Most American Protestants, whether liberal or evangelical, are
egalitarians when it comes to the reading and study of Scripture. They
tend to be committed to the American proposition that "all men"-and
women-"are created equal" not simply because they are patriotic or
democratic but also because their doctrine of Scripture drives them to
it. The logic runs like this: Because the Bible is clear, anyone who
can read its words should be able to understand its meaning, no matter
what the reader's education or social status. This egalitarianism has
produced some laudable results. For example, it keeps ordinary
Christians reading the Scriptures so that they, like Timothy, may thus
be made "wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim.
3:15). Individual Scriptural reading is also one of the means by which
God instructs and encourages Christians and thus gives them hope (see
Rom. 15:4). Moreover, we, like the Bereans, surely are to be commended
when we turn to the Scriptures to check whether what is being preached
to us is true (see Acts 17:11). Yet Protestant egalitarianism is also,
at the same time, the source of significant errors. One of these errors
involves egalitarianism's failure to recognize that not everything in
Scripture is easy to understand and so we need those people who are
especially well-trained in the Scriptures to help us avoid twisting them
in harmful ways (see 2 Pet. 3:16). The fact is that some people are
better equipped to interpret the Bible than others-and so their
interpretations, everything else being equal, are to be preferred over
the interpretations of the average Peter, Paul, or Mary.
The
egalitarian error is illustrated by the ethic of those small-group Bible
studies where everyone's insight carries equal weight. But a better
example comes from a more prominent corner of the Protestant world where
this kind of egalitarianism collides with the hierarchies that most
Americans use to negotiate modern life. The phrase "the integration of
faith and learning" is a constant source of inspiration and
self-examination at many Christian colleges. Administrators stress its
importance as a way of attracting new students who, it is promised, upon
graduation will be able to think Christianly about themselves and the
world. Christian college faculty are required to integrate their own
faith and learning in order to get tenure and promotion. Students are
also expected to show the influence of these endeavors in their papers
and exams. Continue at D. G. Hart
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