Examines the inroads of historical criticism into evangelical scholarship. Though evangelicals reject many extreme conclusions of liberal scholars, some have adopted their same methodology in the interpretation of the Synoptic Gospels, creating a crisis in evangelical scholarship. The authors show how adopting such methodologies are affecting the next generation of pastors, teachers, and scholars.
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About the Author
Robert L. Thomas (Th.D., Dallas Theological Seminary) is professor of New Testament at The Master's Seminary in Sun Valley California. He is the general editor of The Jesus Crisis (with F. David Farnell), The Master's Perspective on Contemporary Issues and The Master's Perspective on Difficult Passages.
F. David Farnell is Associate Professor of New Testament at The Master's Seminary.
F. David Farnell is Associate Professor of New Testament at The Master's Seminary.
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By Lyndon Unger
Amazon Verified Purchase
...People often get very angry.
This book made a lot of 'conservative' evangelical scholars VERY angry, which is reason in itself to read it. Dr.'s Thomas, Farnell, Osborne, Felix and others take on the sacred cow of 'higher critical theory' and the issues around Markan priority and the various searches for the "Historical Jesus" (who apparently, is loosely related to the fella portrayed in Mathew, Mark, Luke and John). The basic thrust of the book is that dehistorizing of the scripture, fathered by Spinoza and embraced by the German and British Liberals of the 18th and 19th centuries, has infiltrated the biggest and best seminaries and havens of evangelicalism in the form of New Testament Higher Critical scholarship (i.e. the non-Matthean priority schools of thought, as well as the "Historical Jesus" searches/debates) and few people are the wiser.
This book names the names, quotes texts and calls people to task for peddling dangerous and false teaching in the safety of classrooms and accademic journals. This book warns evangelicalism about the dangers of what's going on in the places where they faithfully send their money and find their clergy.
I attended one of these seminaries where all the white haired, faithful saints got newsletters and supported a school, to the tune of millions of dollars, because they were blissfully unaware of what was being taught there. Students were coming hoping to "get to know the bible better" and study a bible that they thought was inspired, inerrant, sufficient, effications, historical and trustworthy (although few arrive knowing the theological terminology). Many of my friends and collegues left believing none of those things and many of them aren't involved in Christianity much, if at all, anymore. I remember sitting in a class and debating with professors about whether or not the canon was closed, the Bible was historically true, the scripture was sufficient for life and godliness, etc. Sadly, one of my profs even celebrated the "diversity" of all the theology in the school (if there is no actual truth, then who cares?).
Evangelical scholarship has always run into problems when they start "trying to be cool" when the unbelieving accademic world is watching (i.e. trying to gain the respect of the unbelieving accademic world)
We see it in events like Bruce Waltke's recent dismissal from RTS in Florida for not wanting to look stupid to the scientific community by embracing biblical creationism.
We see it in RC Sproul, Gary Demar and Hank Hannegraaf for not wanting to look stupid to the skeptical/atheistic community because Matthew 24:34 didn't occur in the way that the skeptics/atheists think it should have, and embracing preterism.
We see it in the life and accademic work of George Eldon Ladd; a man who died alone and in despair because the accademics at Princeton, Harvard and Oxford called him names instead of offered him a job.
And we also see it all over New Testament studies in the "Synoptic Problem" discussions and the "Historical Jesus" stuff.
This book should be on your shelf if you consider yourself a Christian intellectual, pastor or leader. If you haven't read this, you have never heard the "other side" of the debate regarding the 'synoptic problem' or the 'historical jesus'.
This book made a lot of 'conservative' evangelical scholars VERY angry, which is reason in itself to read it. Dr.'s Thomas, Farnell, Osborne, Felix and others take on the sacred cow of 'higher critical theory' and the issues around Markan priority and the various searches for the "Historical Jesus" (who apparently, is loosely related to the fella portrayed in Mathew, Mark, Luke and John). The basic thrust of the book is that dehistorizing of the scripture, fathered by Spinoza and embraced by the German and British Liberals of the 18th and 19th centuries, has infiltrated the biggest and best seminaries and havens of evangelicalism in the form of New Testament Higher Critical scholarship (i.e. the non-Matthean priority schools of thought, as well as the "Historical Jesus" searches/debates) and few people are the wiser.
This book names the names, quotes texts and calls people to task for peddling dangerous and false teaching in the safety of classrooms and accademic journals. This book warns evangelicalism about the dangers of what's going on in the places where they faithfully send their money and find their clergy.
