Minimalists vs Maximalists

The main reason that biblical maximalists and minimalists disagree is really an issue of faith. Minimalists believe that maximalists have a type of “fundamentalist agenda”1, and are blinded by the faith that they place in the text. The term maximalist can “broadly describe anyone, theologically conservative or liberal, who believes that the biblical narratives have some historical value.”2 For minimalists, “rationalistic higher-critical and evolutionary assumptions will produce a varied interpretation of evidence when a shared scientific approach is followed.”3 The maximalist's “confidence in the accuracy and historicity of the people and events referred to in God’s Word draws on other evidence, primarily theological statements the Bible makes about itself.”4 There are really two options when looking at the relationship of the Bible to history: 1) All the Bible's statements are to regarded from a theological rather than factual perspective. 2) All the Bible's statements are to be regarded as factual even though a theological perspective is adopted.5 In other words, the way that each group approaches the data will almost determine the outcome at the onset. Anyone who “has worked in archeology to any degree understands that the collection of data from a dig site is very scientific and objective, while the interpretation of that data is much more subjective. All archaeologists bring numerous presuppositions to their work and that affects what evidence they emphasize and how they interpret what they find and do not find.”6 One example is the consideration of King David. While the maximalist will look to the Bible and view the historicity of King David, for “minimalists, King David was 'about as historical as King Arthur.'”7 Maximalists will look to the Bible to determine the dating of events, while minimalists “argue that the biblical accounts were often written long after the actual events—often centuries later—resulting in their diminished value as historical witnesses.”8 One final note to remember is that “the worldviews of the biblical maximalist and minimalist are opposite and cannot be reconciled.”9







BIBLIOGRAPHY




Garfinkel, Yosef “The Birth.” Biblical Archaeology Review 37, no. 3, 2011, http://basarchive.org.




Grisanti, Michael A. “Recent Archaeological Discoveries That Lend Credence to the Historicity Of The Scriptures.” Journal of Evangelical Theological Society 56 no. 3, 2013.




Price, Randall. The Stones Cry Out, Eugene, Or.: Harvest House Publishers, 1997.


1 Randall Price, The Stones Cry Out, Eugene, Or.: Harvest House Publishers, (1997) 326.


2 Michael A. Grisanti, “Recent Archaeological Discoveries That Lend Credence to the Historicity Of The Scriptures.” Journal of Evangelical Theological Society 56 no. 3, (2013) 485.


3 Randall Price, The Stones Cry Out, Eugene, Or.: Harvest House Publishers, (1997) 327.


4 Michael A. Grisanti, “Recent Archaeological Discoveries That Lend Credence to the Historicity Of The Scriptures.” Journal of Evangelical Theological Society 56 no. 3, (2013) 475.


5 Randall Price, The Stones Cry Out, Eugene, Or.: Harvest House Publishers, (1997) 331.


6 Michael A. Grisanti, “Recent Archaeological Discoveries That Lend Credence to the Historicity Of The Scriptures.” Journal of Evangelical Theological Society 56 no. 3, (2013) 476.


7Yosef Garfinkel, “The Birth,” Biblical Archaeology Review 37, no. 3 (2011) http://basarchive.org.


8 Michael A. Grisanti, “Recent Archaeological Discoveries That Lend Credence to the Historicity Of The Scriptures.” Journal of Evangelical Theological Society 56 no. 3, (2013) 483.




9 Randall Price, The Stones Cry Out, Eugene, Or.: Harvest House Publishers, (1997) 327.