Critics of the Bible

Course Description:

It is almost axiomatic that people trust the Bible when scholars trust the Bible. In today's society, so few scholars regard the Bible as authoritative that Scripture has no standing within the university as a legitimate source of truth. Doubt has been injected into the realm of public knowledge such that whole nations have unanchored themselves from the authority of Scripture and thereby lost their Judeo-Christian moorings. Famous critics, such as Voltaire and Spinoza, used their formidable intellects to ridicule the idea of the Bible's infallibility and divine inspiration. In this course students will become familiarized both with biblical criticism and with defenders of Scripture and be able to see for themselves why it still makes sense to take the Bible seriously and rely on the veracity of God's Word.

 

Key Questions To Be Explored:

• How reliable is Scripture?

• What are the most compelling arguments for doubting the authority of Scripture, and conversely, for trusting it?

• How can we best understand the inerrancy, infallibility, and inspiration of Scripture?