By Dr. David Tee, whose real name is Derrick Thomas Thiessen, Theoarch: For the Glory of God, Peer Review is NOT Biblical, April 3, 2023
One of the reasons the people at ABR or Associates for Biblical Research do not like us is that we challenge so many of their conclusions. They have gone to the point of specifically telling us to leave them alone.
But we do that with many Christians as we feel they have strayed away from biblical guidelines and have accepted secular science’s guidelines. One is the key scientific process called peer review.
Here is what ABR said in a newsletter that we receive:
Many of you have asked about the peer-review article connected with ABR’s discovery of a curse-tablet from Mt. Ebal in Israel. ABR began the peer review process from the outset of the discovery by establishing a team of experts from the academic community.
That work culminated in an article that was submitted to a scientific journal for peer review and publication. We continue to await the final results of that review and the release of the article for publication.
Thank you to everyone who has prayed about this and have sent words of encouragement. As soon as news is available, and the article is released we will be in communication with the ABR family!
This may work for secular articles and conclusions but for Christian articles and content, the unbelieving world does not have the superior view. Nor do they have an objective view of the Christian content.
The bias against Christian content is very strong and the latter is easily recognized even though there are single and blind peer review processes. In other words,, and this will apply to secular science content as well, if a researcher has an opposing view of the content, it is not going to be reviewed objectively or fairly.
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For the Christian, how would they expect the unbelieving peer reviewers to have any knowledge of Christian content and be able to review it correctly? The Bible says that Christians are not to walk in the counsel of the ungodly.
So if the peer reviewers in this case are not Christian and they make the recommendation that changes be made to the content, the Christian cannot comply.
The Christian is supposed to produce the truth, not theory, predictions, etc. and most reviewers do not have the truth to help the Christian writer succeed in producing better quality content.
If Christians make a discovery, as is the case for ABR, how can the unbelieving process shed light on that discovery?
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What we are pointing out is that Christians should not use the peer review process because it is NOT biblical. It is a secular science construct that has no foundation in the truth nor has the goal of providing the truth.
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In their work, especially archaeological, scientific, anthropological, and so on, should be guided first by the Holy Spirit. They should be in obedience to the Biblical instructions that set us apart in all fields of research.
No Christian should be advertising their work as peer-reviewed approved. We do not seek the approval of other humans. We need the approval of God and know we have published the truth.
That is our goal as Jesus is called ‘the truth’ not the theory or explanation. We go for the truth as guided by the Spirit of Truth. There is no such thing as the spirit of theory or interpretation or explanation.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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