Faith seeking understanding?

This posting is something that has been ruminating in my mind for quite some time. A couple weeks ago a wonderful friend of mine who lives in Plano Texas asked me a pointed question that called for a response that is now becoming a blog post. The question revolves around the balance/bifurcation that takes place in my mind between my theological studies and my spiritual journey and "devotional time." Here is my response to my friend:

These are great questions that continually are tossed around here on campus and I love to engage them. Some people refer to the Seminary as the cemetery. It is the place where you faith goes to die. I think this is ridiculous. Scholasticism and the Enlightenment are not the devil, they have simply been used by the devil! I see my studying as an integral part of my faith journey. For example this paper that I am typing on Acts is highly academic, but is extremely enriching to my faith because it allows me to understand in a deeper way what was taking place during the time of Acts and how the things that Luke wrote about are far larger than one can realize by simply taking the text at face value. I cannot separate the relationship that I have with Christ from my academic study, and in the same way I cannot turn off my academic mind when spending exclusive reflection time with J.C. The symphony sounds the way it does because of all the pieces, not simply because of one dominant part. If you take out the strings you are not going to have the same symphony. The great composers often spoke of the level of worship they felt while composing music. I think of the awe doctors must have when they discover how the body works. They do not have to shut down their relationship with Christ because they are in the lab. I once heard a baseball player say that if Jesus played baseball he is sure that he would have slid as hard into home plate as the next guy; he just would have helped the guy up! I think the church and the academy have ruined people, or at least put them through a lot of turmoil, by teaching that there has to be this separation. It gets back to Luther and the sacred vs. secular dichotomy. Wow, this is getting longer than you were probably expecting.

I am a firm believer in organic and holistic living. There can be no Cartesian dualism. (The belief that the mind and the body are separate entities that can be examined by themselves.) We are whole people who need to be whole and holy. The life that we live in Christ must be one in which the Spirit permeates all the nooks and crannies of our being. Just as I cannot shut off my personality in my writing or studying, I cannot turn off my critical evaluation of the reading that I do. The revelation of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit must be always present as I study things like apriori knowledge and as I sit down to read through Psalms for personal edification.

I just thought this might be helpful to someone who is out there wrestling with the question of faith and higher education. It is more than "faith seeking understanding." It is a difficult situation that many face and need to be validated in their frustrations and feelings. I wold LOVE to hear your thoughts on the topic.