This might seem self-serving, but I want to give everyone a warning: there is a role for historical critical biblical studies. Many theologians, Catholic and otherwise, decry, disparage, deprecate and condemn the guild of biblical scholars and the role of historical critical scholarship in understanding, or destroying access they might say, to the Bible. Yet, the sad spectacle that played out with Harold Camping and his followers this past weekend indicates how significant it is to read the Bible with the proper training and tools. Harold Camping was self-trained, as far as I can tell, in his biblical scholarship and the literalism of his readings of Genesis, Daniel, and Revelation would not pass muster in a introductory course on the Bible in any university or seminary, public or private, of which I am aware. We study the Bible through the lenses of the original languages, a theory of history, hermeneutics, literary function, genre and method.  I know, right? Hardly as exciting as the end of the world coming this Tuesday, or Saturday, or next month, sometimes even downright boring, technical, and skeptical. Rarely are social media abuzz with historical critical scholarship, with Facebook pages called “Stuff Rudolf Bultmann Says” or Twitter hash tags like #redactioncriticismfun. Now, it is true, that sometimes biblical scholars go overboard in their historical evaluation of texts and their hyper-skepticism, but such scholarship does not cause people to run out and sell their houses or quit their jobs. What the offended parties can do, in fact, is simply find someone else to read on the topic or do a little more research or learn one of the original languages themselves and come to their own conclusions. It also points to a few realities, though, that need to be kept in mind the next time people want to dismiss historical critical biblical scholarship:

1. Formal education in biblical studies does not guarantee wisdom or even access to the truth of texts, but you will be taught about mythic language and literary genre and that we cannot take literally all events in the Bible or use them for dating since we do not know when many events took place or even if they were historical events;

2. You will be taught that texts ought to be interpreted according to genre and that certain texts are to be interpreted literally, but others ought to be interpreted spiritually, morally or anagogically. Interpretation is not a “one size fits all” enterprise and when you try to force that shoe onto a foot it does not fit, it hurts, in some cases it hurts many people;

3. You will be trained to become a part of the history of interpretation, both academically and ecclesially, and not only will this introduce you to many different sorts of interpretation and interpreters, it will let you know that most everything has been suggested before. This creates moderation in interpretation, which is not as much fun as runaway enthusiasm, but in the long run is healthier and invigorating. Invigorating? Being a part of an historical enterprise over 2,000 years old encourages you to take a long view of events and God’s ways in the world, but how many other enterprises are over 2,000 years old? I do what Origen did, and Augustine, and Moses Maimonides…The list goes on and on;

4. You will learn not to put all of your eggs in one basket, or trust in one interpreter or interpretation to the exclusion of all others. Since you know of the many crazy interpretations which have occurred throughout Christian history and since you know the historical context of the texts, you will want to examine any interpretation carefully and be very suspicious, even dismissive, of anyone who says they have “figured it all out;”

5. You will beware of any cults of personalities, which propose that “your guy” is the “guy who has figured it all out.” Given that such complete interpretations of the Bible go back to the earliest history of Christianity and a variety of sects in Judaism , you know that this is a path that walks you into a dead-end or, worse, off of a cliff. You will beware of such people, which predominate more often in small sects but are often found in mainline churches, too, because charismatic leaders promise much but deliver so little. It is especially disheartening when their holistic readings of the Bible crack under the strain of reason and reality;

6. You will discover that the reason historical critical research became popular in the academy, and is the mode of interpretation found in all universities and the vast majority of seminaries, is not because of an attempt to devalue the Bible but because it makes sense of reality and of the texts. Historical critical readings of the Bible are challenged today because the ground upon which such readings were founded is solid: an examination of the textual, literary and historical contexts in which the biblical books were written is a firm foundation for research. This does not mean every historical reading is correct, or that spiritual readings ought to be dismissed, or that there are not philosophical presuppositions that underlie certain scholars’ work – dismissal of the divine inspiration of the text – that cannot be shared by Christians or the Church, but the worthy success of the enterprise is established in the fact that readers of all sorts, Catholics, Orthodox, Protestant and Jewish, and those without faith, have found that the historical critical enterprise is built on solid ground and cannot be toppled;  

7.  It will cause you to have a great deal of sympathy for Harold Camping and his followers, for the story has been told so often throughout Christian history, and you wish only the best for a man and his followers who today feel duped and ridiculed; it will also cause you to feel sorry that so many people will find the Bible an object of ridicule today, when you know it has been a force of sustenance and strength for Jews and Christians throughout periods of turmoil, persecution and martyrdom;

8. And you will want to say: do not give up on the Bible. Check out an established university or seminary and take a course. You might be surprised by how much there is to learn.

 John W. Martens

Follow me on Twitter @johnwmartens

John W. Martens is an associate professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn,where he teaches early Christianity and Judaism. He also directs the Master of Arts in Theology program at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity. He was born in Vancouver, B.C. into a Mennonite family that had decided to confront modernity in an urban setting. His post-secondary education began at Tabor College, Hillsboro, Kansas, came to an abrupt stop, then started again at Vancouver Community College, where his interest in Judaism and Christianity in the earliest centuries emerged. He then studied at St. Michael's College, University of Toronto, and McMaster University, with stops at University of Haifa and University of Tubingen. His writing often explores the intersection of Jewish, Christian and Greco-Roman culture and belief, such as in "let the little children come to me: Children and Childhood in Early Christianity" (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2009), but he is not beyond jumping into the intersection of modernity and ancient religion, as in "The End of the World: The Apocalyptic Imagination in Film and Television" (Winnipeg: J. Gordon Shillingford Press, 2003). He blogs at  www.biblejunkies.com and at www.americamagazine.org for "The Good Word." You can follow him on Twitter @biblejunkies, where he would be excited to welcome you to his random and obscure interests, which range from the Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Timberwolves, to his dog, and 70s punk, pop and rock. When he can, he brings students to Greece, Turkey and Rome to explore the artifacts and landscape of the ancient world. He lives in St. Paul with his wife and has two sons. He is certain that the world will not end until the Vancouver Canucks have won the Stanley Cup, as evidence has emerged from the Revelation of John, 1 Enoch, 2 Baruch, and 4 Ezra which all point in this direction.