How the Bible Works
An Anthropological Study of Evangelical Biblicism
1st Edition
Published on 12. May 2004
184 pages
978-0-7591-1564-4 (ISBN)
Description
What do evangelicals believe when they 'believe in the Bible?' Despite hundreds of English versions that differ in their texts, evangelicals continue to believe that there is a stable text-'the Bible'-which is the authoritative word of God and an essential guide to their everyday lives. To understand this phenomenon of evangelical Biblicism, anthropologist and biblical scholar Brian Malley looks not to the words of the Bible but to the Bible-believing communities. For as Malley demonstrates, it is less the meaning of the words of the Bible itself than how 'the Bible' provides a proper ground for beliefs that matters to evangelicals. Drawing on recent cognitive and social theory and extensive fieldwork in an evangelical church, Malley's book is an invaluable guide for seminarians, social scientists of religion, or for anyone who wants to understand just how the Bible works for American evangelicals.
More details
Series
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
CA
United States
ISBN-13
978-0-7591-1564-4 (9780759115644)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
05/2004
AltaMira Press
€148.30
Shipment within 15-20 days
Book
04/2004
AltaMira Press
€56.30
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Brian Malley studied comparative religion at Western Michigan University (M.A., 1994) and anthropology at the University of Michigan (Ph.D., 2002). He currently lectures in psychology at the University of Michigan. His main interests are religion and the intersection of culture and cognition.
Content
- Intro
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- CHAPTER I Creekside Baptist Church
- The Bible at Issue
- Creekside Baptist Church
- Methodological Reflections
- CHAPTER 2 What Is "the Bible"?
- Versions and Variants
- Name
- Category
- Synopsis
- Consequences
- CHAPTER 3 Interpretation and Tradition
- Interpretive Tradition
- A Hermeneutic Tradition?
- Hermeneutic Activity
- Between Irrelevance and Anarchy
- Synopsis
- Indefinite Interpretability
- CHAPTER 4 Biblical Authority
- The Problem of Biblical Authority
- The Nature of Biblical Authority
- Dialogical Biblicism
- Principle vs. Practice
- CHAPTER 5 The Structure of Biblicism
- A New Model
- Comparison to the Commonsense Model
- The Epidemiology of American Evangelical Biblicism
- References
- Index
- About the Author
