Comments on: The Problem of Biblical Illiteracy

By: Karen Keil

Karen Keil — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:58:12 +0000

Further comment–I know the article was written by an Evangelical criticizing other Evangelicals. Still, it makes me think. My suggestion that Lutherans should formally teach a structured Bible read/study approach(es) in confirmation and beyond to encourage members to follow is based on personal observations. My father who grew up WELS attended church every Sunday and was confirmed as a teenager. He did not and does not study the Bible on a personal regular basis that I can ever remember. He apparently expects the church services to do all that for him and thinks that study bibles with notes and center reference columns are for preachers only. My siblings after confirmation did not do personal Bible study, even though my youngest sister did return to the Bible later when she was and still is travelling a tough road. I continued to read/study the Bible after confirmation but not on a continued structured basis, even though I could have followed some of the suggested approaches in the “How to Study the Bible” articles found in general Protestant study Bibles (ex. Thompson Chain Reference). As for other Protestants, one story: As a high school student, I talked to a regular Baptist churchgoer student about the Bible and found out she didn’t know a lot about it. She didn’t know what the Book of Job was about until I gave a summary. She then asked how I knew about Job. I said I read it. She to my utter surprise got defensive. I found it of great interest to hear about many former Baptists here on this website becoming Lutherans because they felt there was not much offered beyond ‘getting saved’ to grow into mature Christians. That made me think. Lutheran church services are deep with much material–liturgy, hymns and long Bible readings, as well as the sermons.

By: Bethany Kilcrease

Bethany Kilcrease — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 23:03:13 +0000

As a history professor at a Roman Catholic liberal arts college in the upper Midwest, I would have to argue that Catholic biblical literacy is probably the worst. My husband (who teaches theology and humanities at this college as well) and I are consistently shocked when students (almost all of whom were raised Catholic), for example, do not know the difference between the Old and New Testament. This can’t but be a major problem for the Roman Catholic church today. At the risk of sounding overly triumphalist, I would wager that the LCMS has about the best biblical literacy among its members of any American denomination. Just one story: My husband was guest lecturing in 2 of my World History classes about the Jews in their ancient Near Eastern historical context. The students were unable to identify Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, etc. However, when my husband asked if anyone knew a biblical story about a snake on a pole, one student responded correctly with the Numbers account of the bronze serpent. To me, this was simply amazing, given the inability of anyone else to say anything at all about Abraham or Jacob. I, therefore, had a suspicion and talked to the student later. Sure enough, she’s LCMS.

By: ptmccain

ptmccain — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 19:32:28 +0000

Lindsey, I ask you please to read more carefully before you comment. The blog post is quoting Evangelicals critiquing Evangelicalism.

By: Karen Keil

Karen Keil — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:07:06 +0000

The article has said what I’ve thought for a long time. I’ve felt that structured Bible study methodology wasn’t really taught and post-confirmation I was on my own. Even so, I found out I was more knowledgeable on the Bible than many of my peers based on discussions with them. The Mormon church has a more structured system of scripture and doctrine study for its members from young to old. For high school youth, they have set up “seminaries” near the high schools in many areas where students attend before school or after school for classes in scriptures and doctrine. I don’t think the Lutheran church would go that far, but it should investigate more structured Bible approaches to encourage its members to enroll in. The Lutheran Study Bible is a great book to use for the structured Bible approaches.

By: Lindsey

Lindsey — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:39:10 +0000

Very good article. But let’s be careful about pointing fingers. This isn’t just an “American Evangelical Christian” problem. I think it encompasses pretty much all of the Christian churches in America including Lutherans.

By: Professor David Nienhuis: The Problem of Biblical Illiteracy | eChurch Christian Blog

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:36:49 +0000

[...] cross-post from CyberBrethren, covering a stunning article by David [...]

By: Stuart

Stuart — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:31:52 +0000

Oh my goodness, David Nienhuis has absolutely ‘nailed it’. Wonderful article, thank you for sharing it with us.

By: Janet Young

Janet Young — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:05:11 +0000

Great article! I have posted it on my Facebook profile and fear I may offend some of my FB friends, BUT it is great food for thought that needs to be shared and discussed.

By: Richard

Richard — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 15:46:39 +0000

It is a terrific article. Its wisdom hit me and critique of evangelicalism’s tendency to just memorize passages of Scripture instead of reading the text. Powerful stuff.

By: Garry Trammell

Garry Trammell — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 15:37:03 +0000

Absolutely spot on.