The Bible Made Impossible: Why Biblicism Is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture [Hardcover]

For some time now, I have been aware of the interpretive quagmire that exists in the Protestant world, but I have been unable to construct a model that fully explains it. Christian Smith's book has done that for me. I limit my remarks to the Protestant world, because it is that world that proclaims the principle of sola scriptura yet cannot find common agreement. (The Catholics and Orthodox have their own set of problems to deal with.)

I was once satisfied with the Evangelical mantra so often used to excuse the diversity of Biblical interpretation - "In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things charity," but then, that was when I thought as a child. Smith has clearly debunked that common rationalization by carefully analyzing the axioms of Biblicism and finding them to be wanting as illustrated by the widespread interpretive diversity we find among Evangelicals even in the essentials.

It is his view that Evangelicals have to come to terms with the Biblicist model of the scriptures because that model can't deliver what it is supposed to be able to deliver. However, the fact that it can't deliver unity of understanding is not actually Smith's primary objection. His real objection is to the tenets of Biblicism that suggest that the Bible is so plain, uncomplicated, cohesive, and internally consistent that it SHOULD produce a consensus of meaning. He presents the challenge in this way: "If the Bible is given by a truthful and omnipotent God as an internally consistent and perspicuous text precisely for the purpose of revealing to humans correct beliefs, practices, and morals, then why is it that the presumably sincere Christians to whom it has been given cannot read it and come to common agreement about what it teaches?"

This is a valid question which, as Smith documents, has been raised by others as well, but has been swept under the carpet, ignored, or rationalized for a long time. Smith is convinced that it is high time for Evangelicals to confront the discrepancies of their Biblicist view of scripture. He does not promise, however, that a different view will remove interpretive pluralism. In fact, he suggests that we might just have to live with it, get used to some ambiguity, and stop pressing for harmonization in every detail. He offers the concept of accommodation (God's condescension to man) and a Christocentric approach to scripture as potential ways out of the conundrum.

Unless one takes the "dictation" approach to scripture, one must agree that the "very word of God" is packaged in a container of the "very word of man." If we recognize that God's revelation to man is limited by the nature of the finite beings he is dealing with, then we can understand that God's "perfect revelation" to man is framed by the intricacies of language, the complexities of culture, and the limits of finitude in understanding the infinite. In fact, these things are so limiting that God eventually "had to" represent himself in human form in order to be fully understood. Even so, "He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not." Not even the disciples "got it" much of the time.

This focal point, the Incarnate (W)ord, as testified to in the written (w)ord, Smith insists, is the only focus that makes sense and is actually perspicuous as the central theme of the Bible - that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. Instead of reading the Bible from the beginning, the reading of the Bible must happen from its central point, outward, toward its edges. We are to look for "Jesus reconciling the world unto God" in every page, even those that seem completely unrelated, but we are not to press to find him there if the text seems obscure. Where we cannot harmonize passages of scripture, we let them be. This is a fundamental departure from Biblicism because it does not insist that we find meaning where there is ambiguity or apparent contradiction.

Finally, Smith contends that the revelation of God may be complete, but our understanding of that revelation is not. The Bible is inspired and authoritative, but that does not remove the interpretive task that lies before each generation of believers. Indeed, each individual believer is faced with the challenge of mapping his own understanding of what the gospel means under the direction of the Holy Spirit. The gospel is dynamic and life-changing not just once, but every day of a believer's life. It is the pursuit of Christ that Smith calls us to in both our reading of the scriptures and in our everyday lives.

Christian Smith has ably identified the elephant in the room. Now, the question is, "What are we Evangelicals going to do about it?" We can pretend that it isn't there. We can notice it, and then ignore it. Or, we can realize that the elephant could overturn the hors d'oeuvre table and wreak havoc in the room. Together, we might be able to figure out a way to remove it. I say, let's try to figure out how to remove it from the room. Christian Smith has given us the first step - recognizing that it is, indeed, a very big elephant.

I could not put this book down. And after reading it through the first time, I brought it with me to the pool the next day and read it again! While affirming Scripture's inspiration and authority, Smith says out loud what any number of Evangelical readers of Scripture have been wondering about and puzzling over for a long time: if Scripture is so clear, so sufficient, etc., then why are we divided into so many denominations? And, perhaps more troubling still, why are we so increasingly unconcerned with our lack of real unity on any number of important theological issues? His description of our substantive disunity here is overwhelming. If you have not heard of the concept of "pervasive interpretive pluralism", get ready, you will in the future. Smith's charitable, well-argued, thoroughly researched book challenges readers of Scripture finally to admit that there is a difference between the truth of Scripture and their opinions about it. Adding a sociological dimension to the argument, he shows why so many are so reluctant to do this. In the end, having shown how nonsensical it is to consider the Bible as simply some divinely authorized how-to manual or rule book for this or for that (e.g., parenting, dating, finances, dieting, leadership, end-times, etc.--you should see the list!), his final chapters begin to create a sound framework for a purely Christological reading of Scripture (with a nod to Barth and others). Such a framework, he demonstrates convincingly, would in fact bring readers closer to a truly Evangelical reading of Scripture, while it would also prepare them to consider every aspect of life in light of Christ, his person and work. I will absolutely refer to this book again and will assign it in appropriate courses in the future.
Steven A. Hunt

In this book, Christian Smith does a great job presenting the problems of Biblicism, and making a few suggestions for how we can correct these problems, and begin reading Scripture in a better light.

In Part 1, Smith spends four chapters talking about the problems of "biblicism." Biblicism consists of the constellation of beliefs and practices surrounding the way most Christians in the United States view and use the Bible. Among other concepts, biblicism contains the ideas of the Bible as the inspired Word of God, the inerrancy of Scripture, the ability of anyone to read and understand Scripture, the inductive method of Bible study to find the universal truth within Scripture, and above all, the idea that the Bible contains all the truth we need for Christian belief and practice.

Christian Smith shows convincingly that the goals and claims of biblicism have not worked, and so it is an impossible way of viewing and reading Scripture. It has great ideas and goals, but it just doesn't work.

His primary evidence for this is the wide diversity in opinions on all theological and practical matters among those who hold to biblicism. The claim is often made that we agree on the major issues, and only disagree on the minor. But this is demonstrably false, as Christian Smith shows. There is almost no agreement on any single issue.

The goals of biblicism have failed, and so biblicism as a way of approaching Scripture is false.

In Part 2, Christians Smith goes on to provide three suggestions for helping us view, read, and study the Bible in a way that allows for the complexity of Scripture while maintaining its authoritative role in our lives.

Two of his best points was that we must read everything in Scripture as pointing to Jesus Christ, that the complexity and ambiguity of Scripture must be accepted and embraced. About both of these points, Smith writes that "All Scripture is not clear, not does it need to be. But the real matter of Scripture is clear... that God in Christ has come to earth, lived, taught, healed, died, and risen to new life, so that we too can rise to life in him. On that, the Bible is clear" (p. 132).

I believe that in time, this will become the prominent view of Scripture. It is becoming increasingly obvious to more and more people that the way we have viewed and used Scripture for the past 500 years is severely deficient. But what Scripture does provide, it provides amazingly well, if we can learn to read it properly.

Scripture is not clear on how we continue the work of Jesus in our life, or what it will look like, but that is where the ambiguity, flexibility, freedom, and creativity of Scripture come in.

If you want to be challenged about how you read the Bible, and how to use it, I highly recommend "The Bible Made Impossible."