Among the very few things on which our diverse church can agree is the sorry state of biblical literacy. The complaint comes, not unexpectedly from biblicist precincts, that lay people lack sufficient familiarity, and clergy sufficient facility, with the Bible’s narratives and precepts. Meanwhile, on the “left” comes the rejoinder, not without basis, that the self-styled advocates of scriptural authority construe its contents selectively and self-interestedly, and especially that biblical cries for justice go unheard in favor of a too tidy account of “orthodoxy” and an unreflective fortification of the status quo. And from the academy comes the more recent observation that the standard academic approaches to Scripture are so mired in historical and comparative questions that the results are scarcely useful to the Church at all.

That there is not only a problem but even a crisis is agreed by most. And that there need to be resources to reinvigorate the Church’s engagement with Scripture is a matter of common sense. Surely we ought to be able to bridge biblical scholarship to address the practical life of the Church and formative needs of her clergy and members. But here the picture complicates, for it turns out that the task of producing such resources is more difficult than might be supposed. If, as some allege, biblical scholars are not carrying out an agenda useful to the Church, then it will do little good to translate their results into a more accessible form. But “amateur” reflections too often perpetuate interpretive “urban myths,” for good reason long abandoned in the guild. With the deceptive difficulty of the task in mind, here we sample some recent, diverse offerings on the Lukan corpus which seek and succeed to various degrees to fill the gap between biblical scholarship and the Church.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Books • * Theology • Theology: Scripture

1. New Reformation Advocate wrote: BRAVO, Woody! (the professor’s nickname)  Well done.  This is just the sort of book review that church leaders need, both ordained and lay leaders.  I haven’t yet read the several works that Prof. Anderson deals with here, but he has certainly whetted my appetite for the Luke Timothy Johnson volume, which I’d be eager to read anyway, as a former student of Johnson at Yale Div. School who was deeply influenced by Johnson’s combination of admirable scholarship and ardent orthodox faith. Congratulations also to The Living Church for publishing stuff like this.  Since Christopher Wells took over the helm as executive editor a few years ago, TLC has certainly become meatier (although some earnest lay leaders I know complain that a lot of it now goes over their heads), offering more theological substance to nourish the minds and hearts of its readers.  Book reviews that aim to edify, without being uncritical, are welcome indeed. For those who don’t know, Prof. Anderson teaches NT at Nashotah House.  FWIW, I agree with him that Johnson’s type of book is the kind that is most useful and valuable for committed Christian leaders who hunger for books about the Bible that are scholarly and yet accessible, simple to understand without being simplistic.  Few scholars can pull that off well, but Luke Timothy Johson is one of them.  But just for the record, IMHO, no one did it better than another orthodox Roman Catholic no longer with us, the late great Raymond Brown. David Handy+ (Ph.D. in NT) February 1, 11:25 am | [comment link]

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