I attended one of these seminaries where all the white haired, faithful saints got newsletters and supported a school, to the tune of millions of dollars, because they were blissfully unaware of what was being taught there. Students were coming hoping to "get to know the bible better" and study a bible that they thought was inspired, inerrant, sufficient, effications, historical and trustworthy (although few arrive knowing the theological terminology). Many of my friends and collegues left believing none of those things and many of them aren't involved in Christianity much, if at all, anymore. I remember sitting in a class and debating with professors about whether or not the canon was closed, the Bible was historically true, the scripture was sufficient for life and godliness, etc. Sadly, one of my profs even celebrated the "diversity" of all the theology in the school (if there is no actual truth, then who cares?).
Evangelical scholarship has always run into problems when they start "trying to be cool" when the unbelieving accademic world is watching (i.e. trying to gain the respect of the unbelieving accademic world)
We see it in events like Bruce Waltke's recent dismissal from RTS in Florida for not wanting to look stupid to the scientific community by embracing biblical creationism.
We see it in RC Sproul, Gary Demar and Hank Hannegraaf for not wanting to look stupid to the skeptical/atheistic community because Matthew 24:34 didn't occur in the way that the skeptics/atheists think it should have, and embracing preterism.
We see it in the life and accademic work of George Eldon Ladd; a man who died alone and in despair because the accademics at Princeton, Harvard and Oxford called him names instead of offered him a job.
And we also see it all over New Testament studies in the "Synoptic Problem" discussions and the "Historical Jesus" stuff.
This book should be on your shelf if you consider yourself a Christian intellectual, pastor or leader. If you haven't read this, you have never heard the "other side" of the debate regarding the 'synoptic problem' or the 'historical jesus'.
By Pastor John
Amazon Verified Purchase
This book should be read by every pastor and elder in the church, so they can understand some of the dangerous trends in Evangelical scholarship. Although a bit dated now, many of the problems predicted in this volume have come to fruition, and yet are flying under the radar of many of the very people called to shepherd and protect the flock. Seminaries that were once the bulwarks of evangelicalism are now deeply engaged in the search for the "historical Jesus" (which is an implicit denial of the historicity of the Gospels)as a result there are men in the pulpit who have been taught that Scripture is unreliable even though they come from seminaries that many believe guarantee their fidelity to scripture.
This is not light reading, it is written by scholars for scholars or graduate students, but it because of its form, it is easily digestible. It may take a while to work through the individual essays but it is doable and profitable for even lay leaders. And unlike many other works of this nature, The Jesus Crisis names names, both of individual scholars and of institutions, which makes the information easily actionable.
If you are entrusted with the spiritual care of the flock, you need to read this book.
This is not light reading, it is written by scholars for scholars or graduate students, but it because of its form, it is easily digestible. It may take a while to work through the individual essays but it is doable and profitable for even lay leaders. And unlike many other works of this nature, The Jesus Crisis names names, both of individual scholars and of institutions, which makes the information easily actionable.
If you are entrusted with the spiritual care of the flock, you need to read this book.
13 of 21 people found the following review helpful
This book shows you the dangers found in much of evangelical scholarship regarding critical study of the gospels. It is an invaluable tool for anyone who wishes to understand how to approach a study of the gospels without compromising the integrity of the texts.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
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While an original approach on the Gospels, The Jesus Crisis uses a acholar voting system to somehow be more confident that the 'Gospel' of Thomas as containing more of Jesus'... Read more
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New book, arrived in excellent shape. I thought it was kind of a long time in arriving though. Approximately 2 weeks after order.
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Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
See all 100 books this book cites
4
books
cite this book:
- THE SYNOPTIC PROBLEM by William R. FARMER on 18 pages
- The History of the Synoptic Tradition by Rudolf Bultmann on 15 pages
- Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (The IVP Bible Dictionary Series) by Joel B Green on 11 pages
- New Testament Introduction (Master Reference Collection) by Donald Guthrie on 9 pages
- The Life of Jesus Critically Examined by David Friedrich Strauss on 8 pages
See all 100 books this book cites
- Biblical Criticism on Trial: How Scientific Is Scientific Theology? by Eta Linnemann on page 208
- Interpreting the New Testament Text: Introduction to the Art and Science of Exegesis by Darrell L. Bock on page 207
- Evangelical Hermeneutics: The New Versus the Old by Robert L. Thomas on page 311
- Charts of the Gospels and the Life of Christ by Robert L. Thomas in Back Matter
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