Though scholars are united in their lack of confidence in Scripture and supremely confident in their own theories, they are higly critical of each other’s views.
Though scholars are united in their lack of confidence in Scripture and supremely confident in their own theories, they are higly critical of each other’s views.
I was unaware that most scholars lack confidence in Scripture. Most of the ones I know have great confidence in the documents, especially those scholars who approach the Bible from a faith perspective.
Could you elaborate on what he means?
I think he is referring to particular scholars that approach the biblical text with an assumption that in order to believe the text, we must have positive external corroboration. Sort of, “Untrue until proven otherwise.” He is not addressing all scholars (I don’t believe that in this quote he said “most” either) but particular ones that have this approach.
The quote is from: Faith, Tradition and History, 31.
As for my reflections on this. I agree with you that many scholars do have confidence in Scripture, but I personally know quite a few that treat the text with a certain amount of undue and unrealistic skepticism (a certain amount of skepticism is of course very healthy) and, at times, arrogant contempt. But this is certainly not all scholars and probably not even “most” scholars either.
I found the quote quite humorous since it reveals an insight into a human tendency to over-esteem one’s own opinions while easily dismissing other’s ideas.