Read Anywhere and on Any Device!

Subscribe to Read | $0.00

Join today and start reading your favorite books for Free!

Create Free Account

The Bible Made Impossible: Why Biblicism Is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture

Christian Smith

3.8/5 ( ratings)

Biblicism, an approach to the Bible common among some American evangelicals, emphasizes together the Bible's exclusive authority, infallibility, clarity, self-sufficiency, internal consistency, self-evident meaning, and universal applicability. Acclaimed sociologist Christian Smith argues that this approach is misguided and unable to live up to its own claims. If evangelical biblicism worked as its proponents say it should, there would not be the vast variety of interpretive differences that biblicists themselves reach when they actually read and interpret the Bible. Smith describes the assumptions, beliefs, and practices of evangelical biblicism and sets it in historical, sociological, and philosophical context. He explains why it is an impossible approach to the Bible as an authority and provides constructive alternative approaches to help evangelicals be more honest and faithful in reading the Bible. Far from challenging the inspiration and authority of Scripture, Smith critiques a particular rendering of it, encouraging evangelicals to seek a more responsible, coherent, and defensible approach to biblical authority.

Language: English

Pages: 220

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Brazos Press

Release: August 01, 2011

ISBN: 1587433036

ISBN 13: 9781587433030

The Bible Made Impossible: Why Biblicism Is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture

Christian Smith

3.8/5 ( ratings)

Biblicism, an approach to the Bible common among some American evangelicals, emphasizes together the Bible's exclusive authority, infallibility, clarity, self-sufficiency, internal consistency, self-evident meaning, and universal applicability. Acclaimed sociologist Christian Smith argues that this approach is misguided and unable to live up to its own claims. If evangelical biblicism worked as its proponents say it should, there would not be the vast variety of interpretive differences that biblicists themselves reach when they actually read and interpret the Bible. Smith describes the assumptions, beliefs, and practices of evangelical biblicism and sets it in historical, sociological, and philosophical context. He explains why it is an impossible approach to the Bible as an authority and provides constructive alternative approaches to help evangelicals be more honest and faithful in reading the Bible. Far from challenging the inspiration and authority of Scripture, Smith critiques a particular rendering of it, encouraging evangelicals to seek a more responsible, coherent, and defensible approach to biblical authority.

Language: English

Pages: 220

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Brazos Press

Release: August 01, 2011

ISBN: 1587433036

ISBN 13: 9781587433030

More books from Christian Smith

Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers

Lost in Transition: The Dark Side of Emerging Adulthood

3.6/5 ( ratings)

Moral, Believing Animals: Human Personhood and Culture

3.8/5 ( ratings)

The Paradox of Generosity: Giving We Receive, Grasping We Lose

3.7/5 ( ratings)

Passing the Plate: Why American Christians Don't Give Away More Money

3.9/5 ( ratings)

Handing Down the Faith: How Parents Pass Their Religion on to the Next Generation

3.6/5 ( ratings)

Young Catholic America: Emerging Adults In, Out Of, and Gone from the Church

4.1/5 ( ratings)

Christian America?: What Evangelicals Really Want

3.5/5 ( ratings)

Disruptive Religion: The Force of Faith in Social Movement Activism

3.7/5 ( ratings)

Nuclear Rising: A post-apocalyptic action adventure

Building Catholic Higher Education

4.5/5 ( ratings)

Bankerzzz

4.5/5 ( ratings)

Natalie Note

3.5/5 ( ratings)

A Dad's Legacy

Latin American Religion in Motion

Young Catholic America: Emerging Adults In, Out of, and Gone from the Church

Précis Clinique Des Affections Des Voies Urinaires Chez l'Homme, Vol. 1: Anatomie, Urologie, Affections de l'Urèthre (Classic Reprint) (French Edition)

Photovoltaic Notes and the NEC For Grid Direct Systems

The Sacred Project of American Sociology

Religion: What It Is, How It Works, and Why It Matters

Rate this book!

Write a review?