Chapter 1: "Biblicism and the Problem of Pervasive Interpretive Pluralism"
Christian Smith deals with two main issues in this chapter: a) what he means by "biblicism", and b) the problems there are with "pervasive interpretive pluralism".
A. Biblicism
Smith gives the definition of biblicism that he is working with throughout this book, acknowledging that the word "biblicism" means different things to different people. In his use of the word he is referring to a particular theory and style of using the Bible, which is made up of a constellation of assumptions and beliefs related to the Bible's nature and purpose and function. This constellation is made up of 9 basic assumptions or beliefs which result in a 10th summary viewpoint:
1. Divine writing - the details of the Bible's words consists of and is identical to God's very own words written inerrantly in human language.
2. Total representation - the Bible represents the totality of God's communication to and His will for humanity...
3. Complete coverage - God's will about all relevant issues to Christian belief and life is contained in the Bible.
4. Democratic perspicuity - any reasonably intelligent person can read Scripture in his/her language and understand correctly the plain meaning of the text.
5. Commonsense hermeneutics - we best understand the Bible texts by reading them in their explicit, plain, literal sense as the author intended them (which may or may not take account of their literary, cultural, and historical contexts).
6. Solo Scriptura - theological formations can be built directly out of the Bible from scratch with no need of any other help such as creeds, confessions, historical traditions, etc.
7. Internal harmony - all related Bible passages about a particular subject fit together into a unified and internally consistent body of instructions for correct or incorrect beliefs and behavior.
8. Universal applicability - whatever the authors taught God's people at any point in history applies universally for all believers at every time, unless explicitly revoked by subsequent scriptural teaching.
9. Inductive method - all issues of Christian belief and practice can be learned by piecing together through careful study the clear "biblical" truths that it teaches.
These 9 assumptions or beliefs generate a 10th viewpoint that is common in popular biblicist belief and practice:
10. Handbook model - the Bible teaches doctrine and morals in its affirmations, and these affirmations together comprise sort of a manual or handbook for Christian belief and living, covering an array of topics from science to economics to health to romance, etc.
The author goes on to explain that different persons and groups emphasize and express a variety of these points in different ways, so his point isn't to say that biblicism is a unified doctrine practiced and believed in the same way by all believers. His point is to say that to one degree or another these 10 interrelated assumptions and beliefs are behind and give life to the viewpoints and practices of major parts of institutional and popular conservative American Protestantism, particularly evangelicalism.
Smith gives examples of biblicism as found in evangelical popular (folk) culture, in Christian institutions, and in Christian scholarly declarations. These examples range from the cruder folk sayings to the more sophisticated expressions of belief by scholars and church leaders. Some examples are the following:
- Sayings such as: "God said it, I believe it, that settles it!"; "BIBLE - Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth"; "Confused? Read the Directions!"(picture of the Bible)...etc.
- Book titles:
- Bible Answers for Almost All Your Questions
- 100 Biblical Tips to Help You Live a More Peaceful and Prosperous Life
- Cooking with the Bible
- Business by the Book
- God's Blueprint for Building Marital Intimacy
- God Honoring Finances
- Politics and the Christian
- etc., etc.
- Doctrinal statements of Christian institutions, such as divinity school which includes this: "We believe the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, to be the inspired Word of God, without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for the salvation of me and the Divine and final authority for all Christian faith and life."
- A well-known Bible institute states a commonly held view: "...the authority of the Bible, which declares timeless truth that is relevant today."
- A theological seminary states in its beliefs: "...the Holy Scripture contains a system of doctrine. We deny that the Holy Scripture lacks doctrinal unity on any point of doctrine, or that it does not always agree with itself. We affirm that the Holy Scripture is harmonious in all its teachings..."
- Evangelical parachurch organizations typically have doctrinal statements that include declarations such as: "We believe that the Bible...is the revelation of God to mankind, is verbally and fully inspired by Him, is sufficient for the knowledge of God and His will that is necessary for the eternal welfare of mankind, and is infallible and inerrant in its original manuscripts, and is the supreme and final authority for all Christian faith and conduct."
