Views on Scholarship
Life in Year One by Scott Korb Is an interesting book dealing with “What the World was like in First-Century Palestine” (its subtitle). There was not much in it that I had not already learned. Years ago, as a part of our “Hermeneutics” class at Faulkner, under Wendell Winkler, we were required to read and outline a book by brother Wayne Jackson: Background Bible Study.
Jackson’s book may not be written on the same level as Korb’s, but it is, nevertheless, just as helpful, if not more so. Korb writes for the modern person, making references to Madonna, for example. It is an inexpensive, paperback book.
I was not familiar with Korb but, according to his biography on the back cover, he received a graduate degree from Union Theological Seminary. I likely would not have bought the book myself (it was a gift). With some knowledge of church history, I know Union is a theologically liberal university – rejecting belief in the resurrection, for example, or the virgin birth.
As I read Korb’s book, I observed he quoted extensively from a J. D. Crossan. Few of you probably have heard of Crossan. Perhaps you have heard of the Jesus Seminar. It is a group of “scholars” who think they have come up with a method of deciding which statements of Jesus in the Gospels are actually authentic, which might be authentic, and which probably are not authentic. If that is Crossan’s view, you can guess what theological position Korb is coming from since the latter never refutes any position of the former.
To give you an idea of Korb’s views, he uses “biblical continuity problems” as a euphemism for “biblical contradictions.” He accepts that there are such. It does not take much “scholarship” to see that supplementary information is not contradictory information. To show that Korb does subscribe to (at least some of) Crossan’s views, he makes this statement: “whether you believe Jesus ever said these things about the Sabbath…” (pg. 81; fn 6). He does not suggest that he believes Jesus said those things.
He also mishandles the Scriptures in ways like the following… He says there is no archaeological evidence that there was a synagogue in Nazareth (pg. 156) in the first century. Luke explicitly says that Jesus went to the synagogue in Nazareth (4:16). As Korb has left it, the reader would draw the conclusion that Luke just made stuff up. There goes your trust in the Word of God. Relative to archaeology, the absence of evidence is not the same thing as the evidence of absence.
Which brings me to my point. I appreciate Christians who want to do further study into the archaeological, historical, cultural background of biblical passages. The danger is that we can be influenced in ways we do not suspect. There is an even greater danger in passing along such material to non-Christians or uninformed / weak Christians who do not know what is wheat and what is chaff. It is books and teachings like Korb’s and Crossan’s that have undermined the faith of this generation. No wonder 52% of Americans believe Jesus sinned just like everyone else! They’ve been putting garbage into their minds.
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We in the New Testament church have lots of scholars who have written on practically everything you can imagine. Just because their books aren’t carried in your local Barnes and Noble does not mean that brethren in the church are ignorant, unformed themselves, or have nothing to contribute to scholarship. Just to give an example, brother Everett Ferguson’s book Backgrounds of Early Christianity is excellent (as is Jackson’s book).
Brethren in the Lord’schruch have excellent commentaries on most books of the Bible. Just because David Lipscomb did not write “scholarly” or interact with the “scholars” of his day does not mean he can’t contribute to your understanding of Scripture. Be careful that you don’t compare his weak comments to a Protestant’s strong comments and come away thinking that Lipscomb did not know what he was doing, writing a commentary. Every commentary has its weaknesses. I am thankful that contemporary brethren are (finally) putting together a commentary series on the whole Bible, Truth for Today. You may want to add those to your library.
It is disappointing to hear preachers say that there are no good scholars in the church. That statement is made in ignorance or through some type of snobbery or something else. But it is, to be sure, made in ignorance. There are many preachers who are scholarly, even if they do not have a graduate degree.
If you are wanting to do further research in some area, why not start with material written by your faithful brethren? Call a Christian book store (like Gospel Advocate or FHU’s bookstore; chulavistabooks.com or hesterpublications.com) and ask for recommendations. Ask your preacher. E-mail me.
There is plenty of good Protestant material that will help strengthen your faith and knowledge too. You just have to be more careful with their material.
Either way, continue studying and increasing in your own scholarship (2 Peter 3:18).
–Paul Holland
