Biblical "Scholarship"

by   Keith Ninomiya                                                                                                                                   Vol. XIII, No. 9, Nov/Dec 2000

The fifth annual convocation of the North Carolina chapter of the Alliance of Baptists was hosted by Greenwood Forest Baptist Church in Cary, North Carolina, on September 18-19, 1992. According to the convocation program, the preacher for the closing worship service was Margaret B. Via, identified as the chaplain at the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond (BTSR). Listed as the co-presiding minister and lector was Dan O. Via, identified as a visiting professor of New Testament at BTSR. Dan O. Via was a signer of the notorious document entitled "In Defense of Freedom of Conscience: A Cooperative Baptist/Secular Humanist Declaration."

Former BTSR professor Glenn Hinson and former BTSR trustee Stan Hastey also were signers of this statement. The Declaration presented a consensus statement and reflected common ground between Baptist and secular humanist (atheist) scholars, which included biblical scholarship.

In the Declaration's section on biblical scholarship, Baptist scholars Dan O. Via, T. C. Smith, Edgar McKnight, and Alan Culpepper were praised for their biblical scholarship. Via has taught at Duke Divinity School. Smith has taught at Southern Seminary and Furman University and has served on the BTSR Development Council. McKnight has served as chair and professor of religion at Furman University. Culpepper has served as associate dean of the school of theology and professor of New Testament at Southern Seminary. Later, he was a professor of religion at Baylor University. Culpepper currently serves as the dean of Mercer University's McAfee School of Theology, which is CBF-funded, and he was an early participant in the infamous Jesus Seminar.

In the Declaration's section on biblical scholarship, we read the following: "Dogma is no substitute for rigorous research, and the integrity of inquiry must take precedence over demands for doctrinal conformity or censorship ... Scholars should not be compelled to adopt a simple literal or inerrant interpretation, but need to draw upon the best linguistic, literary, archaeological, and historical research that is available . . . The latter quarter of the twentieth century has spawned a version of literary criticism that is becoming increasingly sensitive to the diversity of literary styles and genres in the Bible. Historical criticism's drive to uncover, if possible, the actual events of biblical times is joined by a new and equally powerful drive. The new literary criticism boldly claims that the authors and traditions producing the biblical texts harbored deep theological, moral, aesthetic, and literary interests that permitted them to reshape and even invent putative historical events. Furthermore, the new literary criticism has taken a fresh look at biblical myths to discover their power, value, and limitations."

[Comment: First, two informational notes. (1) The Alliance of Baptists (nee The Southern Baptist Alliance) is a small but -- from a conservative's perspective -- extremely radical Baptist group. Alliance policies strongly support female pastors, homosexuality as a lifestyle equal in God's eyes to heterosexuality, etc. And a number of individuals holding responsible Alliance positions also are significant players in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. (2) Margaret B. Via and Dan O. Via are NOT to be confused with soundly conservative Virginia evangelist Rick L. Via of Blue Ridge.

Second, an organizational observation. Note that those signers of the "Cooperative Baptist/Secular Humanist Declaration" mentioned above had held no less than six teaching positions at national or state Southern Baptist colleges, universities, and/or seminaries. Praise God that -- at least at the national level -- Southern Baptists now have more biblical standards for their schools' faculties and staffs.

Third, a substantive comment. Review the last paragraph while asking yourself what is the premise upon which such a view of the Bible and biblical scholarship is based. Clearly it is that the Bible is not the revealed Word of God, a God Who cannot err, but rather that the Bible is a human book written by men who were products of their times with all the limitations that implies. The authors "invent putative historical events", i.e., the authors lied, they made up events to strengthen their accounts. Moreover, the Bible contains myths. May we thank God that such heresy is no longer being spawned at SBC seminaries, and may we pray that our state Baptist schools will also return to the full authority of God's inerrant Word. TCP]