manwithdream

Many of the people on this discussion board seem to really love good scholarship and discussing what different scholars say. I am not a scholar, and I don't read scholarly journals and books at all. I am just curious. Is it more important to affect the beliefs of scholars or average people directly if you wanted to change people's religious beliefs?

Also, in almost every discussion on this forum, people constantly quote scholars. Is there anything scholars don't know? Is it possible to say something without backing it up with scholarly quotes?

Dirac_Delta

Has it ever crossed your mind that some people are very curious by nature and like to study stuff just for the sake of it?

Also, you should consider the fact that many people here started styudying biblical criticism when they were believers, so I don't think they do it to affect other people's beliefs.

robto

Most people don't pay any attention to Biblical scholarship, so, given your premise (that you want to change people's religious beliefs), the answer would definitely be "average people". But not everyone here wishes to change anyone's beliefs.
Yes, lots. If everything was known, there would be no need for scholars, would there?
It's possible, of course. But if you want to make a convincing argument, why not rely on someone who has dedicated their life to understanding the issue? Doesn't that make more sense than just trading uninformed opinions?

Mythra

Well, I suppose everyone has an agenda to one degree or another. Even scholars. My agenda is to try and ascertain the truth concerning the origins and establishment of christianity.

And I'm convinced that somewhere, amongst this group of learned people, there are some pieces of the puzzle. But they disagree so much, it's hard to distinguish the good pieces from the bad.



But, you're right. To most people (either christians or non-christians) - historical and NT scholarship is unknown and irrelevant.

Toto

What the average people today believe is generally what was established by scholars a generation ago, just as our economic policies are usually based on the writings of dead economists.

What the scholars are writing today will be popular knowledge in about 50 years or so.

mountainman

The planet's education system is run by scholars.
You can think and believe anything you like but it
will be outside the mainstream core set of beliefs
which are perpetuated by schools and universities.

If your intention were to change people's religious
beliefs on a large scale, then it would impinge on this
status quo, and you would need to argue your case
to the scholars - in their own terms.


It's not what scholars "dont know" that is the problem.
The problem is what scholars have themselves been spoon
fed by authority about their "postulates".

ie: basic framework of "starting points without evidence",
hypotheses, givens, etc.

Yes.

But if you want to change the way people actually think
you have to "take it to the scholars on their own ground".

You have to be able to show them that you make more
sense of their entire field than do their own standard
theories of their own field --- or some equivalent of this.

In other words, you have to argue why they are wrong.
Just saying so is not going to change anything.

Good luck and best wishes,



Pete Brown

aa5874

It is the leaders of the Christian Church or Community who overwhelmingly control the way people actually think. The Pope, for example, does not rely on Biblical Scholars for their findings on the historicity of Jesus or to know what Jesus could have said or didn't say, He appeals to the highest power and have little regards for "the scholars".

Anyone would be hard pressed to find any Biblical Scholar who caused any major shift in theology in any of the major religions throughout the world.

If you want to change the way people think, you have "take it to the people"

Coolhat

Let´s put it this way: even after 2000 years of biblical scholarship, does the theological community actually agree upon anything? And how much does stuff like "documentary hypothesis" actually affect the way ordinary Christians think about god and religion? Chances are they´ve never even heard about it.

And even if they had, they wouldn´t care. Scholars can twist and turn the scriptures any way they want to, but in the end the preachers will say "whatever, it´s the word of God and nothing else matters". And the flocks will listen to them, not scholars.

Toto

Protestant ministers who tried to preach the modern ideas about Jesus ran into lots of resistance from their congregations, who preferred the old stories. The old stories, of course, were really the Victorian stories about the humanistic Jesus that a previous generation of scholars had constructed.

But Jewish leaders have been able to adopt the idea that the Exodus was a myth without any big problem.

badger3k

Scholars are important when looking into the (for example) historical nature of a text. However, as human beings, there is much that scholars do not know, and they will admit this to varying degrees. However, scholars have studied a subject, often for many years (or decades) and are very knowledgeable, far more knowledgeable than the "average joe". If is possible to say anything you want, but if you want to try to get people here to consider it, backing it up with evidence (either scholarly quotes or some other form) is the way to go.

That said, if you want to change people's religious views, it is better to focus on the average person, as they vastly outnumber the scholars and, in most cases, pay little attention to what scholars say.