EXAMINING TRUTH AND AUTHORITY: Strengthening the First Paradigm of Biblical Studies Through Kyriarchal Analysis
By Michelle Chaplin Sanchez
Abstract The first, theological paradigm of biblical studies stands awkwardly at the problematic divide between the church and the academy. In the academy, approaches to the Bible-assacred are often seen as too value-laden to claim a spot in the discipline at large, exacerbating the gulf between universities and broader society vis-à-vis the Bible. I argue that biblical studies must retain the first paradigm in order to be societally and ethically conscientious, and that the source of the first paradigm’s exclusion centers on its frequent attachment to flat notions of truth and authority. By utilizing a kyriarchal critique to highlight the assumptions inherent in notions of truth and authority, the first paradigm can begin to fill out an approach to the Bible as “God’s Word” that is wise to the very human power struggles at work both in the text and in its contemporary uses, opening up multivalent understandings of truth, more nuanced notions of sacredness, and opportunities for collaboration with other paradigms.