This is Madison.
She has been listening to BEMA since she was a junior in high school. Madison is now a college student at the University of Texas at Austin [Ed. note: 🤘🏼] where she decided to take a course on Jewish civilization from the beginnings to 1492.
Given her time spent with BEMA, Madison was already familiar with many of the ideas presented in class. One day, however, she was caught off guard when her professor was lecturing on the idea that King Hezekiah is the first reliably historical biblical character. The professor explained that everyone before Hezekiah was probably more legend than reality because archaeologists haven’t found evidence of their existence.
Leaving class with a pile of ideas to wrestle with, Madison decided to email Marty to see if he could help clarify her professor’s position. Marty explained that her professor was laying out a minimalist theory of biblical scholarship, which assumes the Bible is myth unless proven to be historical (a position held by about 90% of respected biblical scholars). A maximalist approach, on the other hand, assumes the Bible to be true unless it is contradicted by the historical record.
Marty and Madison went on to discuss more recent discoveries that could elongate the minimalists’ view of the biblical timeline to the era of Saul, but these findings are still under debate and are not part of typical university curriculum.
Madison’s Jewish civilization course created an opportunity for her. Instead of losing confidence in her faith, she was strengthened because she knew the Bible could take the critique of her professor and withstand the wrestling she undertook as a student with an earnest heart. She can confidently respect and learn from her professors, not seeing them as enemies, knowing that questions and doubts are a welcome part of the process of seeking God.
