Relatively few Christadelphians undertake degree-level Biblical Studies. More undertake such study in other “Abrahamic” churches which, along with Christadelphians, originate in the Restoration Movement in the USA in the 1830s; such churches have a supported ministry. This take-up contrasts with the Catholic and Protestant denominations as there are many ministerial colleges and secular universities who service their job market. The common career avenues for those who complete a doctorate in Biblical Studies are teaching and ministry. Hence, there have been very few Christadelphians who choose this subject area to progress a career.
This is a loss to the community as humanities degrees are of equal value in the eyes of companies seeking this level of candidate. From this point of view, choosing Biblical Studies as a degree is to be encouraged as, in the past, community magazines such as The Testimony have benefited from past students writing articles during their time of study. Nevertheless, there are inherent dangers in this choice, as the whole system of research into the Biblical World is very much “owned” by those in the churches.
Ownership of academic Bible Study by those in the churches is seen on many levels. The end of the process – publication – is in many instances governed by denominationally influenced publishers. The beginning of the process is controlled by (usually) confessionally attached academics. Commissioning editors mostly work with academics who are members of the main churches. Within secular universities there is the possibility of neutrality, but knowing where such neutrality lies is a matter of knowing the background of the academics that are in post. With a doctoral degree there is the added danger in the UK system of confessional bias on the part of the examiners.
There is a further issue to mention. The university environment is hostile to faith because the student is not allowed to control his historical research by the view that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. A student’s faith will be subjected to forces that push him or her to adopt liberal views of the Bible. It might therefore seem surprising that we advocate degree level Biblical Studies as a university choice.
There is much of lasting value in such a choice; a value for life. First, there is the grounding in Hebrew and Greek which is of obvious benefit. Second, there is a vast amount of historically pertinent information to be had about the Bible—information that does not call into question beliefs about the Bible.
Accordingly, any challenges to faith can be met head-on and handled. Here a study of Philosophy is valuable for the analytical skills it imparts; these skills help a student pick apart the challenges to faith. Furthermore, for every critical viewpoint on a matter, there is always a conservative counterpoint. So, while there are dangers, there are also paths to follow.
The Library of St. Catherine’s Monastery digitises ancient texts