(Orbis, 1994). 2 pp.
For too long, serious and critical Bible study in the First World has been equated almost exclusively with academic study of the Bible. This is not because ordinary people – particularly those identified with churches or synagogues –are incapable of reading the Bible seriously. Rather it is due to the ascendancy of the quintessentially modern notion –championed by most professional scholars –that critical study of the Bible is best done in the academy, apart from communities of conviction and practice.
Christians who apprehend the Biblical texts as obscure cultural artifacts, whose decoding necessitates scholarly mediation, have been quite willing to concede to academia a privileged franchise for biblical interpretation. Those, on the other hand, who see the Bible as a story to be lived out have refused to grant such a franchise. For most of these latter, unfortunately, this rejection has extended to the critical enterprise itself, so that genuine hermeneutic problems are dismissed all together. In either case, it has become increasingly difficult to persuade lay people to take the responsibility and embrace the discipline necessary for critical study of their own scriptures.
Full Article: Foreword to Howard-Brook, Becoming Children of God SKU: 94-3-Pd
Ched Myers 