Wenham's helpful article is a great starting point for a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of 'Biblical Criticism' in biblical studies and theological formation. This resource provides a guide for discussing this article in a Theology Network hub or other small group setting.
This outline fits well into a 1-hour lunchtime session with time to get from and to lectures each side of the lunch hour. Feel free to adapt it to best suit your context.
Before You Meet
Encourage your group to read 'The Place of Biblical Criticism in Christian Theology' ahead of time. It is the first article in the issue of Themelios downloadable as a pdf, but it is much easier to read on The Gospel Coalition website: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/the-place-of-biblical-criticism-in-theological-study/
If you are leading the discussion, try and take note of Wenham's key points and where they are most relevant for the emphasis that exists in your theology or religious studies department.
Session Outline:
1. Welcome
2. Recap / Summarise Aticle
3. Discussion
4. Pray
1. Welcome
10 Minutes
Open your session however you normally do, giving space to talk about how everyones doing, any highlights or challenges from recent weeks.
Move to the article discussion with an opening question. You may want to write one youself, but here is a suggestion:
What is your experience of studying the Bible on a university course? What, if anything, does it have to do with 'truth,' what you believe about God, or how you live?
2. Recap / Summarise Article
5-10 Minutes
If you have time, try and summarise the article yourself. If you don't, here is a sumary that you can use:
Wenham begins with the ideas of mystery, orthodoxy and heresy.
Mystery is a hallmark of Christian Doctrine, especially the Doctrine of God (e.g. the Trinity). God’s self-disclosure in Scripture requires us to press into things that are beyond our capacity to reconcile intellectually, because God himself is beyond our comprehension. That is why they are called mysteries or paradoxes, rather than "problems" to be solved.
Heresies, "Christian" beliefs that fall short of God’s self-disclosure in Scripture, tend to resolve the tension in paradoxes by emphasising one side and downplaying the other.
Orthodoxy and Heresy tend to get flipped in the secular academy. Comprehension and solving "problems" in the biblical texts is emphasised while aprehending mysteries is downplayed.
Thus "Fundamentalism," refering to more than a literalistic interpretation of Scripture, but to "Christians who hold to most traditional Christian doctrines and who in particular insist on the truthfulness of the whole Bible as God’s written word,” is the heresy of the academy.
The "orthodoxy" of the secular academy is pluralism – there is no orthodoxy. The diversity of biblical viewpoints is thought of as contradictions to be dealt with, rather than facets of a prism reflecting the mystery of God.
From that perspective, Biblical criticism is the indispensable tool for sifting through these viewpoints, correcting the errors, and reading the Bible rightly as texts bound by the assumptions and limitations of their contexts.
So, Wenham asks the question, 'Is criticism the indispensable tool for understanding Scripture as its protagonists argue, or is it, as it so often appears to the theological student, just a means of relativizing the Bible so that we cannot be sure what we should believe about anything?'
So, Wenham asks the question, 'Is criticism the indispensable tool for understanding Scripture as its protagonists argue, or is it, as it so often appears to the theological student, just a means of relativizing the Bible so that we cannot be sure what we should believe about anything?'
The answer we give depends upon our understanding of the nature of Scripture as both divine and human. We are confronted with another mystery in this understanding of Scripture, not a problem that we can work out, but a dual truth that we press into. (Divine character affirmed through centuries of Christianity, human qualities evident to careful readers).
On that basis, he gives the answer that Biblical Criticism is very important, indispensable even, but not all important.
Biblical Criticism is indispensable for understanding the divine word that was spoken in human language into particular human contexts that are not our own.
Biblical Criticism helps us understand the Bible as something that is foreign to our historical and cultural context. It helps us enter into the worlds of the various authors to see what they meant when they wrote what they did. This is indispensable for moving to its significance for us today. In this way, Biblical Criticism is important for a personal encounter with God’s self-revelation that leads to a personal response and transformation.
Wenham goes on to illustrate how different branches of Biblical Criticism function to do this. This is the basics of what he says.
Textual Criticism: allows us to adjust for copying mistakes and be confident that we have near perfect reproductions of the original texts. Any uncertainty that remains doesn’t materially affect historical fact or issues of Christian faith and practice.
Philology and linguistics: enables us to understand the words used in their context, as the authors meant them (rather than relying on faulty etymologies).
Literary Criticism: used to understand what the authors are doing with literary devices, etc.
Historical Criticism: where many of the issues we have with criticism lie, but nonetheless useful for understanding historic social setting, especially as it differs from our own.
Form Criticism: to understand biblical genres and see why certain things are included or omitted.
Source and Redaction Criticism: important for constructing histories, but also very valuable for seeing what the concerns of the authors (redactors) were by the way they make use of sources.
Biblical Criticism is limited, both in its power to achieve what it claims to and in its scope for determining meaning.
Biblical Criticism is limited in power. Many of its claims rest on academic consensus and presuppositions rather than on indisputable fact. C. S. Lewis complains that Biblical Critics are ‘overly-subtle’ claiming to be able to spot fern seed, but missing the elephant. It is important to recognise the limitations of the tools of Biblical Criticism and rely on them in proportion to those limitations.
Biblical Criticism is also limited in scope. Historical accuracy is neither the primary aim, nor the primary content of the Bible. It makes theological claims about historical events. Understanding this helps keep Criticism in perspective. Further, the sources of the biblical texts are not our primary concern when we come to interpret the Bible, but the inspired text itself. This is obvious with Genesis which has ANE creation myths as its "sources", but it's important to bear in mind when looking at Jeremiah or the Gospels. We care what the Gospel’s say in their finished form much more than the reconstructed words of Jesus according to the consensus of Biblical Critics.
'As Christians we shall wish to maintain that where the Bible is relating historical events they really happened. but [sic] let us bear in mind that it is not so important that they occurred so much as what they teach us about God and his purposes and how we should respond.'
It is important to recognise the ultimate goal of theology, including biblical study, to know and love God more deeply.
'When the academic study of Scripture diverts our attention from loving God with all our heart, soul and strength, I think we should pause and take stock. We should ask ourselves whether we are using it as it was intended. As I said at the beginning, it is both a divine book and a human book. Because it is a human book we cannot understand it unless we employ all the types of biblical criticism to the full. But because it is also a divine book we must recognize that these tools are insufficient by themselves for us to grasp and apply its message. To do that we must have a humble mind and a heart open to the guidance of the Spirit.'
3. Discussion
20-25 minutes
Choose a few of the following questions that will be most helpful in your group. Aim for depth of conversation rather than getting through all the questions.
1. What has been your experience of different forms of Biblical Criticism (textual, linguistic, literary, source, historical, redaction, etc.)? How were they presented, for what purpose?
2. What area(s) of Criticism do you find most challenging or counterproductive for knowing God through the bible? Try to be specific with examples.
3. In what ways has Criticism given you a new appreciation of the Bible or helped you understand something that was otherwise oblique?
4. What do you make of Wenham's description of the benefits and limitations of Biblical Criticism? Does anything stand out as a particularly helpful observation for you?
5. How can understanding the limitations and the positive contributions of Biblical Criticism help you utilise it well as a tool for engagement with the Bible?
6. Are there examples where this view of the place of Biblical Criticism can put things into perspective that you have previously found challenging or a barrier to Chrsitian faith?
4. Pray
10 Minutes
If you have a regular way of praying for each other, do that.
Otherwise you may want to pray into the ways that you engage with the Bible, for humility to learn the tools to the best of your ability and the wisdom to discern their limits as you come to the Word of God.
