SBL Ruckass

Quite a stir going on right now in SBL over an article in Biblical Archaeology Review called, "A Farewell to SBL." The basic idea is that SBL has abandoned its standards and will let any old uncritical person present.

I certainly wouldn't put things quite the way Hendel does, but I would agree that the whole discipline of biblical studies is in a methodological malaise. I would say that between postmodernism and theological interpretation, a lot of sloppy scholarship is slipping into a whole lot of places these days in the name of "there's no real standard" (postmodernism) and "theology pretending to be exegesis" (some theological interpretation).

I welcome all these methods, as long as no one confuses the one with the other, which I believe is the real problem right now.