All of these issues stem from the fact that "Christian theology" has been a pseudo-intellectual field of feigned academics from the outset. That's the problem and that's what has made all of this so difficult.
Christianity was founded upon and founded by pseudo-intellectual false academics. And all of Western civilization from the 4th century through to the 20th was dominated by Christian pseudo-intellectualism. And this is the last gasp of Christian pseudo-intellectualism. "Christian scholarship" has been run out of every field of study that exists, and study of the Bible is the last domain they have left.
But the problem with Christian scholarship in biblical studies is exactly the same as the problem with Christian scholarship in every other field, be it astronomy (geocentrism), geology (6,000 year old earth), biology (creationism), psychology and medicine (demonology), etc.
"Christian scholarship" is rooted in Christian theology, which is rooted in 2nd-4th century flawed irrational philosophy. The methods of all Christian scholarship are still traced back to 2nd-4th century Roman quacks. It's inescapable, that IS the core of Christian belief. You can't avoid the flaws of Christian thought and remain Christian. Christian thought and scholarship is a fundamentally flawed system that is incapable of coming to terms with and comprehending reality. When a Christian theologian does come to terms with reality they are no longer Christian.
"If the Bible is true or not is not for anybody to say based on any evidence"
This is incorrect. The Bible makes a number of objective historical claims and determining if those claims are objectively true or not is absolutely for anybody to do. Christians have no exclusive domain over fact checking the Bible (though they like to pretend they do). Christaisn didn't even produce these writings, they just collected and (mis)interpreted them.
But this is the issue, because as much as Christians like to talk about "faith", the reality is that the Christian religion is founded upon a set of objective claims about historical events. What Christians want is the exclusive right to define the history first through fourth century Palestine and Rome and they don't have that right. Not only do they not have that right, but they are very wrong about the real history.
What these theologians understand is that the validity of their religion rests upon the legitimacy of the historical claims made in the Bible. Those historical claims can be, and must be, objectively assessed by real scholars, not just by Christian theologians. Just look at Christianity's track record. Literally, Christian scholarship has been wrong about every single objective claim that they've ever made. Christianity is a worldview build on a fundamental misunderstanding of reality and history and is, essentially, wrong about everything, including where the writings of the Bible came from, who wrote them, why they were written, their credibility, and even what they mean.
Christianity was a misguided Roman cult started by people who found some anonymous Jewish stories that they totally misinterpreted and failed to comprehend, and its just been a flawed intellectual pursuit that's been wrong about everything ever since... and that's a provable fact.
All of these issues stem from the fact that "Christian theology" has been a pseudo-intellectual field of feigned academics from the outset. That's the problem and that's what has made all of this so difficult.
Christianity was founded upon and founded by pseudo-intellectual false academics. And all of Western civilization from the 4th century through to the 20th was dominated by Christian pseudo-intellectualism. And this is the last gasp of Christian pseudo-intellectualism. "Christian scholarship" has been run out of every field of study that exists, and study of the Bible is the last domain they have left.
But the problem with Christian scholarship in biblical studies is exactly the same as the problem with Christian scholarship in every other field, be it astronomy (geocentrism), geology (6,000 year old earth), biology (creationism), psychology and medicine (demonology), etc.
"Christian scholarship" is rooted in Christian theology, which is rooted in 2nd-4th century flawed irrational philosophy. The methods of all Christian scholarship are still traced back to 2nd-4th century Roman quacks. It's inescapable, that IS the core of Christian belief. You can't avoid the flaws of Christian thought and remain Christian. Christian thought and scholarship is a fundamentally flawed system that is incapable of coming to terms with and comprehending reality. When a Christian theologian does come to terms with reality they are no longer Christian.
"If the Bible is true or not is not for anybody to say based on any evidence"
This is incorrect. The Bible makes a number of objective historical claims and determining if those claims are objectively true or not is absolutely for anybody to do. Christians have no exclusive domain over fact checking the Bible (though they like to pretend they do). Christaisn didn't even produce these writings, they just collected and (mis)interpreted them.
But this is the issue, because as much as Christians like to talk about "faith", the reality is that the Christian religion is founded upon a set of objective claims about historical events. What Christians want is the exclusive right to define the history first through fourth century Palestine and Rome and they don't have that right. Not only do they not have that right, but they are very wrong about the real history.
What these theologians understand is that the validity of their religion rests upon the legitimacy of the historical claims made in the Bible. Those historical claims can be, and must be, objectively assessed by real scholars, not just by Christian theologians. Just look at Christianity's track record. Literally, Christian scholarship has been wrong about every single objective claim that they've ever made. Christianity is a worldview build on a fundamental misunderstanding of reality and history and is, essentially, wrong about everything, including where the writings of the Bible came from, who wrote them, why they were written, their credibility, and even what they mean.
Christianity was a misguided Roman cult started by people who found some anonymous Jewish stories that they totally misinterpreted and failed to comprehend, and its just been a flawed intellectual pursuit that's been wrong about everything ever since... and that's a provable fact.