Politicizing the Bible : The Roots of Historical Criticism and the Secularization of Scripture 1300-1700

Every examination of the bible has an underlying philosophy that provides a context for the author’s inquiry, and controls, to some degree, the outcome of the investigation. Hahn and Wiker track the sources of current assumptions about scriptural interpretation and show that what we hold to be neutral, fact-based approaches actually originate in the political wrangling of 13th and 14th centuries.

This wide-ranging volume covers the development of historical criticism and the resulting undermining and fracturing of the integrity of the church. The authors look at the role of the revolutionary writings of Marsilius of Padua and Machiavelli, the political projects of Henry VIII, Thomas Hobbes, and John Locke, and the quest for an empire of science that emerges in the work of Descartes and Spinoza. A formidable revisioning of how we understand scripture.