Eroding Biblical Certainty in Early America

I see that my last post came in…exactly one month ago. To which I can say, it’s been one of those months.

My monthly post for the Religion in American History blog just went live. In it, I give a quick review of Michael J. Lee’s Erosion of Biblical Certainty.

Having seen the manuscript at several points along its life, I’m thrilled to see this book in print. Lee pays close attention to how the Bible was read, understood, and defended in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This is an excellent study in the history of biblical criticism and the place of the Bible in American life. Along the way, Lee is offering a gentle rebuke to those biblical defenders who attempted to use the rationalist instruments of their critics to defend the Bible. He is suggesting that a healthier defense of inspiration comes from the assertion of faith within the confessing community.

In the review, I also relate Lee’s book to Charles Taylor’s massive work A Secular Age. Lee might be read as offering a small piece of the secularization story Taylor tells. And, if we’re mentioning Taylor, let me suggest that people also be on the look-out for James K.A. Smith’s forthcoming book How (Not) to Be Secular.

Jump over and read the review here.