From one perspective BAR is a resounding success. We have a circulation of about 200,000. That’s more than most niche magazines and is a more-than-respectable number for magazines of any type. The New Republic, for example, has a circulation of only 98,000.
From another perspective, however, we have only slightly tapped our market. A recent survey conducted by Carl S. Dudley and David A. Roozen of the Hartford Institution of Religious Research, at Hartford Seminary, involving more than 14,000 churches and 41 denominations or faith communities, sought to determine the source of religious authority. Sacred scripture was the answer in 82 percent of the responses. The other sources of religious authority included the Holy Spirit (60 percent), creeds, doctrines and tradition (15 percent), personal experience (13 percent) and human reason (8 percent). In short, sacred scripture was by far the most common source of religious authority.
More than 90 percent of the congregations offered their members scripture study. Indeed, this was the second most popular member-oriented program (it was only slightly surpassed by Sunday/weekend school).
These statistics indicate our potential market is vast. Our circulation is really minuscule, especially considering that we are the only popular magazine devoted to Biblical archaeology. (Scholarly journals in the field typically have circulations of less than 5,000.)
As archaeologist William Dever has often pointed out, archaeology is the only source of new information that can illuminate the Biblical text. (I don’t quite agree with him; consider, for example, new philological studies, new textual studies, new scholarly perspectives; but Dever does have a point.) It also brings to life, as only archaeology can, the world in which the great and small events recorded in the Bible took place.
So why isn’t BAR essential for the 82 percent who say sacred scripture is the source of their religious authority? Why isn’t BAR a standard resource in the more than 90 percent of congregations that offer scripture classes to their members? Admittedly, this is a rather narrow perspective in which to put the question. So let me broaden it: Does history matter? Is what really happened important to America’s faith communities? Or is the Biblical text enough?
“If the Bible says it, it must be true! And that’s enough for me,” many people say. It’s not only Protestant Fundamentalists who have this attitude. So do many Jews and Catholics. Biblical archaeology until recently was largely a Protestant endeavor. The relatively recent Israeli interest in Biblical archaeology was for the most part nationalistic rather than religious. The Israelis were seeking their roots in their new/old land. Another group that has no interest in Biblical history—i.e., what really happened—059are the people who regard the Bible as a literary masterpiece, but not more.
Few of us accept the story of Adam and Eve, for example, as literally true. Yet, even for us, the Bible remains a religious document. What if there were no patriarchal age, no Exodus from Egypt, no conquest of the Promised Land as recounted in the Book of Joshua? What if, as some scholars now contend, there was no David or Solomon? In short, I return to the question: Does history matter?
Rather than give my answer, I leave the question with our readers. For people who do read BAR, history apparently is important. They want to know what independent evidence says about the historicity of what the Bible recounts. They want to know what all aspects of life were like in Biblical times. They want to know more of the context of the stories than the Bible gives us. For you, history does matter. Why? Let us hear from you.
From one perspective BAR is a resounding success. We have a circulation of about 200,000. That’s more than most niche magazines and is a more-than-respectable number for magazines of any type. The New Republic, for example, has a circulation of only 98,000. From another perspective, however, we have only slightly tapped our market. A recent survey conducted by Carl S. Dudley and David A. Roozen of the Hartford Institution of Religious Research, at Hartford Seminary, involving more than 14,000 churches and 41 denominations or faith communities, sought to determine the source of religious authority. Sacred scripture was the answer […]
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