The Historical Bible

Abstract

American Protestants had reconciled themselves to the reality that the original autographs of the Bible were lost and the process of transmission had corrupted some of the text. Although this was initially unsettling and disturbing to some of those of a more conservative bent, textual criticism did not lead to the destruction of their Christian faith as some feared. However, the scholarly examination of the history of the texts and transmission of the Bible developed in conjunction with a related and second line of inquiry that had the potential to be far more destructive to traditional American Protestant conception of the authority and uniqueness of the Scriptures. As textual scholars discovered that the Bible had a history, subject to change and corruption, some scholars also examined more closely the historical contexts in which parts of the Bible were composed. They pondered the effect of the culture and environment on the biblical text. European biblical scholars believed that knowledge of the historical context shed light on the original meaning of passages. However, the examination of the circumstances in which the Bible was written led some scholars to a more disturbing and radical conclusion. Some argued that much of the Bible was an expression of a primitive mind and culture and therefore should not be read literally.