📘 Lexicon Entry: Primitive Biblicism

A hermeneutical approach that claims direct, unmediated access to biblical meaning while bypassing interpretive traditions and contextual considerations

Primitive Biblicism represents a theological mutation that reduces biblical interpretation to claims of direct, unmediated access to scriptural meaning. This approach bypasses the interpretive traditions, scholarly methods, and contextual considerations that have historically guided faithful biblical interpretation, instead asserting that the "plain meaning" of scripture is immediately accessible to any reader without the mediating work of community, tradition, or scholarly engagement. Unlike authentic biblical faithfulness, which recognizes the need for interpretive wisdom within community, primitive biblicism creates the illusion of objectivity while actually imposing contemporary assumptions onto ancient texts. This mutation underlies much of MAGA Christianism and Providential Identitarianism, providing apparent biblical justification for political and cultural positions through selective literalism.

Theological Mutation

hermeneutics, biblical interpretation, literalism, fundamentalism, interpretive tradition, contextual reading, scriptural authority

Geevarghese-Uffman, Craig. “Primitive Biblicism.” *Political Theology Lexicon*. https://www.commonlifepolitics.com/p/lexicon. Accessed [date].

Scripture as divinely inspired witness requiring interpretive wisdom within community tradition

Biblical interpretation as spiritual discipline involving prayer, study, and communal discernment

Recognition that all interpretation involves human mediation and cultural context

Christ as the interpretive center through which all scripture is understood

Claims of direct, unmediated access to biblical meaning bypassing interpretive traditions

Scripture reduced to collection of proof texts supporting predetermined positions

Denial of interpretive mediation while imposing contemporary cultural assumptions

Selective literalism that ignores genre, context, and canonical considerations

Claims to “plain meaning” interpretation while imposing cultural assumptions

Selective literalism that supports predetermined theological or political positions

Rejection of scholarly methods and interpretive traditions as unnecessary or corrupting

Use of scripture as arsenal of proof texts rather than unified witness to Christ

Emerged from 19th-century fundamentalist reaction to higher criticism

Developed through dispensationalist theological frameworks

Amplified by American individualism and anti-intellectual sentiment

Weaponized in contemporary culture wars through selective biblical citation

Separation of scripture from interpretive community and tradition

Confusion of cultural assumptions with divine revelation

Reduction of biblical authority to literalistic compliance

Instrumentalization of scripture for non-theological purposes

Ignoring Jesus’s own interpretive methods that prioritize love and justice

Missing the narrative unity of scripture pointing toward Christ

Proof-texting that violates literary and historical context

Imposing modern categories onto ancient texts without cultural translation

Political rhetoric that selectively quotes scripture to support policy positions

Resistance to contextual biblical scholarship in favor of “common sense” reading

Use of biblical language to justify contemporary cultural and political preferences

Denominational conflicts over literal interpretation versus scholarly engagement

Selective citation of Old Testament conquest narratives to justify nationalism

Proof-texting to support anti-immigration policies while ignoring hospitality commands

Literalistic reading of Romans 13 to support political authority while ignoring prophetic critique

Cherry-picking verses about gender and sexuality while ignoring economic justice themes

Reading contemporary American experience back into biblical covenant language

Interpreting divine blessings to Israel as applicable to modern nation-states

Using scripture to justify cultural superiority and ethnic hierarchy

Conflating biblical chosenness with contemporary group identity

Undermining of biblical literacy through reduction to proof-texting

Polarization of religious communities around interpretive methods

Weaponization of scripture in political discourse

Alienation of thoughtful believers from biblical engagement

Studies of fundamentalist hermeneutics and their political applications

Research on biblical literacy and interpretive competence in American Christianity

Analysis of proof-texting in contemporary religious and political rhetoric

Kevin Vanhoozer

Stephen E. Fowl

Related Primary Concepts: MAGA Christianism, Providential Identitarianism, Dominative Christianism

Key Mutations: Practical Atheism, Binary Apocalypticism, Tribal Epistemology

Contemporary Movements: Christian Nationalism

Theological Alternatives: Analogical Metaphysics, Being With

Historical Context: Cotton Hermeneutic, Cotton Evangelicalism

May 22, 2025

*This entry is part of the Political Theology Lexicon, accessible exclusively to subscribers. View the complete lexicon to explore related concepts and the full theoretical framework.*