The End of Biblical Studies

523 Pages·2007·7.3 MB·English

by  Hector Avalos

ABBREVIATIONS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
NOTES TO THE READERS
INTRODUCTION
Brief Statement of Our Thesis
Irrelevance Defined
Irrelevance by the Numbers
The Paradox of Biblical Scholarship
Canons and Professionalism
Anti-intellectualism and Our Thesis
The End of Everything?
Personal Background
Organization
Summary
PART 1: HOW THE MAIN SUBDISCIPLINES OF BIBLICAL STUDIES
CONCEAL THE IRRELEVANCE OF THE BIBLE
CHAPTER 1: TRANSLATIONS: HIDING IN PLAIN SENSE
Basic Translation Theory
Dynamic/Functional Equivalence
Politically Correct Polytheism
Creating Mistranslations
Numerous Mistranslations
Dehumanizing Humanism
Sugarcoating Jesus
Engendering Inclusivity
Sanitizing Anti-Judaism
Summary
CHAPTER 2: TEXTUAL CRITICISM: "THE ORIGINAL SIN"
Theological Origins
The Illusion of "The Original"
Why We Can't Recover "The Original"
The Masoretic Text
The Dead Sea Scrolls
Is There a Final Form of a Text?
Religionism and the Dead Sea Scrolls
The New Testament
The Textus Receptus
The Textus Receptus Overthrown?
The Nestle-Aland/UBS Editions
Arbitrary Methods
Are Central Teachings Affected?
Mark 16:9-20
John 7:53-8:11
1 John 5:7-8
Summary
CHAPTER 3: HISTORYAND ARCHAEOLOGY. FIELDS FULL
OF HOLES
Is Postmodernism the Problem?
Minimalists and Maximalists
Knowledge, Fact, and Belief
Dever and Windschuttle
Dever Goes to Pots
Tel Dan about David?
Solomon and Bill's Gates
Out on a Date
Solomon's Palace?
Forging Ahead
The Divided Monarchy and Statehood
Nationalism and Archaeology
Nationalism and Chronology
King Arthur as Analogy
Arthurian Archaeology
So What Do We Know?
Summary
CHAPTER 4: THE UNHISTORICAL JESUS
Resurrecting the Resurrection
Marian Apparitions and the Resurrection
Selective Supernaturalism
The Liberal Academic Jesuses
The Jesus Seminar
Stanley Porter's New Criteria
Why We Cannot Make Progress
Other Gospels Change Everything
Summary
CHAPTER 5: LITERARY CRITICISM: AESTHETICS AS
APOLOGETICS
A Brief History of Aesthetics
Is Isaiah 40 a Masterpiece?
Symmetry and Beauty
Is Dissymmetry Ugly?
Artistry and Creativity
Alphabet Soup
Narrative Beauty?
Law, Education, and Aesthetics
Ethics and Aesthetics
Summary
CHAPTER 6: BIBLICAL THEOLOGY: THE PATHOLOGY OF
BIBLIOLATRY
Historical Background
Walther Eichrodt
Walter Brueggemann
Jon D. Levenson
Feminist Theologies
Liberation Theologies
Summary
PART 2: THE INFRASTRUCTURE OF BIBLICAL STUDIES
CHAPTER 7: ACADEMIA: RELIGIONISM BY DEGREES
Twentieth-Century Rationales
Harvard University
The University of Chicago
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill