Review of The End of Biblical Studies
This is a strange book
http://www.amazon.com/End-Biblical-Studies-Hector-Avalos/dp/1591025362/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296885426&sr=8-1
Its argument is that biblical studies should end as a discipline, a religious discipline, in any case, and that a purely secular field of study should replace it. Alternatively, he argues that the purpose of Biblical studies should be to eliminate the influence of the Bible in society. (How?)
He is a hottie
http://www.philrs.iastate.edu/avalos.shtml
who used to be a child evangelist, an immigrant when he was a kid. He had a drastic crisis of faith when he was a little older and became an atheist, or a secular humanist, whichever. He has spent time since teaching and writing books which call various aspects of religion into question. This is one such.
It's been debated; he has debated fundies and intelligent-design dorks, and the mere fact that almost no one reads this kind of stuff anymore dooms his proviso from the get-go. But my comment is less complex.
I wasn't convinced. I've heard most of these arguments about the Bible before, and accept the facts of the situation, but Avalos is attacking a straw man, for the most part, and uselessly. Fundies won't care about the stuff he's saying, and as for the rest of us, he's preaching to the choir. I know that there's no external evidence for the exodus, but Avalos and others of his ilk ignore the question of where the story came from. There is not much evidence for the huge Biblical kingdom of Solomon, but tales grow in the telling, and humans are fallible and flawed. I've seen this many times before. People are very, very religious, and then they fall apart. How am I different? I've thought about this while reading this book, and come to the conclusion that the Bible I believe in is a Platonic ideal of the Bible, a sort of Christian Umm al-Kitab. Human beings, people like me, for crying out loud, made and copied these manuscripts. What's the result?
A damned mess. Like everything handed down from so long ago. Just like the body of works that surround Alexander the Great, who was also worshiped as a god, just like all of the ancient Near Eastern texts that place it in context. But it's a book whose ideal is worth the world.
What do I believe about Avalos? He's made arguments, and a lot of what I see comes out of his resentment at the loss of what he believed. I....kept my faith, in part by shackling it to social justice and in part by understanding where my anger comes from. Take it knowingly and be its silent master, take it unknowingly and be its loud slave, to quote a favorite writer of mine.
I've [s]wishlisted another book of his, on Christianity and healthcare, as it bears (grr) on two interests of mine. But this book wasn't good, and wasn't....bad.
Meh.
http://www.amazon.com/End-Biblical-Studies-Hector-Avalos/dp/1591025362/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296885426&sr=8-1
Its argument is that biblical studies should end as a discipline, a religious discipline, in any case, and that a purely secular field of study should replace it. Alternatively, he argues that the purpose of Biblical studies should be to eliminate the influence of the Bible in society. (How?)
He is a hottie
http://www.philrs.iastate.edu/avalos.shtml
who used to be a child evangelist, an immigrant when he was a kid. He had a drastic crisis of faith when he was a little older and became an atheist, or a secular humanist, whichever. He has spent time since teaching and writing books which call various aspects of religion into question. This is one such.
It's been debated; he has debated fundies and intelligent-design dorks, and the mere fact that almost no one reads this kind of stuff anymore dooms his proviso from the get-go. But my comment is less complex.
I wasn't convinced. I've heard most of these arguments about the Bible before, and accept the facts of the situation, but Avalos is attacking a straw man, for the most part, and uselessly. Fundies won't care about the stuff he's saying, and as for the rest of us, he's preaching to the choir. I know that there's no external evidence for the exodus, but Avalos and others of his ilk ignore the question of where the story came from. There is not much evidence for the huge Biblical kingdom of Solomon, but tales grow in the telling, and humans are fallible and flawed. I've seen this many times before. People are very, very religious, and then they fall apart. How am I different? I've thought about this while reading this book, and come to the conclusion that the Bible I believe in is a Platonic ideal of the Bible, a sort of Christian Umm al-Kitab. Human beings, people like me, for crying out loud, made and copied these manuscripts. What's the result?
A damned mess. Like everything handed down from so long ago. Just like the body of works that surround Alexander the Great, who was also worshiped as a god, just like all of the ancient Near Eastern texts that place it in context. But it's a book whose ideal is worth the world.
What do I believe about Avalos? He's made arguments, and a lot of what I see comes out of his resentment at the loss of what he believed. I....kept my faith, in part by shackling it to social justice and in part by understanding where my anger comes from. Take it knowingly and be its silent master, take it unknowingly and be its loud slave, to quote a favorite writer of mine.
I've [s]wishlisted another book of his, on Christianity and healthcare, as it bears (grr) on two interests of mine. But this book wasn't good, and wasn't....bad.
Meh.