A Laudable Essay by Megan Bishop Moore

In Bible and Interpretation.  I liked it.  Especially this section which is very thought provoking indeed-

Biblical Studies runs the risk of being an outlier in this pursuit if it (or the department) fosters the impression that knowing about the Bible is equivalent to knowing about Christianity or Judaism, (i.e., if Biblical Studies classes are the main classes in which these traditions are examined), or if Biblical Studies sticks to philological analysis when the rest of the courses are examining vital and living religious communities. History can help Biblical Studies make clear that the Bible is an ancient text from an ancient context. Thus, religious ideas and practices described in it can be understood first and foremost as parts of the past. The ramifications and reinterpretations of these ideas and practices up until and in the present (covered, hopefully also in classes on the history of Christianity or Judaism and in courses on modern Christianity and Judaism) then provide separate but overlapping points of entry into the diversity of humans’ religious experience.