This article uses analytic tools provided by Joseph Schwab to address a "practical" problem faced by many liberal religious educational institutions: the tension between historical-critical study of the Bible and an affective connection to it. This problem is painted in broad strokes; then two contemporary Bible scholars, Jeffrey Tigay and Yair Zakovitch, are analyzed for the "principles of enquiry" used in their disciplinary orientations. This analysis is merged with a dialogical hermeneutics approach to text, using the work of Kepnes, Buber, and Gadamer. The article concludes by considering how this study might inform Bible curricula in liberal religious educational contexts.