The Bible has endured a good bit of critique in our post-modern society. Many scholars reject the notion that prophetic utterances actually foretold the future, but were actually written in a time after whatever had been foretold finally came to pass. Some scholars think that many of the words of Jesus that we find recorded in the gospels he actually never said. Some people hold that the Bible is bound to the past and does not have much to say that is relevant for modern people. A few even say that Paul's writings are not faithful at times to Jesus' message.
This suspicion of the Bible and its authenticity make us vulnerable. If we are like seeds planted on rocky soil in our faith, we may start losing ground in faith. We may actually fall away.
I do not expect biblical criticism to go away any time soon. I do wonder what we can take from it, however, and what we can do to maintain our firm grounding in Scripture at all once.
What is helpful about biblical critique? What is it that we must be wary of?
1 comment:
Joyce,
I agree that historico-critical work has something to offer in regard to our understanding context and broader historical factors.
At the same time, I have grown weary of the arrogance, barely perceptible faith, and humanism that is so prevalent in such scholarship. In fact, not only does this kind of scholarship trump faith but it trumps Scripture itself, casting its validity for moderns into question. This low view of Scripture should be troubling to Mennonites. We base our actions and theology firmly and squarely on the trustworthy nature of the Bible.
Without such "faith," what really do we have left but to trust the words of the world, our own perceptions, and asundry scholars who may or may not be trustworthy?
Jeff
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