The Secular Interpretation of the Bible
As a professional student of the Bible, I have found that a truly secular study of this ancient collection of writings is indeed rare to find. Because the Bible is held is such high regard by people of various faiths, notably Christian and Jewish, to this day it is difficult to find researchers who are objectively detached from the religious study of the Bible. In Christianity, professional researchers are almost always connected with some sort of religious institution and so must steer their research to their religious constituency. This is so even for allegedly secular studies of the Bible as we find in major universities, whose faculty are often associated and share teaching duties with an affiliated divinity school. As a result, researchers with doctorates know that they must somehow serve the religious interests of the institutions with which they are affiliated.
A truly secular study of the Bible continues to struggle within Western Civilization to this very day. The allegedly objective study of the Bible began in earnest with the European Enlightenment of the 18th century. Even so, after centuries of a quest for objectivity, a quest to treat the Bible as one would any other ancient writing, is indeed present but rather rare. However, I feel strongly that if one is to continue the gains of the Enlightenment, one must be committed to go where objective research leads. In the choice between a career and scholarly integrity, there is really had no choice if one is truly an educator.
Although the sacrifice can indeed be great, I cannot overemphasize the clarity that a secular, descriptive, non-ideological approach to the Bible brings. Those who sacrifice their integrity for jobs, hold on to a bias that impugns their scholarship, blurs their vision and reduces their contribution. But a truly objective, descriptive, accurate, secular investigation of the biblical material turns out to be quite vital and exciting, simply because it is rare. Any good literary critic, historian, sociologist and other professional who truly investigates ancient Israel knows the satisfaction that comes with truly understanding something about the object of one's investigation. Even more, the disciplined scholar will know the deep satisfaction of performing solid scholarship that leads to vital results in service to the betterment of society by serving a humanistic purpose.