This is an index post of my thoughts as I read:
The End of Biblical Studies (2007)
by Hector Avalos
- Introduction:
— Hyperbole
— Hector Avalos’ Unfortunate Hyperbole
— The Death of Biblical Literacy - 1. Translations: Hiding in Plain Sense
— Translation Pathways
— The Pup of God - 2. Textual Criticism: “The Original Sin”
— NT Sources and Translations - 3. History and Archaeology: Fields Full of Holes
- 4. The Unhistorical Jesus
- 5. Literary Criticism: Aesthetics as Apologetics
— The Bible is not a Literary Masterpiece - 6. Biblical Theology: The Pathology of Bibliolatry
- 7. Academia: Religionism by Degrees
- 8. The Society of Biblical Literature
- 9. The Media-Publishing Complex
- 10. Conclusion
Hector Avalos, Ph.D.
Hector Avalos was born in Mexico in 1958. As a young child moved to USA to help his grandmother, a Pentecostal. He became a Child Evangelist & Faith Healer at 7 years old! In High School he decided to be great missionary and taught himself Greek & Hebrew to defeat heretics! In college, at 20 years-old, he became an atheist after finally understanding the scriptures he use to preach. He received his bachelor degree in Anthropology from the University of Arizona and this Master and Doctorate degrees from Harvard. He is now professor of Religious Studies at Iowas State University.
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Related Posts:
1. My first post discussion a short lecture by Dr. Avalos.
2. Wiki Article on Dr. Avalos
3. List of other publications by Dr. Avalos.
Looks super, looking forward to the posts.
This is an excellent book. I had to disagree with Hector on a few points, however. The main point, and this is largely personal, is that it is safe to criticize a field of studies when you’ve got a tenured position within it. The problem is the rest of us poor slobs who came to realize the problems of our chosen field after we’d already shackled ourselves with a useless PhD in biblical studies. Hey, you wouldn’t want to have a whole horde of guys like me loose out on the streets, now, would you?
@ Steve
Indeed, I can’t imagine this book being more personal to anyone but you, Steve. I have thought of you several times as I read it. Thanks for popping in.
Thanks, Sabio. It’s funny — I know Hector (from mutual research interests, although we’ve never met) and I largely agree with him. One of the ironies of life is that you go along a career path somewhat naively until you find you’ve gone too far. I think I’d figured out that church work was not for me long before I finished seminary, but when I needed to decide on a field for further study, well, I’d already done the pre-req for an advanced degree in Bible. Of course, back then in the 80’s nobody would have guessed that the humanities would suffer an immense academic collapse. (I’m just finishing a killer semester, so I should be able to visit a little more often now!)
@ Steve
I have changed careers severely several times and I have changed ideologies a few times.
I use to be an Accupuncturist, a Homeopathy, A Christian, a Marxist.
You are right, the deeper one is buried in commitment — financially, friends, time and MONEY, the harder it is to give up the intellectual commitment. Objectivity vanishes.