Conservative Protestant views of Scripture have not moved much beyond the fundamentalist-modernist controversies of the early twentieth century. Today, discussions must evolve and become transparently conversant with recent scholarly developments. Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Authority of Scripture provides contemporary reflections on the most pressing challenges facing inerrancy today. Whatever your current position, this volume will deepen your understanding of the authority of Scripture. TABLE OF CONTENTS and CONTRIBUTORS: Foreword by William Abraham / ix Editor's Preface by Carlos R. Bovell / xvii Historical Perspectives 1 No Creed but the Bible, No Authority Without the Church: American Evangelicals and the Errors of Inerrancy --D. G. Hart / 3 2 The Subordination of Scripture to Human Reason at Old Princeton--Paul Seely / 28 3 The Modernist-Fundamentalist Controversy, the Inerrancy of Scripture, and the Development of American Dispensationalism --Todd Mangum / 46 4 The Cost of Prestige: E. J. Carnell's Quest for Intellectual Orthodoxy--Seth Dowland / 71 5 "Inerrancy, a Paradigm in Crisis"--Carlos R. Bovell / 91 Biblical Perspectives 6 Inerrancy and Evangelical Old Testament Scholarship: Challenges and the Way Forward--J. Daniel Hays / 109 7 Theological Diversity in the Old Testament as Burden or Divine Gift? Problems and Perspectives in the Current Debate--Richard Schultz / 133 8 "But Jesus Believed That David Wrote the Psalms . . ." --Stephen Dawes / 164 9 Some Thoughts on Theological Exegesis of the Old Testament: Toward a Viable Model of Biblical Coherence and Relevance--Peter Enns / 183 10 Inerrantist Scholarship on Daniel: A Valid Historical Enterprise? --Stephen Young / 204 11 The Implications of New Testament Pseudonymy for a Doctrine of Scripture--Stanley E. Porter / 236 Theoretical Perspectives 12 Issues in Forming a Doctrine of Inspiration--Craig Allert / 259 13 How Evangelicals Became Overcommitted to the Bible and Wha Can Be Done about It--J. P. Moreland / 289 14 Biblical Authority: A Social Scientist's Perspective --Brian Malley / 303 15 Authority Redux: Epistemology, Philosophy of Science, and Theology--Christian Early / 323 16 Scripture and Prayer: Participating in God --Harriet A. Harris / 344 17 "A Certain Similarity to the Devil": Historical Criticism and Christian Faith--Gregory Dawes / 354 18 Critical Dislocation and Missional Relocation: Scripture's Evangelical Homecoming--Telford Work / 371 List of Contributors / 397

It has been some time since Catholic and liberal Protestant theologians stopped writing seriously on bibliology. Meanwhile, conservative evangelical theologians guard against the introduction of new ideas. In an effort to make headway through this gridlock, Carlos Bovell has commissioned a roundtable discussion on the prospect of whether the inspiration of Scripture might extend beyond authors and texts, and if so, what this might entail for the authority of Scripture. Taken together, the essays in this volume make an invaluable contribution to contemporary literature on the inspiration and authority of the Bible.

Before the 1960s, the goal of New Testament Textual Criticism was singular: to retrieve the "original text" of the New Testament. Since then, the goalpost has incrementally shifted away from the "original text" to retrieving "any text" or "many texts" of the NT. Some scholars have even concluded that the "original text" is hopelessly lost and cannot be retrieved with any confidence or accuracy. Other scholars have gone a step further to claim that the idea of an "original text" itself is a misconception that needs to be abandoned. If this new approach in NTTC is correct, then the authority of Scripture is weakened or no longer valid. It will be shown in this book that such is not the case. Furthermore, emphasis will be placed on the need to return to the traditional goalpost of NTTC, i.e., to retrieve the original text. Without a generally definitive text, the door will be left wide open to recreate any desired text of the NT. An unsettled original text will result in an unsettled biblical theology due to a lack of any authoritative and standard text. Consequently, it will lead to an unsettled Christian faith and practice.

Challenges to the reliability of Scripture are perennial and have frequently been addressed. However, some of these challenges are noticeably more common today, and the topic is currently of particular interest among evangelicals. In this volume, highly regarded biblical scholar Craig Blomberg offers an accessible and nuanced argument for the Bible's reliability in response to the extreme views about Scripture and its authority articulated by both sides of the debate. He believes that a careful analysis of the relevant evidence shows we have reason to be more confident in the Bible than ever before. As he traces his own academic and spiritual journey, Blomberg sketches out the case for confidence in the Bible in spite of various challenges to the trustworthiness of Scripture, offering a positive, informed, and defensible approach.

