📘Lexicon Entry: Primitive Biblicism
Theological Mutations | April 8, 2025
Definition
Primitive Biblicism is the first of seven theological mutations identified within Dominative Christianism and Providential Identitarianism. It refers to the claim of direct, unmediated access to biblical meaning that bypasses interpretive traditions, historical context, and communal discernment. It assumes that Scripture's meaning is plain, self-evident, and can be apprehended without the influence of interpretive frameworks.
Key Characteristics
Ahistorical reading: Detaching biblical texts from their historical and cultural contexts
Anti-intellectualism: Rejecting scholarly analysis and critical interpretation
Individualistic interpretation: Prioritizing personal reading over communal discernment
Proof-texting: Extracting verses from context to support predetermined positions
Binary reduction: Reducing scriptural complexity to simple distinctions
Definition and division: Using scripture primarily for categorization and boundary-setting
Rulebook approach: Treating scripture as a manual of regulations rather than a formative narrative
Historical Context
Primitive Biblicism has roots in the Reformation's emphasis on sola scriptura, but represents a distortion of this principle. While the Reformers advocated for scripture's authority, they still recognized the need for careful interpretation within interpretive traditions. The modern form of Primitive Biblicism emerged more directly from American frontier revivalism, fundamentalist reactions to modernism, and the influence of Scottish Common Sense Realism with its naive empiricism.
Methodologically, Primitive Biblicism draws heavily on the influence of Peter Ramus (1515–1572), whose approach to knowledge emphasized division and classification over rhetorical and dialectical understanding. This "Ramist realism" fundamentally shaped American educational methods and, by extension, approaches to biblical interpretation.
Conceptual Framework
Think of Primitive Biblicism like someone claiming to read a complex technical manual without any training, background knowledge, or awareness of their own interpretive biases. Just as this approach would likely lead to dangerous misapplications in technical contexts, Primitive Biblicism creates the illusion of direct access to biblical meaning while actually imposing unacknowledged interpretive frameworks.
This approach masks several fundamental realities about biblical interpretation:
All reading involves interpretation; there is no "uninterpreted" reading of any text
Biblical texts were written in specific historical, cultural, and linguistic contexts that shape their meaning
Readers always bring their own contexts, assumptions, and frameworks to the text
Interpretation has historically been a communal rather than merely individual activity
Different literary genres within scripture require different interpretive approaches
Manifestations
Primitive Biblicism manifests in religious contexts when:
Claims of "biblical worldview" mask theological and cultural assumptions not derived from scripture itself
Complex narratives are reduced to simplistic moral lessons without attention to literary and historical context
Ancient Near Eastern cosmological texts like Genesis are interpreted as scientific treatises
Interpreter's cultural biases are presented as the "plain meaning" of scripture
Historical-critical methods are rejected as undermining scriptural authority
Interpretive disagreements are attributed to others' spiritual deficiencies rather than textual complexity
Related Terms
This lexicon entry was last updated on April 8, 2025