Biblical Illiteracy
Obert Henderson
A few months ago, several articles
appeared in periodicals and church bulletins, pointing out
that college freshmen who are members of the Church of
Christ scored lower on standard Bible knowledge tests
than did comparable students from other religious
groups. These articles generally emphasized that this
condition is a marked change from an earlier era when
members of the Church of Christ enjoyed a reputation for
Biblical knowledge. Though I know of no studies that
have been done involving other college freshmen, it
seems that this decline in Bible knowledge on the part of
members of the Church of Christ involves older persons
as well.
Though several months have
passed since these articles appeared, I have not seen
any follow-up articles suggesting reasons for the reported
condition or proposing any approaches to solution of the
problem. It may be such articles have appeared and I
missed them. Or, perhaps we have salved our
consciences by confessing our sins but without any
resolve to do anything about the situation, especially
anything that might upset the comfortable status quo.
The purpose of this article is to present, briefly and
almost in outline form, a number of thoughts as to some
of the more important reasons for this decline of Biblical
knowledge among us. We must be careful not to
generalize the statement about Biblical illiteracy too
broadly. While the statements are doubtless true of a
fairly large segment of the membership of the Church of
Christ, it is not right to say the problem is universal.
Some individuals are much more Biblically literate than
others. There are also considerable differences among
congregations, with some as a whole having a much
higher level of Biblical knowledge than others. The
situation appears to be the result of a segment that is
Biblically illiterate, rather than being an overall
characteristic. But the fact that such a substantial, and
apparently growing, segment exists, is the occasion for
the concern that has been voiced.
A part of the problem undoubtedly
stems from the time and environment in which we live.
The general decline of interest in spiritual things which
characterizes the world today has affected us.
We live in a time when it is very convenient to waste
time on the pleasures of the world. The incessant
allurements that distract us from Bible study are partially
responsible. But the Christian can rise above these
hindrances.
There appear to be other very
important reasons for this decline of knowledge. Some of
these reasons involve the corporate expression of
worship and the nature of teaching done in the
assemblies. Other reasons can be traced to the existence
of certain widely held attitudes which discourage real
Bible study. In this article we are focusing on these two
sets of reasons. Here, we give only a brief sketch--a
skeleton of the ideas--but the reader will be able to
elaborate and expand them and, hopefully, think
constructively about some solutions.
A Professional Ministry
We have so professionalized
service to God that the average member sees little to do
but to give financially to support the ministerial
machinery we have devised. He pays someone else to do
the edifying and exhorting, the personal work and
visitation--and the study. We are at the point where none
but those who belong to a special class are allowed to
participate in the teaching, edification and exhortation in
the assembly. One result of this is that the "lay member"
(what other term can I use to convey the correct idea?)
has no direct responsibility. Under these conditions, we
can raise the question as to how much he can be
expected to study, since he feels no real need and sees
no opportunity to share what he learns with others. The
development of the professional ministry system and the
turning of the public teaching and edification over to a
professional have gone hand-in-hand, in point of time,
with the decline of Biblical knowledge among members of
the Church of Christ.
Sermonizing
Another cause for the lack of
Biblical knowledge among us is the fact that often "pulpit
preaching" (I use the term in a sense accommodative to
its current usage) has little real value for spiritual
education. Sermonizing frequently results in the
scriptures being used in such a way as to prevent
learning by the hearer. A lack of expository preaching
and emphasis upon textual preaching (which is all too
often non-contextual) are partially responsible for this.
Scriptures are frequently fragmented and taken out of
context to support a point or bolster an idea the
sermonizer is trying to get across. When the appeal to
the scripture is made on this basis, and when God's word
is so dealt with, Biblical knowledge declines rather than
increases among those who are thus "taught."
