On MisRepresenting the Views of Others

Last updated on: April 9, 2018 at 1:45 am by Ben Witherington

On MisRepresenting the Views of Others 2018-03-23T08:47:25-04:00 Ben Witherington

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Here is an excellent post by Larry Hurtado, which I am reposting here….. See what you think. BW3

On Representing the Views of Others
by larryhurtado
The following exhortation about representing the views of others is primarily directed to students and younger scholars. One of the aims I’ve striven for over the 40+ years of my scholarly work has been to represent the views of other scholars fairly, and especially those views with which I take issue.

I owe a good deal of my concern in this matter to my PhD supervisor, Eldon J. Epp. In the interview in which I approached him about commencing PhD work, I remember him emphasizing one thing: I didn’t have to agree with his views, but he wouldn’t tolerate the misrepresentation of the views of those whom I might engage in my research. And one of the deepest satisfactions for me over the ensuing 40+ years is that I can’t recall an accusation that I distorted or treated unfairly another scholar’s views.

But I’ve had to work at this, for the temptation to exaggerate or caricature views that you disagree with is very real, and no one is immune to it. Especially in my early years of scholarly work when I was still “learning the ropes,” one measure I took was this: When I wrote a review of a book, I’d send the review typescript to the book’s author with a note that the review was forthcoming in a given journal. I’d typically write that, although I couldn’t expect the author to agree with my critique, I hoped that the author would recognize his/her views as I stated them. It was a discipline: If I hesitated about handing the review to the book’s author, then I should consider whether there was something in the review that was excessive or unfair.

Over the years since then, when I’ve focused on the work of a particular (living) scholar, I’ve typically sent my critique or engagement to him/her before submitting it for publication, inviting that scholar to point out any significant misrepresentation of him/her. For example, my chapter on “Q” in my book, Lord Jesus Christ, is a close engagement with some of Kloppenborg’s well-known work on that topic. So, I sent the draft of the chapter to him, asking him to help me avoid any misunderstanding or misrepresentation of his views. Gentleman that he is, John dutifully read the chapter carefully, and assured me that it was an accurate description of his views (though he didn’t necessarily subscribe to my own).

In another instance, I recall inviting Adela Yarbro Collins to comment on my engagement with one of her views. In that case she felt that I hadn’t represented her view fairly. So, I modified what I wrote to take account of her complaint.

So, I’ve not been magically free from the danger of misrepresentation of others. That’s why I’ve taken these steps to avoid it in publications. And my advice to students and younger scholars is to take a similar approach. I often told my PhD students that it wasn’t necessary or wise to exaggerate or distort the views of others in order to make their own case for their views. It wasn’t necessary to run down the work of previous scholars in order to justify their own work. All that was needed was to demonstrate some further contribution that their own work made to the subject, whether correcting, or supplementing, or reinforcing, or extending our understanding of it.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

April 8, 2018

Index of Biblical Citations

Next Post

April 10, 2018 When the Jesus Movement became a Church, Part One---- Philip Jenkins

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz