Firstly, it’s great to hear of another Aussie family with the same sort of vision as we have to equip the saints in this way (We too are in the UK for my husband to pursue a Pauline PhD).  May God bless you as you undertake to serve him in this way and give you every good gift you need.

“especially given the hopeless exchange rate on the Aussie dollar” - Actually, at the moment the Aussie dollar is doing very well (50p per dollar).  Six months or so ago it was very bad (about 38p per dollar) but now is a good time to capitalise on a good exchange rate.

May God bless this time of study, Lionel—for you, your family and for those who will benefit from your work.

Thanks everybody for your kind support and comments! Steve - I appreciate your willingness to offer further advice; I’ve considered all sorts of options, especially options that involve studying closer to home! If you’d like to read in more detail my reasons for choosing Durham, you can check out my site. God bless, Lionel.

I wanted to share this quote with Lionel, my colleague not only in this blog, but in local ministry. But it was so good I share it with you, with thanks to Justin Taylor for the tip.

It’s from Carl Trueman, and by the way, I do not think Lionel is in danger of what’s warned off here. Nevertheless, he must still guard against the temptation… Here’s the quote…

I have always been amazed at the infatuation of so many orthodox academics with their reputation in the secular universities and liberal departments. A few years back, I edited a book with Paul Helm on the doctrine of scripture. At the time I was on faculty at the University of Aberdeen. One colleague - a friend but one of distinctly liberal leanings - referred matter-of-factly in a public lecture to the upcoming book as representing the tradition of Warfield, of which he himself did not approve; but the comment was not a sneer; rather it was a simple statement of his impression of the book. Within a couple of days I received an email from one of the contributors, asking if this was the case and saying that, if so, he wanted to withdraw from participation. Now, it was not actually the case: the book addressed the issue of scripture from a different direction to the concerns of Warfield; but what puzzled me - no, what disappointed me, for I understood exactly what was going on - was that this person was so terrified of being associated with Warfield. I wonder to this day if he would have been so concerned if he had been invited to contribute to a collection of essays that someone said pointed in a Barthian or Bultmannian direction. Probably not - because those options would not be so embarrassing to mention to friends at cocktail parties in the Senior Common Room or at the next meeting of the Society for Biblical Literature.

Now I worked in secular universities long enough to know that liberal colleagues are bright enough to spot a conservative at five hundred feet. Just because you avoid contributing to certain volumes or using certain words, or because you choose to laugh when certain people to the right of you are mocked, does not win you respect from the secular academy. It is a sad fact but, as far as biblical studies and theology go, only giving up all that is distinctive about the Christian faith will ultimately do that for you. The individual to whom I referred above no doubt liked to think he was taken seriously by mainstream colleagues, but I sat as a junior faculty in enough coffee room discussions to know the real thoughts of liberal colleagues about conservatives who try to fly under the radar. They despise them for their theology; and they despise them for the fact they try to hide or minimize it. A double whammy. Given the choice - and there is always a choice - I’d rather just be despised for being a brazen conservative with looney theology, than a duplicitous conservative with looney theology. That way one can still be of use to the church and still look in the mirror with some degree of self-respect.

Sandy’s comments are spot-on, and indeed these potential dangers for a pastor/scholar are primary reasons why I covet your prayers.