Reading the Bible Badly. Karl Allen Kuhn

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СКАЧАТЬ texts in relation to their historical and cultural contexts (which we will discuss in the next chapter). Looking back to that Bible study session, perhaps it would have helped if I had begun by talking about the necessity, the unavoidability, of interpretation.

      Perhaps that would be a good place for us to start.

      Making Meaning

      Any act of discerning meaning is an act of interpretation. Please do me a favor and reread that statement. It is really important.

      Any act of discerning meaning is an act of interpretation (okay, sorry, just to be sure).

      Few such blanket statements are to be trusted as true in every circumstance. But I think this statement probably qualifies as one of those few. Beyond primal, instinctive impulses (such as “ouch!” or “run!”), we simply cannot make sense of anything without interpreting it. No matter the object of our consideration, for us to make the transition from the sensory stimulation caused in us by that object to an understanding of that object in relation to ourselves and our world we must engage that object through a complex, calculating, mental process. We must interpret its significance in relation to what we already know to be true about the world and ourselves. This is worth repeating: any act of discerning meaning is an act of interpretation.

      The fact that most of the time we may not be consciously aware that we are actively interpreting all sorts of sensory and mental stimuli as we go about our daily lives does not mean we are not doing it. It often is, as I stated above, like breathing. That which is most essential to our cognitive functioning, like a beating heart is to our physical functioning, is something we often take for granted. It is so “under the radar” that we are often unaware it is occurring. But, in reality, everything we know is the product of a complex web of associations we weave in our minds guided by a host of factors such as our mental and emotional state at that moment, life experiences, culture, environment, relationships, views on life and the world.

      Most of us do not become aware of how critical these hidden “meaning-making processes” are until they are challenged by extraordinary events, or compromised by a physical impairment impacting our cognitive faculties. When encountering a traumatic, life-altering situation, many find it difficult to make immediate sense of what has just occurred, and what it means for them moving forward. Very simply, they need time to “process” the experience. Sometimes, their views of themselves, the world, and even their faith shift as a result of the experience. Many in the early stages of dementia come to the heartbreaking realization that their ability to make sense of their environment and the lives they once knew—their ability to interpret their world—is deteriorating. Trauma and illness have a way of leading us to recognize numerous things we take for granted. Our ability to interpret, our need to interpret, can be one of them.

      Making Meaning Differently

      There are, of course, countless indications that the world in which we live and the situations, persons, and objects we encounter within it need to be interpreted in order to be comprehended. Among the most obvious is that we human beings often disagree with one another about how to understand the situations, persons, and objects we encounter. Some of these disagreements are trivial. Others have far-reaching, sometimes tragic consequences for individuals, couples, families, communities, countries, and even the world. Not only is interpretation an inescapable reality for all thinking minds on this planet, it is also an extraordinarily important, and contentious, reality. We make meaning differently.

      The Necessity of Biblical Interpretation

      Just as any object we encounter needs to be interpreted in order for us to make sense of it, so too does Scripture. With all due respect to that gentleman sitting across the table from me those many years ago, and to all who think as he did, there simply is no such thing as “just reading it.”

      I have this on good authority. Scripture itself makes clear that the actions and will of God need to be discerned, or figured out. Scripture itself tells us interpretation is essential to the vocation of God’s people.

      God, Help Me Understand

The Bible affirms this reality in countless ways. One of the more obvious is when voices in Scripture ask for God’s guidance in determining what God wants them to do. Consider, for instance, these words from Psalm 25, a psalm in which the psalmist pleads for deliverance from pernicious, nasty foes. We might expect the psalmist in this situation simply to ask God to “blast those evil buggers!” But remarkably, the psalmist not only calls on God for deliverance from the deadly adversaries, but also from his or her own propensity to stray from God’s will.1

      4 Make me to know your ways, O Lord;

       teach me your paths.

      5 Lead me in your truth, and teach me,

       for you are the God of my salvation;

      for you I wait all day long.

      6 Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love,

       for they have been from of old.

      7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;

       according to your steadfast love remember me,

       for your goodness’ sake, O Lord!

      8 Good and upright is the Lord;

       therefore he instructs sinners in the way.

      9 He leads the humble in what is right,

       and teaches the humble his way.

      10 All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,

       for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.

      The psalmist, in other words, needs help figuring out what it means to walk in God’s ways and paths in the midst of these trying circumstances. Notice the references to “teach,” “know,” “instruct,” “lead,” “right,” “truth,” “way,” “path”—many of which are repeated. Notice the psalmist’s desire to leave behind “the sins of my youth.” This is an individual crying out for instruction and transformation! The psalmist already knows God as Savior (v. 5), God’s steadfast love and mercy (vv. 6, 7), and God’s “covenant and decrees” (v. 10). But even so, the way forward is not altogether clear. The psalmist needs help interpreting God’s instruction in order to live it out faithfully in his or her troubled present.

Note the similar chords struck by Paul at a key transitional moment in his letter to the Romans. Here, Paul urges members of the Roman church, in response to God’s great act of mercy in Jesus, to orient their actions, hearts, and minds anew—to be transformed or “metamorphisized”—so that they may be able to rightly discern the will of God.2

      I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect (Rom 12:1–2).

      Incomplete and Misguided Understandings of God’s Ways

      Turning to the Gospels, we find the disciples repeatedly asking Jesus to clarify his teaching, and with a regularity that sometimes exasperates him: “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand any of the parables?!” (Mark 4:13). But, of course, Jesus always goes on to explain.

      We СКАЧАТЬ