How the Bible Works: An Anthropological Study of Evangelical Biblicism

by Brian Malley

Book Overview

What do evangelicals believe when they 'believe in the Bible'? Despite hundreds of English versions that differ in their texts, evangelicals continue to believe that there is a stable text-'the Bible'-which is the authoritative word of God and an essential guide to their everyday lives. To understand this phenomenon of evangelical Biblicism, anthropologist and biblical scholar Brian Malley looks not to the words of the Bible but to the Bible-believing...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0759106657
• ISBN13: 9780759106659
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: Altamira Press
• Length: 184 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Excellent book, but technical at times.

I read this book for Dr. Malley's Introduction to Anthropology course at the University of Michigan, and I was impressed. His knowledge of how the Bible is seen by churchgoers is second to none, and throughout the book the reader comes to "know" the people a the Creekside Baptist Church, though that name is a pseudonym. I wouldn't recommend this book for coffee-table reading, as there are lots of technical details; it is better suited for a reader in the academic field.

American biblicism studied with empirical precision

For anyone interested in understanding the mechanics of American biblicism, this is perhaps the best anthropological study that could be done on the subject. With a fundamentalist/evangelical history in his own life, Malley gets to the core issues with great precision; yet he approaches this study very objectively. This book is not a polemic. It is a fantastic and enlightening empirical study on biblicism. So much information is packed into relatively few pages that you'll likely want to read it multiple times, letting the insights soak in further with each read.