About This Site

The purpose of this site is to provide reliable information to conservative Christians who want to learn about the Bible. Please note that it avoids discussions of doctrine. In addition, the site is limited in what it covers, as I haven't had the time to do more. I think its most important contributions are the Reading Through the Bible page and its related timelines and the commentary on Matthew.

If all you want to do is to learn about the Bible, you don't need to read rest of this page, which describes my concerns about how conservative Christians approach small but import aspects of approaching the Bible.

A New Conservatism?

Many academics are quietly hostile toward Christianity; some even treat faith in the Bible as ignorant superstition. Based on the enormous advances in scientific understanding, they criticize certain traditional interpretations of the Bible to support their position.

Conservative Christians have responded to this hostility with hostility, rather than turning the other cheek and loving our enemies. I frequently hear that the findings of scientists can't be trusted. Christian theories about creation contradict what is now established fact. Sadly, this simply reinforces the claims made against us, that faith in the Bible is irrational and ignorant.

At the same time, liberal Bible scholars have gained influence over our teachings. Conservative scholars are forced to play by liberal rules or they are discredited. The chief rule is, "Explanations cannot be based on supernatural presuppositions." This rule works well for Physics, but it also means that scholars may not assume that God inspired the Bible or that the miracles described in the Bible were actually miraculous; in fact, scholars may not assume that God exists at all. Needless to say, assuming that God doesn't exist when he does means that most liberal explanations of the Bible are wrong. I say he does exist. Liberal theories have leaked into conservative teachings, and they have suppressed real discussion among conservative scholars, who spend a great deal of time countering the liberals.

Finally, conservative Christians are not reading the Bible as much as they used to. I don't want to go back to denominations, "You're going to Hell!" battles over doctrine, and puffed up individuals flaunting their Bible knowledge at every opportunity, but ordinary Christians used to read the Bible much more than they do today, and it shows. God gave us his word so that he could speak to our hearts and minds, and we ignore him to our own loss.

Moving Forward

The new conservatism should keep what is good and move to correct our weaknesses. I have four points.

First and foremost, conservative Christians must stop battling with the World; the only winner of that fight is Satan. We must fix our eyes on Jesus and trust God to deal with the World however he sees fit. For those of us privileged to live in democracies, we should participate as citizens, but we must not get caught up in our societies' problems or try to force our views on others. This only breeds more opposition and ruins our witness.

Second, those who wish to lead the way in teaching the Bible must absorb new scientific findings and make changes to conservative teachings about Genesis chapters 1 through 11. Then Christians can take the high ground, pointing out that our viewpoint is both true and rational, as Paul said to the Roman governor in Acts 26:24–25. Let me point out that, in general, the Bible has stood up well to critical examination, which is a strong witness to its inspiration. The early chapters of Genesis do not need to be an exception.

Third, we must step back and reexamine what we teach based on sound historical evidence, placing great emphasis on what the Bible says. This would not involve any big changes; rather, it would involve correcting certain relatively minor points about the dates of the New Testament books. This would not change any major teachings or doctrines, but it would make understanding the books in their original context easier and remove some apparent "contradictions."

Fourth, conservatives must emphasize reading the Bible as much as they used to. Conservative scholars need to create reliable commentaries that ignore liberal theories completely and focus on drawing out the meaning of each book, written in a way that anyone can read.