The Historian and the Believer: The Morality of Historical Knowledge and Christian Belief

by Van Austin Harvey

Is it possible to be both a historian and a Christian? Van Harvey's The Historian and the Believer posed that question when it was first published. In this printing, the author has provided a new introduction in which he reflects on how he would reframe his original argument in order to bring out more fully the basic theological intention underlying his view that Christian faith cannot rest on dubious historical claims.

301 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

Reviews

[Remi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just kinda outdated

[Keith Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of a dry academic read, but one that raises a devastating question for any attempt to interpret the Bible in a literal fashion. Harvey asks how a historian can read a work like the Iliad and dismiss the mythological elements of the story as historically inaccurate, but then read the Bible and accept the supernatural elements. The historian has to apply the same epistemological standard to all texts. It is question of intellectual ethics.

[pjr8888 · Rating 4 out of 5]

my copy:First Macmillan Paperbacks Edition, 1969

[Bob Breckwoldt · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a classic attempt to deal with the issues of historiography and religious belief.