Ryan Collman on “What Makes a good Biblical Scholar?”

A good biblical scholar is a sane biblical scholar. What I mean by that is, a good biblical scholar takes time for themselves and does not focus on their research every waking moment of the day; you have to have balance. If you don’t do this, you’ll (figuratively) go insane.

For many of us who aspire to be biblical scholars working in academia, the first major hurdle that can impede on one’s sanity is the process of getting the PhD. You spend anywhere from 3-5 years—maybe more—working on a single project with a singular focus. This can wreak havoc on your life and relationships if you don’t find a way to have a balance in your life between research and living a life outside of your research.

Here are some practical things I’ve learned and started doing to keep my life balanced in the midst of working on a PhD:

  • Don’t compete with your peers; you are all in this together. Celebrate each other’s successes and mourn each other’s rejections. Don’t worry about how much they have written this week and how little you have; you’ll never finish your own project if you are obsessed with comparing yourself to others—and you’ll probably make enemies in the process.
  • Spend time with your peers. Every Friday a handful of us cut our days short and usher in the weekend by heading to the pub. We bounce ideas off of each other, talk about life, and invest in our friendships. Don’t isolate yourself.
  • If at all possible, don’t work outside of a set schedule. This is a job and you should treat it like a 9-5 (with a full hour for lunch!). Take holidays, take sick days, take mental health days, and try not to work at home. The PhD will only get done successfully if you have boundaries.
  • Have a hobby or passion completely unrelated to your PhD and make time for it. Join a running club, work through a cook book, start home-brewing, take photography classes, etc.
  • Spend time with your family. They’ve likely already made many sacrifices for you to be pursuing a PhD; don’t make them resent you for it. Take your partner on dates. Walk your kids to school. Go on family holiday/vacation. This also means protecting your weekend from being invaded by research.

Ryan Collman is a PhD Candidate at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. His research focuses on circumcision in the letters of Paul.


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Tavis Bohlinger

Dr. Tavis Bohlinger is Editor-in-Chief of the Logos Academic Blog and Creative Director at Reformation Heritage Books. He holds a PhD from Durham University and writes across multiple genres, including academia, poetry, and screenwriting. He lives in Grand Rapids with his wife and three children.

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2 comments
  • I want to offer you one more step to being a good scholar. I am a layman and I have used Logos almost from the beginning. As you can see by that sentence, I am not a scholar. I have written 8 books on the Bible, the last being a Lectionary with a written lesson and a video for 365 days of the year. By that sentence, you can see I spend more time than the average layman in study.
    The one failure of academics is too much time spent on academics once academics are chosen, forgetting the Gospel of God. In the Book of Mark, take a look and see how long it took Jesus to get to proclaiming, not preaching, the Gospel of God…the answer is by verse 14.
    The question you must ask yourself, what good are academics if you are not seeing anyone receiving Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior by you speaking it directly? Not sermons, but you proclaiming the Gospel and hearing someone say to you “yes, I want to pray to receive Jesus Christ”. The Gospel is the reason for Christ’s life. Be careful, God saved you and now God is asking you “are you willing to go tell someone else”. God did not say go write a paper. There is nothing wrong with a paper, but the Gospel of God is the mission. Bless you.

Written by Tavis Bohlinger
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