Can Christians Study the New Testament Honestly?

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Many Christians think that a non-Christian simply can't understand the New Testament fully, since they don't agree with its major teachings. But could an argument be made for the opposite case, that those with a vested interest in the New Testament as a book inspired by God cannot get beyond their theological assumptions to understand what the text is really saying? It seems like an odd question, but can committed Christians really study their own Scriptures honestly? In this episode we consider the issue from several angles, not by assuming that outsiders are necessarily "objective" (is anyone objective?) but by thinking through the complications of the matter.

Megan asks Bart:

-I’ve heard it argued that people who are not Christians can’t actually understand Christianity, and by extension the New Testament. As an agnostic expert on the NT and early Christianity, what is your opinion?

-What do you think about people who insist that you can’t understand the NT without the guidance of the holy spirit?

-How can or should Christian academics go about understanding a text that they hold to be divine in an historical manner?

-How did you deal with that as you moved away from the faith?

-What factors do you think make it more likely for religious convictions to adversely impact academic research?

-Are there some religious backgrounds, or educational trajectories, that make this easier for academics to do?

-Does maintaining a Christian faith while studying the Bible in an academically rigorous and responsible manner require a level of comfort with cognitive dissonance, or is it really not that difficult?

-Does treating the Bible as an historical text say anything about one’s religious conviction?

-Do you think it’s possible to hold to that commitment of divine inspiration and inerrancy and still conduct rigorous academic research?

-What makes it hard for evangelical academics to do the kind of work that you’ve gone on to do?

-What kinds of methodologies require you to have that suspension of faith?