Barriers & Biases to Reading Scripture: An Introduction
It’s all about the Bible.
Seems like the longer I live, worship and serve in close proximity with people who suffer, the more complex many of life’s questions get. For some reason, I thought it would be the other way around. “Ministry on the margins” raises all sorts of issues – political, philosophical, cultural. As a follower of Christ, each drives me back to the Bible, hoping to discern God’s wisdom. The trouble is, a lot of my friends are digging into that same Bible with equal (or greater) intensity and integrity – and drawing different conclusions than me about important matters.
So I’ve been doing some reflecting on “how” we read the Bible. Sam has “asked” (i.e. forced) me to post some of those reflections over time, mostly because he likes seeing me in the middle of controversy.
“Write a 30-page paper about the theological assumptions you bring to your study of the Bible.”
Once I got past the initial shock over the assignment from my professor, I sat down to write – and quickly hit a brick wall. I’ve read enough musty old books to fill pages with complex-sounding religious terminology. But I suspect that the deepest assumptions that effect my reading of scripture have more to do with who I am than with anything I’ve read in a book, heard in a sermon, or picked-up in class.
What are those hidden biases that color my reading of the Bible? I’m probably not even aware of some of the big ones, but here is the first in this series that comes to mind…
I’m a Westerner – a card-carrying member of enlightened Western Civilization. I’ve inherited a love for rational thinking, and belief in inevitable progress for people (singular and plural) that think right and work hard. This can-do Benjamin Franklin mindset has helped me and my people to get a fair amount of work done. But we subconsciously suspect that people who are poor must have problems with their attitude or effort – so their poverty is essentially their own fault.Being a Westerner has biased me to think there is one right answer for every question – from math to morality – making the paradoxical nature of biblical spirituality difficult for me to digest, sometimes.
My western heritage has also made me a bit skeptical about things supernatural – the spiritual stuff you can’t hold, measure, test or prove. Trouble is, the Bible treats that supernatural stuff as being more real and more substantial than the material world I’m more comfortable with.
This is only one of the many biases that affect the way I read the Bible. I’ve got a much longer list, as do you. Each is the product of both my own genetic predispositions, and of my participation in various communities whose values have silently shaped me from within. And I’m grateful for the best parts of each one.
God has put me in a place – the city – to have many of my biases challenged by people with stories and assumptions vastly different than my own. Black and Latino Christians see a clear biblical theme of God taking sides with the poor and oppressed – rather than blaming their plight on bad thinking or behavior. They wonder why we middle-class white Christians are so often reluctant to see within the Bible a prophetic challenge to the political and economic status quo.
This is the first of many more barriers and biases I will be sharing with you. Many of which are being challenged in ways that are so troubling and personally difficult for me, that I don’t yet feel the courage (or freedom) to speak openly about them. So I’ll conclude with an invitation for you to share with me your own biases – and how God is putting you in places to have them challenged. I’ll look forward to hearing from you, and hope you will stay tuned to more...
Comments
Jeff - Thanks for your honesty, and I am grateful for your friendship where you are willing (at your age...ha!) to continuously re-evaluate the way you interact with faith. This shows me you never want it to die by always searching for ways to keep it alive.
One of my biases is reading from the lens of a an at-risk youth, barely still feeling like I am surviving. I constantly wrestle with whether or not I am trying to hustle God, or whether or not He is hustling me. I'm learning more about the validity of my story that is being challenged by both, while constantly recognizing the need to shake them loose.
Posted by: El Sam I Am | March 21, 2006 11:52 PM
One of the easiest biases is to read the gospels as if I was a disciple, whereas I should read it each time through identifying with every character set in each gospel, first "crowd", then pharisee, then disciple, then Roman and if one so dares, maybe Jesus.
Posted by: kevin | March 22, 2006 08:23 AM
I agree with you, Jeff. Yesterday in staff meeting I couldn't help but think that the Lupton chapter we read was so individualistic, capitalist, and Western in thought. It made me wonder if we, by default, apply this lens to all situations, even when it runs contrary to our basest intentions. How much does this perspective sabotage our efforts at encouraging vital and sustaining communities?
I'm veering from your original comment about the Bible, but I'm troubled by how our individualistic Western perspective is so pervasive. It subtly seeps into our daily work all the time. I think acknowledging this bias we have is essential, however the magnitude of it in society is staggering. It is frustrating for me, especially when I want to seek community beyond that frame of reference.
I am more and more convinced, as Marcus Borg points out, that we are developing a paradigm split in our society over the Bible and how it is interpreted. I resist this dualistic thinking, however, I think he reads our religious society accurately. In some ways it seems to be a split between a literal and metaphorical reading. I look forward to reading more from you.
Posted by: Annie | March 22, 2006 09:16 AM
The issue you raise rings very true in my mind. I struggle with thinking "my bias is better than your bias." Heck I think my bias comes from a "fair" reading of the scriptures which gives me a bias for the "least, last, and lost." There must be some principles for reading the sripture (or any "holy book" or any book for that matter)which help provide some validity for how we read and the conclusions we come to. One of those principles must be (from my perspective) that we recognize and acknowledge what our cultural and personal biases might be. It is an important and interesting topic for those who wish to be biblical people. I'm glad there is a forum for the discussion.
Posted by: Steve T. | March 22, 2006 04:07 PM
Jeff I am glad he asked you to write about this.
What are those hidden biases that color my reading of the Bible?
I have had this view of the scriptures since I was introduced to Christianity. That have kept me from feeding on the word, let me explain.
I sure you have heard the phrase B.I.B.L.E. basic instructions before leaving earth. This describes the lens that I had been shown as a new believer. That in order to receive salvation you had to be water baptized (faith without works is dead) salvation can only come from faith righteousness?? that’s tricky. But, sounds all good right, there is truth there, it’s the word of God. Well this has colored my reading of scriptures like a black light. The light makes things stand out (rules?) and hides others (wisdom). I am looking for the light to go out (the black light) and the Living Word of God to tell a story, not an instruction manual, but a wild story of God coming to live among His creation and showing us His love and telling us of the place we were made to dwell. Live in that light and I believe the rest works it self out. (I Hope)
Posted by: Matthew | March 26, 2006 10:11 PM