"Bible Studies"

Today, my reading has me digging into the work of Norbert Lohfink, a (the?) preeminent German Old Testament Scholar—who happens to be Roman Catholic (Jesuit priest). He is nearly 90 years old. The word "prolific" can hardly contain his career. His list of published works is 80 (that's right eight-zero) pages long! (link)

In addition to some heavy academic lifting, Dr. Lohfink has also done much to leverage his considerable knowledge and study for the benefit of the church. He has contributed a whole lot of stuff to the liturgical readings (daily Scripture readings of [in this case] the Roman Catholic Church), translation, etc., etc.

This reminded me of a conversation that I had recently with someone doing "Bible studies" at church and a tragedy of the contemporary American Evangelical scene. In what follows, I mean no disrespect, but I do wish to offer a challenge. (Change can't happen without at least acknowledging that something is not as good as it could/should be.)

The tragedy is not that there aren't the equals of Dr. Lohfink (there are!), but that the average church-goer doesn't want to listen to them. Instead, we listen to folks who have fame or flash or "woo" but lack substance. For proof, just look at a list of the "Bible Studies" on offer in any Christian bookstore. (For example, and be sure to sort by "bestseller.")

My experience in teaching college students (both the traditional 19 year old but especially the non-traditional adult student) how to hone their Bible reading skills, I have identified a few problems. 

1. An underlying and un-examined imbibing of our culture's veneration of fame. (I could invoke the current political race and Evangelical participation in it to prove my point, but I'll refrain...oh wait, whoops.)
2. An underlying and un-examined distrust or even fear of academic study of the Bible. It befuddles me that we'd rather trust someone from the bestseller list than someone who has dedicated their life to studying Scripture, has parsed through important and difficult issues, *and remains faithful to the Lord in the midst of it*. There are *many* people like Dr. Lohfink within the Evangelical tradition. 
3. But academics aren't off of the hook here. These brilliant, creative, faithful people seem to lack the creativity and expertise to write such material. There are notable exceptions. (See here and especially here.) But we should also note that these studies aren't jumping off of the shelves.