In one sense, everything is subjective because the one thing we can never eliminate is ourselves. This is true for every discipline, not just biblical studies. However, very few people throw up their hands and say “well let’s not even try”. Instead most scholars try very hard to eliminate subjectivity as much as possible, for instance by discussing it with other people.

To put this into practice, think about the moral principles the Bible gives us. If the command “you shall not kill” was absolutely subjective (i.e. meant different things to different people) then we’d be in deep trouble. Fortunately it is not absolutely subjective. So whilst some people may argue about specific cases (e.g. abortion), everyone agrees with the general principle.

In summary, the Bible is not subjective. Our reading of the Bible is inevitably effected by our point of view but that does not mean that the objective message is out of reach.

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