Can Christians Study the New Testament Honestly?

Episode Outline:
0:00 Can committed Christians study the Bible historically and critically?
0:26 Bart and Megan on teaching, undergrads, and new Akkadian classes
4:01 How Bart’s own faith once shaped his biblical scholarship
5:36 From fundamentalism to a more critical historical approach
7:21 How Bart’s conclusions changed once he began reading historically
9:30 Can non-Christians really understand the New Testament?
11:27 What about the claim that you need the Holy Spirit to interpret Scripture?
12:52 How Christian scholars can study a sacred text responsibly
14:51 How Bart handled the tension between faith and historical truth
16:53 When religious conviction starts to distort scholarship
19:04 Why some traditions make critical scholarship harder than others
21:46 Cognitive dissonance, apologetics, and protecting prior beliefs
24:04 Does historical study necessarily weaken Christian faith?
25:28 Can inerrantists still do rigorous academic scholarship?
30:40 What kinds of methods become difficult if every Gospel word must be historical
32:22 Weekly Update: final push for the New Insights conference
38:01 Listener Q&A: prayer in scholarship, software for manuscripts, and learning Koine Greek
45:30 Final summary: bias, faith, and historical method in New Testament studies

Episode Description
Many Christians think that a non-Christian simply can't understand the New Testament fully, since they don't agree with its major teachings. But could an argument be made for the opposite case, that those with a vested interest in the New Testament as a book inspired by God cannot get beyond their theological assumptions to understand what the text is really saying? It seems like an odd question, but can committed Christians really study their own Scriptures honestly? In this episode we consider the issue from several angles, not by assuming that outsiders are necessarily "objective" (is anyone objective?) but by thinking through the complications of the matter.

Also watch these episodes:
New Testament Scholarship for Non-Scholars
New Testament Scholarship for Non-Scholars

Does Biblical Scholarship Destroy Faith?
Does Biblical Scholarship Destroy Faith?

The Scholar and the Savior: Bridging Belief and Critical Study
The Scholar and the Savior: Bridging Belief and Critical Study

Megan asks Bart:

-I’ve heard it argued that people who are not Christians can’t actually understand Christianity, and by extension the New Testament. As an agnostic expert on the NT and early Christianity, what is your opinion?

-What do you think about people who insist that you can’t understand the NT without the guidance of the holy spirit?

-How can or should Christian academics go about understanding a text that they hold to be divine in an historical manner?

-How did you deal with that as you moved away from the faith?

-What factors do you think make it more likely for religious convictions to adversely impact academic research?

-Are there some religious backgrounds, or educational trajectories, that make this easier for academics to do?

-Does maintaining a Christian faith while studying the Bible in an academically rigorous and responsible manner require a level of comfort with cognitive dissonance, or is it really not that difficult?

-Does treating the Bible as an historical text say anything about one’s religious conviction?

-Do you think it’s possible to hold to that commitment of divine inspiration and inerrancy and still conduct rigorous academic research?

-What makes it hard for evangelical academics to do the kind of work that you’ve gone on to do?

-What kinds of methodologies require you to have that suspension of faith?