John J. Collins, What Are Biblical Values? What the Bible Says on Key Ethical Issues (Yale University Press, 2019), 212-213.
Strictly speaking, the Bible does not mean anything until it is interpreted. Appeal to textual agency (“but the Bible says”) is far too simple an evasion of the reader’s responsibility. The more important question, however, is whether it is possible to interpret the Bible with a degree of objectivity so that people who approach it with different prejudices and faith commitments can reach consensus. I hold that a degree of objectivity is possible. Interpretations are always contestable, but in fact there is very little dispute about the meaning of the biblical passages we have discussed. No one doubts that Deuteronomy 7 mandates the slaughter of the Canaanites or that Matthew 25 prioritizes feeding the hungry. Even where the exact meaning of the text is disputed (what is meant by “the lyings of a woman” in Leviticus? what constitutes unnatural intercourse for women in Romans 1?), the range of disagreement is circumscribed and arises from the laconic nature of the text rather than from the philosophical difficulty of interpretation.
The Amateur Exegete 
True, but intellectuals who point out the problem of interpretative-subjectivity don’t have any answers on how to get the mentally lazy proof-texting Christian to start prioritizing academic rigor over the comfort of routine confirmation. If they think quoting a bible verse at us constitutes infusing magic into the air, I’m afraid we are dealing with a cultist who has decided to protect their stupidity by irrationally pretending that what’s stupid in this world is actually aspiritual virtue that is literally out of this world. Long ago, I gave up all hope of anything close to a rational discussion with KJV Onlyists, Pentecostals, and various assorted new age mystics.
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As a former KJV-Onlyist, I’ll admit that they are often impervious to reasonable discussion, at least with regards to the Bible. I think the path out of it is paved with experiences outside of the echo chamber that is a KJV Only congregation. Once you encounter genuine believers who don’t think the way you do about the KJV, it is eye opening. At least it was for me.
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Ben, in your assessment, are there indications that Markan priority, as a widely accepted literary hypothesis, is sometimes transformed into a kind of hierarchy of historical reliability among the Gospels?
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Ben, in your assessment, are there indications that Markan priority, as a widely accepted literary hypothesis, is sometimes transformed into a kind of hierarchy of historical reliability among the Gospels?
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