Wrong Standards
Too many congregations and
individuals evaluate a preacher, and what he says in his
public teaching, by a wrong standard of one kind or
another. Instead of a man being evaluated on the basis
of his ability to "do the work of an evangelist" and the
message on the basis of its instructional and edifying
value, other standards are used. Among some, the
preacher may be evaluated on the basis of his winning
smile, oratorical ability, or "hail-fellow-well-met"
personality. He has to be a good hand-holder,
back-slapper and "kaffee-klatcher." At the other extreme,
he may, among others, be evaluated on the basis of his
bitterness of spirit and his ability to severely castigate all
persons outside of his party.
Instead of the lesson he presents
being evaluated in terms of its value to impart
knowledge, increase understanding, upbuild spiritually,
strengthen one's faith in Jesus, or motivate to a fuller
service, it is often evaluated on some other basis. At one
extreme it may be considered good if it is characterized
by innocuous generalities of "soothing nothingness." At
the other extreme it may be considered good if it is
"sound," which is often interpreted to mean if it is a
spewing forth of venom and condemnation against
others, or is aimed at "skinning the sects." Unfortunately,
preachers, being human, face a strong temptation to
cultivate those qualities of life and teaching which will
lead
to a favorable evaluation by those among whom they
work. When this happens, the pulpit preaching, which
should be a medium for teaching and exhortation
becomes a meaningless or, what is worse, a destructive
exercise.
Inadequate Classroom
Teaching
Bible classes (among those
Churches of Christ that use them) exist because they are
viewed as being an effective way of helping people to
learn God's word. But often they are about valueless for
this purpose. The class time, instead of being devoted to
Bible study, is often taken up with other things, or with a
level of study so undemanding it results in no learning.
For example, younger children may spend time on
handicraft projects, older ones on planning the next
youth party, and adults on filling in the blanks in a grade
school level workbook. And, even when an attempt is
made at Bible study, the quality of the instruction may be
so low as to not contribute to learning. Many people are
"teaching" classes (sometimes even against their will)
who are capable of doing no more by way of explanation,
elaboration or exposition than to read from Johnson's
Notes during the class period.
Imposed Uniformity
An idea popular among us today is
that uniformity in understanding the scriptures (on a long
list of points) is essential to fellowship and brotherhood.
This idea militates against true Bible study. If one is told
that conformity to a certain viewpoint with respect to
cups, classes, orphan homes, colleges, or some other
thing is essential to having fellowship with a group, and if
he desires that fellowship, he will be discouraged from
studying the matter for himself. Instead, he will
recognize the need to conform to the group's viewpoint.
Instead of studying God's word, he will tend to study the
party's view as presented by a "faithful brother." Under
such circumstances, he certainly will not engage in really
serious study of the Bible on that point. Anything which
militates against serious Bible study on one point
discourages really serious study on any point.
Infallible Interpretation
A concept closely allied to the one
immediately above is that there exists, within each party,
an "infallible interpretation" to which an individual is
expected to subscribe. When elders, preachers, editors,
or others, leave the impression that the view they hold,
and the way they understand the scriptures, are the only
views and understanding anyone can hold and be a child
of the Father, they have exalted their views into an
"infallible interpretation." What happens then is that
study of the word is neglected; in its place is substituted
study of the interpretation. Or the interpretation may be
accepted without question, so that neither it nor the
word is studied. How many are there among us whose
faith is determined by "what the preacher says" or by the
editorial position of a particular journal?
The Creed
Creeds are generally drawn up by
those who believe they have arrived at all truth, and so
have nothing more to learn (although other motives may
be involved as well). It is true that the religious
organization known as the Church of Christ (in whole or
in its factional parts) does not have a formally written
creed, but it is equally true that it does have a creed. The
creed will vary in some particulars from faction to faction,
but it is still there--unwritten, but all-pervasive and
powerful. When one subscribes to a creed this effectively
discourages any real Bible study, since he already "has
the truth." Anything then that goes under the name of
Bible study becomes mostly an exercise designed to
strengthen his belief in that creed, or a search for
passages which might, in one way or another, be pressed
into the service of the party and its creed. Subscribing to
a creed, he feels no consciousness of a need for true
searching and study. This thought may provide us with
some basis for understanding why people in other groups
are
becoming more Biblically literate than are members of
the Church of Christ. Many groups are in the process of
abandoning their historic creeds. As they do, this frees
them from slavery to the views held by their fathers and
enables them, as free people, to study the scriptures
openly. Further, it creates a feeling of the need to study.
