The Bible's Role in the Church: A Review of Four Essays
This paper reviews four scholarly essays that examine different dimensions of the Bible's role in the modern Christian church. The essays reviewed are by Bernard W. Anderson on tradition and scripture, D. Moody Smith on when the Gospels became scripture, David J. A. Clines on the Old Testament as literature and scripture, and Krister Stendahl on the Bible as both classic literature and Holy Scripture. For each essay, the paper provides a synopsis, structural overview, identification of main points, description of methodology, contrasting perspectives from other scholars, and an assessment of each author's effectiveness in communicating their central arguments. The review concludes with a summary of findings across all four works.
- Introduction: Frames the paper's scope and review method
- Anderson (1981): Tradition and Scripture in the Community of Faith: Tradition's role in biblical exegesis and theology
- Smith (2000): When Did the Gospels Become Scripture?: Canon formation and early Christian Gospel authority
- Clines: The Old Testament as Literature and as Scripture: Bible as literature versus scripture in academia
- Stendahl (1984): The Bible as a Classic and as Holy Scripture: Shift toward reading the Bible as classic literature
- Conclusion: Synthesis of all four essays' central arguments
✍️ How to write this paper — guide, tools & examples ▾
What makes this paper effective
- Applies a consistent analytical framework to each essay reviewed — synopsis, structure, main points, methodology, contrasting views, and effectiveness — giving the paper a disciplined, comparative shape.
- Draws in counter-perspectives for each author reviewed, showing awareness of scholarly debate rather than simply summarizing each source in isolation.
- The conclusion synthesizes findings across all four essays efficiently, connecting each author's central argument back to the overarching question of the Bible's role in the church.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates systematic critical review as an academic method. Rather than arguing an original thesis, it applies evaluative criteria consistently across multiple sources — assessing methodology, structure, and persuasive effectiveness for each. This approach models how to critically annotate and compare scholarly literature within a theological or humanities framework.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a brief introduction that frames the scope and method of the review. It then proceeds through four parallel review sections, one per essay, each following the same sub-headings: synopsis, structure, main points of interest, methodology, contrasting views, and effectiveness. A short concluding paragraph synthesizes the four authors' contributions. A reference list closes the paper.
Introduction
Today, the Holy Bible remains the mainstay of Christian churches around the world, yet debate persists over its precise role in the life of the church. To help examine this debate, this paper reviews four selected essays concerning the nature of the Bible and its use in the modern Christian church. For each essay, the review includes a synopsis, a description of its structure, the main points of interest, and an analysis of the extent to which the author succeeded in conveying those points. Each section also describes the author's methodology, assesses the validity of the arguments presented, and evaluates the effectiveness with which the author communicated the central themes. A concluding section summarizes the key findings across all four works.
Anderson (1981): Tradition and Scripture in the Community of Faith
Synopsis
In this opinion article, biblical theologian Bernard W. Anderson describes the current status of the Holy Bible and the sources of its modern influences, including most especially Europe in general and Germany in particular. Anderson also presents the history of the debate over the division between biblical theology and doctrinal theology that began in the late eighteenth century. Like U.S. Supreme Court justices interpreting the Constitution, Anderson maintains that the responsibility of biblical theologians is to interpret the meanings of Holy Scripture without imposing their own personal beliefs or views on the text. In this regard, Anderson (1981, p. 6) writes, "The primary task of the biblical theologian is to elucidate the theological meaning that is concealed in the concrete and particular texts. Biblical theologians are governed by the historical givenness of the biblical texts and should not intrude into exegesis current concerns or fashions of thought."
Structure
This essay is divided into an unlabeled introduction, an overview of the traditio-historical process, the final scriptural foundation, and a discussion concerning tradition and scripture as a conclusion.
Main Points of Interest
The main point of interest presented by Anderson (1981, p. 21) was that, "It is tradition and scripture: tradition which still makes its theological witness in scripture, and scripture which theologically incorporates and crystallizes biblical tradition."
Description of Methodology
The author used a critical review of the relevant literature concerning the issues of interest, an approach that is highly congruent with the guidance provided by a number of social science researchers (Neuman, 2009).
Contrasting Views
Not all biblical authorities agree with Anderson's conclusions about the fundamental responsibilities of biblical theologians. For instance, Paul (2000, p. 147) points out that, "Patristic exegesis [is] not purely about extracting meaning from received scriptures but about constructing a universe of religious discourse (and a concomitant literary culture) in which Christian understanding and identity [can] be shaped and sustained."
Effectiveness in Communicating Main Themes
To his credit, Anderson provides an exhaustive analysis of the issues of interest, though this analysis is somewhat undermined by his overuse of brief quotations to illustrate his views and his verbosity in making straightforward points. Notwithstanding these constraints, the author succeeds in making a case for his argument concerning the role of tradition in the interpretation of scripture.
Create your account
Always verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.