Book Review: The Crisis Of Biblical Authority by John H. Walton

Interesting Academic Dissection Seemingly More Geared Towards Academics And Clerics Than General Audiences. This is one of those academic books where the author is quite clearly writing more towards fellow academics and/ or clerics with only a side glance toward the more educated (and specifically within or at least close to this very field) among the general audience. Those, like me, that grew up in the Church (at least the American one and specifically the Baptist ones of the turn of the 21st century era) will likely follow along well enough, but those with only a cultural knowledge of Christianity will likely be completely lost with this text... and honestly, I suspect Walton is largely fine with this.

From a logical perspective, well, this is largely the basis Walton uses for his arguments, and a lot of them make a lot of sense from a purely logical/ literary critique kind of perspective. But Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) aren't specifically and always logical according to modern interpretations of "logic", and there is quite a bit here that will be debated quite heavily - and even vociferously - among various various Christian "flavors", Almost no matter the version of Christianity you approach this text from, Walton has something here that you're likely going to vehemently disagree with, more that you're likely to less vehemently disagree with,... and a lot that you need to hear, if only to more fully develop your own theology more consistently.

Indeed, the only objective-ish issue I had with the text at hand is the near complete absence of any bibliography at all, at least in the advance review copy I've had for several weeks already and read nearly two months before publication of the text, though most (all?) chapters do include at least a few references at the end of the chapter rather than one comprehensive bibliography at the end of the text. Thus, the star deduction as I do expect to see at least 15% or so bibliography in any nonfiction work based on my near decade of active ARC reading and book blogging wherein I am approaching nearly 2,000 books read and reviewed in that period, with something approaching 500 or so of those being nonfiction works across a wide variety of fields.

Overall a fascinating, well written (within its domain and target audience) text that makes at least a surface level compelling argument, this is one that I would *love* to see what those I know to have actual seminary educations and who I highly respect in the Church think of this text as well. But no matter who you are and what your background is, I do hope that you'll leave your own review of this book wherever you found this one and let us know what you thought of it as well.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Crisis Of Biblical Authority by John H. Walton was originally written on October 3, 2026.