Perhaps this is what they are doing while we cling
tenaciously to the creed formulated by some of our
forebears or contemporaries, viewing it as the
embodiment of all truth and the repository of all Biblical
knowledge and true interpretation.
Bible Study Discouraged
Arising from the related ideas of
imposed uniformity, an infallible interpretation and the
existence of a creed, is the fact that true Bible study is
actively discouraged. It is not allowed, nor can it be! It is
true that pulpits resound with rebukes for not studying,
and with admonitions to study, but this is mere
encouragement in word, not in fact. As proof of this, just
observe a member of the Church of Christ who has
studied for himself and reached a conclusion different
from the orthodox interpretation or the party's creedal
statement. If he dares to mention his conclusions he will
be discriminated against. If he is engaged in any teaching
work within the congregation he will be "requested" to
give up the work. If he continues to hold to his
conclusions he may be "cast out of the synagogue." If
the congregation of which he is a member does not take
this action it will find itself the target of outside pressures
as the "heresy hunters" move in upon it and the man
who deviates from the party norm.
Under such a thought control
system true Bible study is not a reality. That is, it is not,
unless one wants to run the risk of discrimination and
exclusion. Under these conditions all exhortations from
the pulpit for people to study must be understood as
having the implicit qualification, "but do not reach any
conclusions different from the party views."
Complex Legal System
Through the years we have
developed such a complex system of legality, that it often
makes personal study seem fruitless, if not impossible.
What often happens is that the average member, being
unable to figure the system out, leaves it to the "scribes
and lawyers" within his particular party to decipher,
unravel the tangled ideas, and tell him what the "correct"
or "loyal" position is. Depending on what party he is in,
he has to try and figure out, for example, why
congregational support to one kind of humanly-devised
organization is exceedingly sinful while support to
another about like it is scriptural, and perhaps even
demanded; or why one project is wrong while another
that appears to be about like it is right; or why one
human expedient is of the devil while another is
"authorized of God." This can be pretty confusing.
The verbal maneuverings,
semantic twistings, and often illogical and inconsistent
reasoning necessary to get to these apparently
contradictory conclusions, leave one bewildered, so he
often decides he had better let someone else work it out
and provide him with the conclusions. If he
tries to study for himself and comes up with some
conclusions different from the official party position, he
dare not say anything about it, or express any doubt as
to the rightness of the position of "the loyal group," lest
the deep freeze process mentioned above be applied to
him.
The ideas presented here are not
exhaustive by any means. Other things could be
mentioned, such as our attempts to attract people by
things other than the good news of Jesus, the
"promotional binge" of the past few years, the pressures
on preachers to "build up" the congregations (i. e., to
increase attendance and contributions), and so on. I
trust that the few ideas suggested may serve to
stimulate our thinking about sources of the problem and
to focus our concern on what might be done to alleviate
it.
The ideas presented are not
descriptive of every congregation, preacher or mem-
ber, among us. They are intended to be generalizations
that appear to be descriptive of widespread
maladies.
The problem is not unsolvable. But
if it is to be solved all must have the desire to solve it.
Christians must desire to grow in knowledge. God's word
must be substituted for the diet of spiritual pap or bitter
harangues presented to assemblies. Bible classes must
be real exercises in study. God's word must be studied
to learn what it says, not to prove a point or partisan
view.
The doctrine of the priesthood of
every believer, that is, that every Christian is a minister,
must be stressed. Personal study must be encouraged
not just in word, but in fact. A proper regard for the
personal integrity of every Christian must be instilled.
One must have the liberty in Christ to study and learn for
himself. We must be mindful of shortcomings and
anxious to correct them. Let us not be content with just
confessing that a problem exists. Let us resolve to attack
and to solve that problem.
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