Academic agenda

CLASH OF VISIONS
Populism and elitism in NT theology
By Robert W. Yarborough
Mentor/ Christian Focus. 116 pages. £11.99
ISBN 978 1 527 103 917

Who sets the agenda concerning Scripture in academia? It is a minority ‘elite’ – those critics who come to Scripture with a secular mindset. By contrast, those ‘populists’ who accept the reliability of Scripture and confess biblical faith in Christ constitute an ever-expanding community of hundreds of millions of across the globe. In this slim volume, Robert Yarborough, of Covenant Seminary in St Louis, addresses this ‘elephant in the room’ tension for Christianity.

The book delves into the liberal works of F.C. Baur (1792–1860) and Rudolph Bultmann (1884–1976), which seem to be enjoying renewed interest. Baur’s critical approach led to neo-allegorical ‘interpretation’ of Scripture, whereas Bultmann is known for his agenda of ‘demythologising’ the text. Why are such men, whose works have been ably refuted over the years, still ruling the roost in many university theological departments, while evangelical scholarship is often ignored?

Yarborough gives hope that this will eventually change, not least because of the burgeoning growth of Bible-based Christianity throughout the world. Although reading the discussions of these 19th-century ‘theologians’ is quite dry, the book is full of encouragement for us. There are testimonies of those who, seeing the destruction that arid liberalism has brought on the churches, have turned to living faith. There are stirring tales of those who have given their lives for biblical faith, as the centre of gravity of Christianity has moved from Europe to South America, and then to Africa, with Asia quickly catching up numerically because, not least, of the growth of the church in China. The shocking fact is that while on average 90,000 Christians are martyred for Christ annually – that’s around ten Christians per hour, 24/7 – that is probably more than all the liberal theologians in the world who comfortably occupy academic chairs.

Whether or not the secular media report it or the ‘elite’ recognise it, the truth is that today ‘Christianity is transforming the continents before our eyes’ (p. 43).