As a card-carrying “fundamentalist Bible thumper”, and I actually have a card, a membership card for the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship dated 1987, I would like to speak in defense of the kind of Bible quoting to which Professor Adams objects.
Of course he is perfectly logical about using and framing arguments that are designed to convince and persuade your opponents. Similarly, Ben Shapiro, an orthodox Jew, has explained why he never uses the Bible in argument as he feels it is an appeal to authority which shuts down actual discussion.
I could agree with the attitude if I were to accept the simple assumption that God is not really real practically speaking, we just pretend He is, we hope He is, but at the end of it all, He ain’t gonna actually boil anybody’s grits.
In a Deacons meeting one of the men said, “Pastor, prayin’ is fine, but we gotta DO something!” I knew exactly what he meant, so we did not “do” what that deacon wanted; we did nothing but pray. God answered with a $5000 donation completely out of the blue. That Deacon resigned and left the church.
When I quote the Bible, it is my way of including God, the actual, real, living God in the conversation, and I am pretty sure He doesn’t mind at all. (Psalm 94:7)
And yet...