Missions Resources - Bibliography
Is the Bible Intolerant? Sexist? Oppressive? Homophobic? Outdated? Irrelevant?
Authors: Amy Orr-Ewing
ISBN: 083083351X
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Number of pages: 142
Type of cover: Soft Cover
Summary:
Reviewed by Andrea M.
No
book in history has been as widely read, or widely criticized, as
the Bible. Especially in our so-called “postmodern” world, commonly
accepted presumptions about history, literary interpretation and morality
prevent many
people from ever seriously considering the Bible. And yet the importance of
trust in the Bible’s reliability in helping people come to a saving faith
in Christ cannot be overstated. In Is the Bible Intolerant?, Amy
Orr-Ewing combines an excellent understanding of postmodern thought with solid
apologetics and poignant personal anecdotes to create one of the most engaging,
intelligent, relevant and accessible defenses of the Bible I have ever read.
Orr-Ewing draws from her experiences at the University of Oxford and with the Zacharias Trust to respond to the ten questions she has most often been asked about the Bible. Geared toward well-educated twenty- and thirty-somethings, this book addresses exactly the objections to the Bible (and consequently to Christianity in general) that I most often encountered during my recent college and grad school years.
Over the course of the book Ewing moves from more purely intellectual questions, such as “Isn’t it all a matter of interpretation?”, “Can we know anything about history?” and “Are the Biblical manuscripts reliable?” to questions of moral concern, such as “Isn’t the Bible sexist?”, “What about all the wars?” and “Isn’t the Bible out of date on sex?” She also addresses the content of Biblical manuscripts, provides an excellent (if necessarily brief) comparison of the Bible to the holy books of other religions (specifically the Qur’an and the Hindu Vedas) and, in a chapter that is made particularly relevant by the recent hype surrounding The Da Vinci Code, convincingly defends the reliability of the Biblical canon (both Old and New Testaments).
As a recent graduate student in the humanities, I found the chapters addressing postmodern approaches to language, literature and history especially compelling. For example, Orr-Ewing tackles the widespread concept that words have no ultimate meaning beyond what the listener/reader gives them and shows that this claim is at best meaningless, and at worst self-defeating. In her equally well-reasoned treatment of whether it is possible to know anything about history she argues for a balanced approach that recognizes “both the possibility of access to history and the frailty of many historical sources” (35).
At the same time she clearly demonstrates how approaches that claim the impossibility of knowing anything about history are not only intellectually flawed, but also ethically perilous. If history is unknowable, then what is to prevent us from claiming (as many have) that the Nazi Holocaust never happened? If however, a thorough study of all “converging lines of evidence” (36) can provide proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the Holocaust did, in fact, occur, then this approach can also be applied to test the historical accuracy of Biblical accounts.
Orr-Ewing’s chapters on the reliability of the Biblical manuscripts and the canon are in some ways less extraordinary because they address questions that are traditionally covered in standard books on Christian apologetics. However, her treatment of these questions is (like the rest of the book) thorough, concise, and easy to read. Although these chapters contain information that is to a large extent readily available elsewhere, they form a necessary and useful part of the book and provide highly relevant answers to important questions.
Is the Bible Intolerant? stands apart from many other books on apologetics in its discussion of moral questions of war, sexism, and sexual ethics. The inclusion of these questions confirms Orr-Ewing’s understanding of what is important to the postmodern generation.
For many of my non-Christian friends and acquaintances, questions about homophobia, women’s equality, and the war in Iraq play as much or more of a role in their rejection of Christianity than intellectual concerns about the reliability of the Bible. Orr-Ewing handles these questions in a delicate and balanced, yet uncompromising manner.
In her chapter on war, for example, she defends the idea of so-called “just war” on the basis that, if God is just and He has ordered wars, then there must be, or at least have been, such a thing as a just war. She recognizes, however, that Christ’s death on the cross introduced a possible new way of handling the problem of evil – namely by self-sacrificial dying, as opposed to killing.
Chapter 7, which addresses claims that the Bible is sexist, convincingly demonstrates that the Jesus and the Biblical writers actually show more regard to women than was the cultural norm in their societies, and that God values men and women equally as human beings. In the chapter on sexual ethics, Orr-Ewing sensitively yet unashamedly expounds Biblical passages regarding God’s plan for sexuality and summarizes recent scientific research to back it up.
Orr-Ewing’s final chapter, entitled “How Can I Know”, prompts the reader to go beyond the facts contained to the book and to ask “now what?” She tells the story of her parents’ conversion and encourages readers to have an open mind and to seek the truth for themselves. For many readers, the case she makes in Is the Bible Intolerant? for an “intellectually robust and existentially satisfying” (31) Christian faith will make such a search possible.
Andrea M. is the Urbana 06 registrar.
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