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I just saw that Bible Applications was shut down by JNat as a duplicate of Biblical Hermeneutics with the notice that “This subject is already well-covered by a live Stack Exchange site. We generally do not split off subjects simply to give them their own space.” We spent a lot of time and effort showing how BA is quite different from BH and Christianity.SE. There were 34 questions and counting which would be rejected on those sites.

JNat is a staff/moderator on Stack but with no activity on the related sites so I’m wondering what his qualifications are to make that decision and how these decisions are made. Are they made in consultation with others, especially those who may be more knowledgeable about the important distinctions between the sites? Is there any kind of appeal process for the decision to be reconsidered? This is not intended as any kind of accusation, only a desire to understand the process. Thanks.

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  • Thanks Martin for asking the tough questions. I'm baffled myself why they would shut it down without reviewing the proposal and why we think it's different. Polyhat and others made a very convincing case explaining how BA would differ from BH, and they should at least have the decency to address it. I think the name threw them off, both sites sound too similar. It's really a shame.
    – Bach
    Dec 10, 2021 at 3:18
  • Did anyone try to compile a list of actual questions that were closed for being off-topic in the other two groups, and which might have been on-topic in the proposed group?
    – Ray Butterworth
    Dec 10, 2021 at 14:28
  • Why was it suggested to expand Hermeneutics and not Christianity?
    – Ray Butterworth
    Dec 10, 2021 at 14:29
  • @Ray, it would have been a long list. You make a good point that Christianity.SE would be the better site to adapt to accept practical application questions.
    – Martin Hemsley
    Dec 10, 2021 at 19:31
  • @MartinHemsley, but that long list could be categorized into specific types of questions that would make it easier to itemize exactly how this site is fundamentally different. And real world examples are more convincing than the ones we make up ourselves.
    – Ray Butterworth
    Dec 10, 2021 at 19:36
  • @MartinHemsley, it makes one wonder whether the person that chose Hermeneutics over Christianity even knows what the difference is. ¶ To me, one is for scholars of the biblical text and the other for scholars of religion. Neither of them require any personal religious belief (answers actually tend to be better if religious belief can be omitted). But the new site would be suitable for people that actually do believe and rather than wanting to do scholarly research, want to relate the Bible and religion into their personal lives. (Note that I don't mean "scholar" in any strict sense.)
    – Ray Butterworth
    Dec 10, 2021 at 19:44
  • @Ray, it's hard to say if the case could have been made more convincingly or if that would have mattered. I agree that that there is both a niche and a need.
    – Martin Hemsley
    Dec 10, 2021 at 23:23

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According to JNat, the Biblical Applications questions are "covered" by the Biblical Hermeneutics site. Therefore, the solution is simple: Go back to BH to post these questions and expect BH not to close them anymore.

It appears that the staff of StackExchange simply wishes to expand the scope of Biblical Hermeneutics, rather than split off to a separate site. Therefore, upon their blessing/orders, our questions should be welcomed at BH. If they are not, we should have a legitimate case to present to JNat and the other SE staff.

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