Issues@Hand

AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs

March 2015 – It is nothing new for the world to claim to own the key that will totally discredit Scripture. Newsweek ended 2014 with such a supposed bomb. In an 8,000 word essay titled “The Bible: So Misunderstood It’s a Sin,” Kurt Eichenwald questions the authenticity of today’s translations, the accuracy of ancient scribes, and the applicability of Old Testament laws in a New Testament context. The spurious Newsweek cover story drew many responses from evangelicals.

Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said, “To put the matter plainly, no honest historian would recognize the portrait of Christian history presented in this essay as accurate, and no credible journalist would recognize this screed as balanced.”

Ray Rooney, editor of AFA’s blog The Stand, said, “I find hope in the Newsweek article. There are legitimate questions that people are seeking answers to concerning the Bible. Is the Bible trustworthy? Even more to the point, is it true? If a sourpuss like Kurt Eichenwald is mulling over these questions, then I am certain many more are searching with him.”

Justin Taylor, a doctoral candidate at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and contributor for Religion News Service, said the piece “affords the church the opportunity to clarify what it believes and to learn what it does not yet know.

“At the same time, the response to this cover story also offers Eichenwald the chance to slow down, step back, and discover a world he never knew existed. If Eichenwald wants to engage his subject matter with the true intellectual curiosity it deserves, he may discover that he has a far more interesting story to report next Christmas.”

newsweek.com, 12/23/14; albertmohler.com, 12/29/14; afa.net/the-stand, 1/3/15