One obstacle facing those committed to the unity of the Bible is a certain disdain some biblical scholars have for systematic theology. A strong desire to avoid the charge that one’s prior theological conclusions control one’s exegesis, coupled with a vague sense that “belief has a distorting effect on historical inquiry,”[1] leads many to prefer to “let the tensions stand,” indefinitely postponing legitimate and necessary theological synthesis.
— Jim Hamilton, God’s Glory in Salvation Through Judgment, Kindle Location: 654-58
[1] Quotation from Vanhoozer, Is There Meaning in This Text? 23. Vanhoozer is describing Van Harvey’s book, The Historian and the Believer: The Morality of Historical Knowledge and Christian Belief.