As 2 Timothy 3:16-17 puts it, all Scripture is breathed out by God, and all of it is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness to make God’s servants complete and equipped for every good work. The Bible is Christianity’s foundational text; therefore, Christians believe it defines the truth. Biblicists say that only the Bible should define doctrine instead of things like creeds and councils.
What Is Biblicism?
Andrew Wilson defined biblicism as the idea that readers of the Bible can deduce and interpret the Bible on their own, without the help of external sources.
Biblicism typically features an emphasis on a literal reading of the Biblical text. It most often shows up as “I am a Biblical Christian.”
“Biblicist” is often used as a pejorative against Bible-believing Christians by Christians who don’t hold the Bible as their final authority.
What are the Strengths of Biblicism?
Biblicism holds a high view of Scripture: it is inerrant, infallible, and the source of all matters regarding faith, practice, and doctrine. Biblicism takes Scripture seriously and believes Scripture for everything.
Because biblicists want to avoid holding another authority above Scripture, they view creeds and confessions with skepticism, arguing the documents must be examined in light of Scripture.
James White advocates for what he calls reformed biblicism, which means examining all of church history in light of the Scripture:
“Creeds and confessions are secondary documents; indeed, we might say creeds are secondary and confessions tertiary, as they are often derived from creedal statements. Creeds are few, and ancient, confessions are many, and often more modern.
Both are dependent for their authority upon their fidelity to that which is ontologically superior to them; that is, their authority is derivative from Scripture for they are, by their nature, human, and fallible. They are not God-breathed.”
Biblicism also encourages individual believers to investigate and explore the Scriptures for themselves.
Biblicism is rooted in the idea that the average person can understand the Bible—the perspicuity of Scripture. Biblicists emphasize that Scripture is intelligible and has value for everyone. If the Word is living and active, those who read it should be able to get something from it. One of Biblicism’s biggest strengths is that it shows people that they can and should read the Bible for themselves.
How Does Biblicism Fit with Protestant Thought?
Many Protestant biblicists view Scripture as the sole authority. This is known as Sola Scriptura, Latin for “Scripture alone.” This view makes Scripture the final authority as opposed to the Catholic view, which puts Scripture and Tradition on equal footing.
The emphasis on individuals studying Scripture is rooted in the Reformation, when William Tyndale famously told a Catholic priest, “I will cause a boy that driveth the plow shall know more of the scriptures than dost.”
Tyndale’s priority on individuals studying the scriptures broke from the medieval Catholic tradition that emphasized the priests serving as mediators and educators to the congregation. The Catholic emphasis also led to things like Bibles only being published in Latin (a language most people couldn’t speak unless they were priests). While Catholicism modified some of its stances with the Second Vatican council (such as allowing the mass to be spoken in English), it continues to emphasize tradition, as made clear in the Catechism:
“Hence, both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence.” (Second Vatican Council, Dei Verbum, 9).
In contrast, a defining trait of Protestantism was emphasizing Scripture as the final authority. Martin Luther argued for all individuals’ right to read the Scripture themselves, a “priesthood of all believers.” Tyndale said, “The scripture of God is my only foundation and substance in all matters of faith.”
How Does Biblicism Look at Church History?
According to Derek Rishmawy, people who claim to be Biblicists seek to remove themselves from any church traditions or creeds but unconsciously align with whatever church they attend. Biblicists assume that their assumptions are the clear teachings of Scripture and that other views are not biblical.
Biblicism can lead to people abandoning the tradition of church history, neglecting what came before. We have 2,000 years of interpretation and commentary on the Scripture that can be valuable to help us form our faith. Some Biblicists reject creeds and councils because they came after the scriptures.
Naive biblicism can lead to doctrinal narrowness. Some biblicists view their ways of interpreting a controversial passage as the only authoritative interpretation. This leads to rejecting other views on doctrines like the end times.
What Are Some Critiques Against Biblicism?
Christian Smith, author of The Bible Made Impossible: Why Biblicism is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture, asserts that Biblicists practice what he calls “pervasive interpretive pluralism,” which means that biblicists from different theological camps can’t agree on doctrine. Smith defines biblicism as “a theory about the Bible that emphasizes together its exclusive authority, infallibility, perspicuity, self-sufficiency, internal consistency, self-evident meaning, and universal applicability.”
James White responds to this critique in a July 2022 article:
“Next, we are told that to be a biblicist is to believe it is just you and your Bible under a tree, each person a blank slate, starting from scratch each and every day. FALSE. There is nothing in being a Reformed biblicist that requires one to ignore everything the Spirit has provided to us in the form of past generations, commentaries, multiple translations, community interaction, etc. None of these things, however, can be elevated to a point of equality with, or interpretative control over, Scripture.”
Some argue that Biblicism ignores the larger context of different books of Scripture and ignores genre within the different books of the Bible. They see biblicism as only seeking to interpret Scripture in terms of what it says to me today. Understanding more of the context of the Bible can enrich our understanding of His Word. Much of the Bible contains poetic or symbolic elements.
How Do Biblicists Interpret the Bible?
Biblicism tends to emphasize literal interpretations, which began as a Reformation correction against a trend among medieval scholars.
Before the Reformation, many theologians and commentators viewed Scripture allegorically. Commentators like Origen thought most of the Old Testament should be read as allegories pointing to Christ at the expense of the literal and practical meaning. For example, medieval teachers often taught about Noah’s ark and interpreted the ark as a symbol of the church—providing refuge from the floodwaters of sin and destruction. Just as Noah and his family were saved from the flood, believers were saved through the church. This is a valid interpretation.
However, often, the theologians ended with the application rather than going on to explore what the text meant to its original audience. This leads to an issue of hermeneutics, or how we read and interpret the Bible. Both interpretations are important to flesh out the text. Using one or the other can lead to a stunted view of Scripture.
Biblicism responded to this allegorical interpretation by taking almost all language in the Bible as literal.
What Are Some Problems Biblicists Need to Watch Out For?
Because biblicists tend to take the most literal interpretations of Scripture, they may miss the poetry and figurative language in Scripture. Eugene Peterson noted this problem in an interview where he recalled growing up being told to interpret everything in the Bible literally, which worked fine until he discovered verses like “God holds my tears in a jar.”
Biblicism can also lead to narcigesis, reading oneself into a character or story that was not the author’s intent. A classic example of narcigesis comes from reading yourself as David in the David and Goliath story. This classic example makes readers the hero and Goliath any problems they are afraid of. A more accurate reading would see the readers as the Israelites frightened to fight Goliath. It can be dangerous to insert ourselves into historical in the Bible. In reality, this story points to Jesus as the greater David, who defeated the ultimate enemy, death.
It is important to understand the genre of Scripture as we read it and read it through different lenses to get multiple layers of meaning out of it. Biblicism points us back to the scriptures above anything else, which is important. However, it can lead to misinterpretations. That’s why it’s important to determine whether our idea about Scripture has been believed throughout history or is novel. If it’s novel, we must consider whether we are on the right track.
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/SergioYoneda
Ben Reichert works with college students in New Zealand. He graduated from Iowa State in 2019 with degrees in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, and agronomy. He is passionate about church history, theology, and having people walk with Jesus. When not working or writing you can find him running or hiking in the beautiful New Zealand Bush.
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