Walton and Sandy summarize what we know of orality and oral tradition as well as the composition and transmission of texts in the ancient Near East and the Greco-Roman world, and how this shapes our understanding of the Old and New Testaments. The authors then translate these insights into a helpful model for understanding the reliability of Scripture.

The notion that the Bible is inerrant in everything it teaches is something those with conservative upbringings are conditioned to take for granted. However, after being exposed to scholarship in biblical studies and other disciplines, some draw the unexpected conclusion that inerrancy as a doctrine is in dire need of serious revamping. Unfortunately, inerrantist politics and culture are making the constructive, restorative process impossible to intitiate. In Rehabilitating Inerrancy in a Culture of Fear, Carlos Bovell offers a synoptic overview of the issues to be addressed if inerrancy is to survive as a viable bibliological option.

ERT publishes quality articles and book reviews from around the world (both original and reprinted) from an evangelical perspective, reflecting global evangelical scholarship for the purpose of discerning the obedience of faith, and of relevance and importance to its international readership of theologians, educators, church leaders, missionaries, administrators and students. The journal is published as a ministry rather than as a commercial project, seeking to be of service to the worldwide spread of the gospel and the building up of the church and its leadership, in co-ordination with the World Evangelical Alliance’s broader mission and activities.

Misusing Scripture offers a thorough and critical evaluation of American evangelical scholarship on the Bible. This strand of scholarship exerts enormous influence on the religious beliefs and practices, and even cultural and political perspectives, of millions of evangelical Christians in the United States and worldwide. The book brings together a diverse array of authors with expertise on the Bible, religion, history, and archaeology to critique the nature and growth of "faith-based" biblical scholarship. The chapters focus on inerrancy and textual criticism, archaeology and history, and the Bible in its ancient and contemporary contexts. They explore how evangelicals approach the Bible in their biblical interpretation, how "biblical" archaeology is misused to bolster distinctive views about the Bible, and how disputed interpretations of the Bible impact issues in the public square. This unique and timely volume contributes to a greater understanding and appreciation of how contemporary American evangelicals understand and use the Bible in their private and public lives. It will be of particular interest to scholars of biblical studies, evangelical Christianity, and religion in the United States.

"Over time, more psychologists have become contributors to cognitive science of religion (CSR), but when are they doing CSR and when are they doing psychology of religion? Does it matter? In this chapter, contemporary scientific reflections on notions of death and the afterlife are sketched to illustrate the subtle differences between CSR and psychology of religion. These kindred scientific approaches overlap considerably, but attention to their central differences will assist scholars in finding complementarity, thereby improving both schools of inquiry and their contributions to each other. After developing this thesis, this chapter introduces the organization and flow of the volume as a whole. Beginning with general theoretical and methodological foundations, the volume then considers specific applications of CSR to substantive topics such as beliefs in gods, sacred texts, sacred objects, and ritualized behaviors, before turning to how these domains of cultural expression are sometimes joined (or not) into religious systems. The volume ends with comparisons between CSR and two other neighboring approaches (evolutionary studies of religion and neuroscience of religion) and, finally, implications of CSR for philosophy of religion, religious education, and theology"--

Say the words "evangelical worship" to anyone in the United States -- even if they are not particularly religious -- and a picture will likely spring to mind unbidden: a mass of white, middle-class worshippers with eyes closed, faces tilted upward, and hands raised to the sky. Yet despite the centrality of this image, many scholars have underestimated evangelical worship as little more than a manipulative effort to arouse devotional exhilaration. It is frequently dismissed as a reiteration of nineteenth-century revivalism or a derivative imitation of secular entertainment -- three Christian rock songs and a spiritual TED talk. But by failing to engage this worship seriously, we miss vital insights into a form of Protestantism that exerts widespread influence in the United States and around the world. Evangelical Worship offers a new way forward in the study of American evangelical Christianity. Weaving together insights from American religious history and liturgical studies, and drawing on extensive fieldwork in seven congregations, Melanie C. Ross brings contemporary evangelical worship to life. She argues that corporate worship is not a peripheral "extra" tacked on to a fully-formed spiritual, political, and cultural movement, but rather the crucible through which congregations forge, argue over, and enact their unique contributions to the American mosaic known as evangelicalism.