling" are not incompatible. Rather ‘rationalism and poetry, cool logic and warm feeling, disciplined prose and free imagination' (p. 34) can, and should, go hand in hand. Piper describes his "awakening" in his college years of having "old stereotypes shattered" and being freed to ‘think hard and to write poetry, to argue for the resurrection and compose hymns to Christ, to smash an argument and hug a friend' (p. 34).
I love this material from Piper, if for no other reason than it encourages healthy personal reflection on what God has done and is doing in my own life. The model Piper provides is one worth replicating.
And while Carson's section also contains his own interesting biographical details, his main approach is to argue for being both scholastic and pastoral, followed by 12 very practical lessons for scholars, including warning against the tendency of some Christians to be overly critical. While it may often be borne out of good scholastic motives, as Carson warns, ‘even discernment must be nestled into the bigger "main thing" of love for brothers and sisters in Christ' (p. 101).
There is no doubt that this book is aimed at pastors and those who work in scholastic fields such as lecturing and research. And yet all Christians can benefit from reading it because it encourages the pursuit of attributes which aren't beneficial just for pastors and scholars. Rather they're attributes worthy of the pursuit of all believers. And just maybe Piper's example of personal reflection upon how God is at work in our own lives might encourage us to make similar, healthy reflections.