GWIHW: Ch. 3 The Problem of Biblical Criticism

In chapter 2 Sparks has finally summed up Historical Criticism by suggesting that it is nothing more than reading a text in its context. This suggestion may seem harmless at first glance but it has lead to various “flashpoints” of disagreement between biblical scholarship and conservative evangelical scholarship.

I believe there are two important points at the beginning of this chapter that are worthy to bear in mind:

1. The conclusions of historical criticism do not come from “reckless impiety” but from a very close and thoughtful reading of the text
2. Evangelicals do not reject everything that modern critics say about the Bible

However, there still remain flashpoints of disagreement between different interpretive approaches, and while Sparks claims to have weighed the evidence and at certain times does come down on the side of biblical criticism, in this chapter he is more giving the landscape of disagreement than–I think–trying to persuade the reader to his own HC influenced conclusions.

In all of these flashpoints of disagreement it is important to note that not a single view discussed fails to take the biblical evidence very seriously. The flashpoints of disagreement are:

1. The flashpoint of the Pentateuch
2. The flashpoint of Deuteronomy
3. The flashpoint of the Pentateuch’s legal diversity
4. The development of Israel’s religious institutions
5. Near Eastern Traditions in the Pentateuch
6. The flashpoint of history and exodus
7. The flashpoint of Israelite Historiography
8. The flashpoint of Isaiah
9. The flashpoint of Ezekiel’s Prophecy about Tyre
10. The flashpoint of the Gospels
11. The flashpoint of the Pastoral Epistles
12. The flashpoints of Daniel and Revelation
13. The Bible’s Theological and Ethical Diversity
14. Exegesis in the Bible

In light of the disagreements between critical and traditional readings of Scripture Sparks feels it is fair to ask: given the reluts of HC is it legitimate to read the Bible through the lens of HC in the first place? It is to the traditional responses to this question that he will turn his attention to in the next chapter.