The invincible ignorance of Newsweek’s Kurt Eichenwald

Numerous scholarly refutations have been made of Newsweek and Kurt Eichenwald’s Christmas polemic against the Bible and historic Christianity. Dr. Michael Brown, whose own detailed rebuttal of Eichenwald’s article was published by Newsweek, subsequently invited Eichenwald on to his Line of Fire radio show.

The resulting two-hour programme is exceedingly frustrating to hear for anyone with even a basic knowledge of Christian history and the transmission of the Bible. Nevertheless, Eichenwald’s refusal to concede his fundamental errors of fact is enlightening. Throughout the show, Eichenwald demonstrates his invincible ignorance by evading every opportunity to engage meaningfully with the arguments and evidence against his position.

Dr. James R. White, director of Alpha and Omega Ministries, has responded to a portion of the Brown-Eichenwald interview in his usual inimitable and sometimes acerbic manner. The relevant segment starts at 47:35 into the audio/video of the 27 January 2015 episode of Dr. White’s Dividing Line programme. It is worth hearing for anyone interested in understanding Eichenwald’s errors.

A debate between White and Eichenwald is clearly warranted, but it seems unlikely that Eichenwald would be willing to expose his arguments to direct examination by Dr. White, notwithstanding White’s exceedingly long track record of engaging honourably in well-mannered formal debate.

Eichenwald is, at least, right about one thing: many self-professed Christians are woefully ignorant about both the Bible’s history and the teaching it contains. Ironically, it is this very lack of knowledge that is exploited by those like Eichenwald who espouse tired liberal unorthodoxy. His article thus demonstrates why Christians need to be informed and educated about their faith, always ‘ready to give a defence to everyone who asks’ (1 Peter 3:15).

Newsweek publishes response by Dr. Michael Brown to its Christmas hit-piece on the Bible, but says ‘we stand by our story’

Newsweek and Kurt Eichenwald’s ignorant Christmas polemic against the Bible and historic Christianity prompted a number of cogent rebuttals. Newsweek has now published a lengthy response by Dr. Michael Brown. Nevertheless, Newsweek editorial staff insist in the introduction to the piece that they ‘stand by’ their story and ‘disagree with some of Dr. Brown’s points’:

Newsweek’s recent cover story on the Bible, as we expected, proved quite controversial, particularly among the evangelical community. Some agreed with our point, others expressed anger and still others came back with substantive replies. Our hope from the beginning was to inspire debate, and so we invited one our evangelical critics, Dr. Michael Brown, to continue the discussion. While we stand by our story and disagree with some of Dr. Brown’s points, we do not think it is appropriate to publish a reply here. However, Dr. Brown has generously invited the author of the piece to appear on his national radio show next week to resume this important dialogue.

Round-up: responses to Kurt Eichenwald’s Newsweek article, ‘The Bible: So Misunderstood It’s a Sin’

Several cogent responses were provoked by Newsweek and Kurt Eichenwald’s ignorant Christmas polemic against the Bible and historic Christianity. Here are the best:

  • Dr. Michael J. Kruger, President and Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Reformed Theological Seminary, Charlotte, NC, wrote a two part rebuttal on his blog: part 1, part 2.
  • Dr. James R. White, director of Alpha and Omega Ministries, devoted two episodes of his Dividing Line programme to refuting Eichenwald’s piece: part 1, part 2.
  • Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote a blog post.
  • Dr. Daniel B. Wallace, professor of New Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary and Executive Director of the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts, also authored a post.

Update: