Insanity Averted Once Again!

I've been thinking about the implications of existentialism and deconstruction on Christian living, and I'm convinced that taking philosophy classes is driving me to the brink of insanity.
Do I agree more with Kierkegaard, or with Augustine, or with Luther, or with ... *Waugh!*

In one of my short written responses I used a relationship metaphor to describe my participation in these classes: I'm attracted to Radical Hermeneutics, I think it's got a lot of potential, but I'm not certain if I want to make that into a long-term relationship or if I just want to have interesting conversations over coffee.
The professor's response was something along the lines of "no matter how well the second date goes, don't spend the night with a strange German philosophy. You never can tell what will come of it."

Now that's good advice if I've ever seen it. (And I think it's equally true for any discipline...)

Then again, if we don't put anything at risk in our studies, what can we ever really learn? I watched The Prestige again last week, and I can't help but admire that sense of total dedication and commitment... Christ is constantly admonishing us to be single-minded and intense in our pursuit of the kingdom; shouldn't our learning be wrapped up in that?
So on Sunday when we sang about not being shaken, I had to wonder what it really meant. What's this shaking thing all about? Are we simply saying that we're being authentic and faithful, or are we talking about stubbornness and myopia?
(Okay, that's pretty obvious...)

Faust is the great (anti-)hero of modern learning. I hope I've learned from him.

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