DCHindley

I'm not suggesting they are, but postmodernist intrepetation seems to get the blame for holocaust denial:

Eaglestone, FWIW, is not one who does this himself, but is giving some of the background for why this connection is made. From my own reading, postmodernism bears little resemblence to how its critics describe it. Along with Feminists and Liberation Theologians, it is also used by Evangelical/Fundamentalist Christians who adhere to Reader-Response analysis of sacred scripture. On the other hand, the likes of deconstructionist Hayden V White make no bones about the fact they believe that we can in fact know quite a lot about historical events.

The historian of historiography Alun Munslow provides a very nice, although dense, overview of the effects of postmodernism on historical studies in Deconstructing History (or via: amazon.co.uk).

DCH

Vorkosigan

Holocaust deniers are right-wing shitheads.

Holocaust denial predates the modern rise of post-modernism.

There's no connection between the two -- "German philosopher Martin Heidegger... was a Nazi" is ridiculous "logic". Post-modernism has been influenced by almost every major philosopher, living or dead.

Really, this is stupid. Hendel should have confined himself to the issue at hand. But his farewell to SBL is dead on, from what I can see. I suspect in another twenty years right-wing American evangelicalism will destroy US critical bible studies, and we'll all be dependent on translation from the critical scholars in Germany.

Vorkosigan

stephan huller

That implies that Americans will get smarter in twenty years. I am amazed when I see servicemen who come home from a year or more inside the country of Iraq and tell the news reporter what it is like back in EYE-raq.

hjalti

Don't worry Vork, we will still have the UK! In twenty years I think that we'll have a handful of students of the critical biblical scholar N.T. Wright churning out scholarly, critical stuff!

Vorkosigan

LOL.

DrJim

I really don't know how this thread got so focussed on Nazis, genocides and Postmodernists when there is a lot else at stake. It think the real issue for biblical studies is how accommodating the discipline has been to (mostly) Christian inspired claims that "the Bible" can only be studied according to the categories and sensibilities of a theologically committed approach.


My sense of things is that there is a growing resistance to this in the SBL and that folks are getting more willing to speak out. For many scholars who do secular work, they were wiling to turn a blind eye to the issues in the name of goodwill but I think more are starting to become aware that this is not really a viable option.

There is a nascent Secular Criticism of the Bible group forming and had one meeting in San Fran already. The group has some support from within the SBL admin. I suspect things well change slowly, but for the better.

The problem is global, though. The British outfit, Society for Old Testament Study isn't over run by evangelicals, but it can be pretty darn Christian, too, and I suspect that is the case with many other such societies. The Canadian Society for Biblical Studies has some great people in it but then it can get really theological too.

I had dinner with a new editor fora major publisher in San Fran, and he is trying to launch a book series dedicated to discussing secular approaches to the Bible as distinct from theological approaches. Too early to make any formal announcements about this, though, but it is a good sign.

There is also an email list with twenty or thirty names of SBL members associated with the Secular Crit group. IF any other SBL member here wants to sign up, too, send me a message.
The steering committee of the new program group is:
William Arnal (University of Regina)

Hector Avalos (Iowa State University)

Zeba Crook (Carleton University)

Jim Linville (University of Lethbridge)

Randy Reed (Appalachian State University)

Johanna Stiebert (University of Leeds)

stephan huller

But aren't most Jewish Studies professors Jewish? Diversity studies faculty a member of a (perceived) visible minority? Gay and Lesbian studies homosexual? Just asking

stephan huller

My point would be that if bias is the problem why is the solution encouraging biased scholarship that just so happens to be hostile to the other side? If I have a problem with the Italian mafia in my neighbo(u)rhood I am not sure that encouraging the Russian mafia to also set up shop is the right solution

Toto

Why do you assume that secular scholarship is biased? What is the bias?

I could see your point if a Marxist Bible Study section were being proposed to counter the evangelical Christians with a requirement to explain all events in terms of class struggle, or a Satanic Bible Study Section devoted to glorifying Lucifer, but this is not the case

DCHindley

I've had dealings with Bill Arnal and Zeba Crook before on Crosstalk2. Bill making all sorts of radical assertions and suggesting that there is no point to studying the historical Jesus as he is not recoverable in any meaningful way (I think he was dead serious, not merely being wry), and Zeba would get frustrated whenever I'd ask him if he paid conscious heed to any sort of philosophy of history (frustration which I took to mean "no").

I remember that those two started their own Yahoo Group (was it 2006?) which they carefully controlled membership of so that only equally radical and philosophy-less scholars could participate (plus some non-scholars who happened to worship them as gods). The group self destructed and they not only closed it down but deleted all content so as not to leave any (embarassing?) trace of their experiment in radical Jesus scepticism.

So, these are among the steering comittee?

Oy!

DCH