The Complexity of Biblical Scholarship

As I write this, I am sitting on a plane coming home from our annual society meetings. Every year, the Society of Biblical Literature and the American Academy of Religion join forces to host a lengthy weekend of scholarship, networking, and collaboration. Smaller societies often attach themselves to the AAR and SBL, making the event a full-scale Bible-con [Really, the only thing missing are costumes…even though some of the outfits and beards I saw had to have been close to Iron Age and Greco-Roman fashion trends.].

The experience of this weekend is, well, complicated. On the one hand, I believe it’s necessary. Any professor of Bible needs to attend the annual meetings. It’s a place where professors can speak “nerd” unencumbered by the exaggerated eye-rolls of their kids , spouses, or students for a few days. At these conferences, professors can scratch their itch for scholarship, and for some, this may be one of the few instances where they can relive the joys of intense Bible study. Most importantly, these annual meetings allow professors to see what is coming down the pike.

At the annual meetings, we are exposed to the trends that sit on the horizon, for better or worse. For example, biblical scholars, archaeologists, and historians will continue to flesh out how our understanding of the Philistines is changing in light of recent archaeological research. Whence did they come? What were the dynamics of the five Philistine cities throughout the Iron Ages? In another session, I heard how perceptions of Deuteronomy 1-3 are changing, and these apparently have great implications on how we understand the form and function of certain sections of Scripture. In this instance, the paradigm shift that has been building is now accelerating.

On the other hand, there is a palpable sense of egotism and disconnection associated with the conference. For instance, in one session I sat in a large ballroom listening to several world-renowned scholars discuss elements of Deuteronomy’s historical development as a text. Is there an identifiable “core” whence the final form came? If so, can we date it, and what did it look like? Don't get me wrong, I love these questions! I think that they can give us insight into the nature of God’s revelation through time. However, such questions can never be an end in themselves. We must frame such discussions in terms of how they illuminate the final form of the text.

So, in the example of finding a “core” of Deuteronomy, at some point we must explicitly ask how any “core” can illuminate our understanding of Deuteronomy as it now exists in our Old Testament. Indeed, the answers are hard to anticipate and susceptible to a predictable line of questioning. Nevertheless, because God’s word is the product of a lengthy period of development that spanned centuries, cultures, languages, and environments, critical endeavors have their place. The disconnection of scholarship becomes evident when the discussion abruptly stops with the reconstruction of the historical process. Unfortunately, none of these famous scholars attempted to discuss how their proposals illuminated the final form of Scripture.

Yet I came to acknowledge the egotism and disconnection of the conference on Sunday (late) morning when I took about an hour to slowly peruse the exhibit hall and look at all the books for sale (Ginny should be happy that I resisted the temptation to buy loads of Christmas presents for myself). As I walked through the hall, I noticed countless people emphatically pitching their ideas to acquisition editors and publishers. Moreover, there was the constant networking and angling. But I don’t wrinkle my nose at this. This is the system. It’s a system of too many Ph.Ds. with not enough jobs. It’s a vocation that is very much about ideas and the communication of those ideas. But where the line is crossed, at least in my mind, is when the dissemination and development of ideas fosters an egotism that leads to pretentiousness. “That person’s ideas are so outdated. Besides, mere exegesis is unsophisticated. We must have ideological criticisms coupled with interdisciplinary approaches.” Unfortunately, I saw a lot of this too....

As I ponder these thoughts and feelings, I cannot help but think of the call that Brent Strawn has recently given to scholars. In The Old Testament is Dying (Baker, 2017), he argues that there is an increasing level of illiteracy with respect to the Old Testament (as well as Scripture in general). In short, there is an increasing number of people within the American church that don’t know what’s in the Old Testament (and Scripture for that matter) and that don’t use the Old Testament (and Scripture) regularly or properly. This is leading to the death of the Old Testament (and Scripture), and this trend is observable from the lay people all the way to the ministers and preachers.

Nevertheless, the church’s academic institutions are not helping! Strawn laments the increase in specialized scholarship that has no appeal or relevance to the Average Joe or Jane in the pew. There were multiple occasions this past weekend where I thought, “What is the use of this garbage?!”

I teach at Christian institutions, both seminaries and Christian colleges/universities. Therefore, I have to remember that my efforts are to be driven by convictions that go beyond myself. I fill a vital role within the Kingdom of God. I have the facility, time, and energy to dig deep into the wonders of Scripture and theology. However, I have to remember that I exercise my skills in a context that transcends my ego, my desires, or even my interests. I serve a global movement that spans cultures, time, and space.

If my time at the 2017 annual meetings has done anything, it’s reinforced my conviction that my vocational pursuits must ultimately be for the edification of the Church. Indeed, there is a place for intense scholarship, for there are too many critical questions leveled at the Church to ignore it. However, critical scholarship carries with it a certain set of assumptions and goals. Quite frankly, those assumptions and goals often do not communicate well with the average person sitting in the pews on in the chairs of my classroom. Thus, my task is, and will remain, distilling down the worthy trends and results of intense research in a manner that empowers and informs the Church. For the more informed the Church is, the more boldly it can display its banner and impact the world.