An article concerning the religious right by Alexander Zaitchik on AlterNet got me thinking about biblical literacy. And about the religious right’s ongoing efforts to substitute a form of studied ignorance variously referred to as ‘absolute values’ or a ‘Christian worldview’ in place of a genuine program of biblical literacy.
Zaitchik points to the growing acknowledgment among luminaries of the right concerning the ‘systemic crisis’ of ‘functional Biblical illiteracy among the flock.’ He quotes recent research by the evangelical polling outfit, the Barna Group:
In August of 2005, Barna reported that less than ten percent of born-again Christians held what he termed a "Biblical worldview." Based on his survey, very few grasped the nuances of scripture or believed in "Absolute Truth" any more than their secular counterparts; the "Body of Christ" had been infected with the virus of relativism, a wasting disease.
"Although most people own a Bible and know some of its content," reported Barna, "our research found that most [professed evangelicals] have little idea how to integrate core biblical principles to form a unified and meaningful response to the challenges and opportunities of life."
This is not particularly startling, in that it confirms my own experiences as a youth in various evangelical and pentecostal churches, as well as my current experience in a liberal church. Not a lot of people actually read the Bible in any depth, let alone study it or develop an ability to engage in critical conversation about its contents.
The latter ability is what I would define as genuine biblical literacy. Knowledge of proof texts and so-called ‘biblical values’ (i.e. dogma) does not, in my mind, constitute literacy, any more than the ability to memorize multiplication tables or recite prime numbers constitutes numeracy.
Of course, conservative Christian leaders mostly want their flock to be fluent in carefully prescribed ‘values’ and ‘worldview’, dogmatic assertions which are taken by faith (and by aid of proof-texting) to rest on a ‘biblical’ foundation. Anything that suggests the use of critical method or non-circular hermeneutics is seriously frowned upon. The vast majority of evangelicals don’t know their Bible largely because they’re brought up to read it not as sacred literature but as a source of proof texts and magical formulas for spiritual success. Little wonder ignorance abounds.
I think another reason for the lack of interest is that under such dogmatic oversight, faith becomes largely cultural for so many people. In an environment where every question is already decided, where the Bible is the source of all authoritative dogma and not a living conversation with and about God, really reading the Bible becomes a chore, like high school poetry.
Hear the air of desperation in the following comments by James Dobson, who has now invented a Bible ‘boot camp’ to try to anchor conservative Christians into a more dogmatic approach to their faith:
"Only by understanding the immutable truth claims of Christ," says Dobson in The Truth Project's promotional video, can Christians successfully defend against the "postmodern worldview" in which "God does not exist," "the family is defined as any circle of love," and "homosexuality is the moral equivalent of heterosexuality."
"If we capture and embrace more of God's worldview and trust it with unwavering faith," says Dobson, "then we begin to ... form the appropriate responses to questions on abortion, same-sex marriage, cloning, stem-cell research and even media choices." But the real prize is bigger than any one issue. By fully embracing Truth, religious conservatives can "recapture Western Civilization," which they "invented but have lost."
Hmm… God doesn’t have a ‘worldview’, Dr Dobson. It’s just your view of the world superimposed upon God.
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