I came across this quote today attributed to Martin Luther King, Jr. (If this attribution is wrong, or if it is right and someone knows the source, please let me know.) Usually I am not a fan of quips or quotes, as I think you normally need a context to really understand what people are saying, but this struck me as so right in so many ways.
Cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'Is it politic?' Vanity asks the question, 'Is it popular?' But, conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?' And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because one's conscience tells one that it is right.
Without doing violence to the original intent of the author, believe it or not this is quite applicable to scholarly work. Scholars as much as anyone are subject to the winds of popular opinion or the pull of vanity. A true scholar is one who seeks the truth no matter the difficulties or pain and can in good conscience say that the conclusion reached matches the evidence.
Dr. Michael Burer is Assistant Professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. He is the assistant project director for the NET Bible and has contributed various studies to the bible.org site. His first book - A New Reader's Lexicon of the Greek New Testament, co-authored with Jeff Miller - was published Fall of 2008. 
Martin Luther King is an icon who have opened our eyes in fighting for what is right and just. Our conscience will always be our guide in doing things we know is important and right.
Thanks for a real find. That quote is food for thought.
Your comment rang a bell: A true scholar is one who seeks the truth no matter the difficulties or pain and can in good conscience say that the conclusion reached matches the evidence.
I would add to that Heb 5:14...how can one (who is a believer) be wise,discerning and seeks the truth apart from being filled with the Holy Spirit? Now for the unbeliever and yet one who calls themselves a scholar, it is a lost cause as you pointed out in your blog on Albert Schweitzer. What a waste of a life and what a good challenge for the believer to push forward to finish the task given to us with excellence; so that we hear at the finish line: Well done thou good and faithful "servant" ...not scholar but servant.
Dr. Burer,
This quote is from Dr. King's speech at the National Cathedral on March 31, 1968. The title of the speech is, "Remaining Awake through a Great Revolution." You can find its text here: http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/kingpapers/article/remaining_awa...
Have a nice day,
MSE
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