Introducing Misusing Scripture: What are Evangelicals Doing with the Bible?

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Detailed introduction (73 pages, 32,000 words) to Misusing Scripture: What Are Evangelicals Doing with the Bible? (2023a above). The editors’ introduction to Misusing Scripture discusses the book’s background and rationale, explains its objective, and identifies and defines key issues. Important terms including “evangelical,” “scholarship,” “faith-based scholarship,” “inerrancy,” and “scriptural fundamentalism” are carefully described in order to effectively evaluate evangelical biblical scholarship, the book’s topic. How does it work, is it legitimate, is it possible, are “evangelical” and “academic” an oxymoron? The bulk of the introduction is a detailed description and sustained critique of evangelical biblical scholarship that reviews and expands on evaluations by other non-evangelical scholars and occasionally by evangelicals also. It is argued that while evangelicals can make valid contributions to biblical scholarship in some cases, very often their scholarship is compromised by their apologetic approach to the Bible and their questionable presuppositions and methods. The problems identified extend to how evangelicals have misused “biblical” archaeology to bolster their distinctive beliefs about the Bible, and also to how they have used their disputed interpretations of the Bible to impact issues in the public square. The introduction concludes by summarizing the individual contributions which address evangelical biblical scholarship in relation to inerrancy and textual criticism, archaeology and history, and the Bible in its ancient and contemporary contexts.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMisusing Scripture : What are Evangelicals Doing with the Bible?
EditorsMark Elliott, Ken Atkinson, Robert Rezetko
Place of PublicationLondon
PublisherRoutledge
Publication date2023
Chapter1
ISBN (Print)9780367648138
ISBN (Electronic)9781003126416
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023
SeriesRoutledge New Critical Thinking in Religion, Theology and Biblical Studies

ID: 357324647