“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.”
Romans 1:18
Actor Jesse L. Martin plays behavioral scientist Alec Mercer in the TV show The Irrational. In one scene, Professor Mercer tells his students what they're about to hear 4x in an audio clip as he displays the phrase, "THAT IS EMBARRASSING," on the screen. Unsurprisingly, nearly all the students believe the audio and the words presented match up.
However, when Professor Mercer displays some additional phrases with the same audio, many students alter their initial response. Professor Mercer's point is that while the data coming in hasn't changed, our brains interpret the information differently based on influence and expectations so that we don't grasp reality. Instead, we see an experience-biased and expectation-skewed interpretation of it. You can watch the short clip >HERE<
That same principle holds true when we read the Bible. Readers today obviously live in a different time than when the original texts were written. Therefore, there are some significant challenges to understanding and interpreting the text. There are significant cultural differences, geographical nuances, and linguistic challenges. When modern-day readers read the Bible as a translation, some interpretive decisions have already been made to translate the words and phrases from their original languages.
Some believe the solution is an exact "one-for-one" literal translation, such as Young's Literal Translation. One issue with literal translations is they ignore literary devices such as idioms, colloquialisms, figurative language, and cultural context. Many things get "lost in translation" even between contemporary languages. Take the following examples:
Quitting cold turkey
Ballpark figure
Cat got your tongue?
It's all about to go down
Plead the fifth
If you're a parent then you know firsthand the real struggle of trying to communicate with your own teenager. Therefore, how much more challenging is the task of biblical interpretation as we attempt to understand ancient writings addressed to ancient cultures in different parts of the world with different languages, expressions, priorities, pressures, and radically different life experiences?
One could assume at the onset that the task is impossible due to insurmountable challenges. Many do and resolve to make no effort whatsoever. That's referred to as the "reader-response" approach. It is the prevalent method of Bible reading and interpretation for many Christians today. The evidence of this approach is exposed when we hear phrases like, "Well, what that means to me is..." in our Bible study discussions and theological conversations.
A reader-response approach takes passages like Jeremiah 29:11, which reads, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope," and twists them into snippets about God wanting to bless our socks off with health and wealth. That's why corrupt televangelists are so successful. They simply cater to misguided desires. If you were to ask the following questions regarding Jeremiah 29:11, most people would probably gaze back with a blank stare:
How does Jeremiah 29:11 fit in with the rest of the chapter and book?
What's the main point of Jeremiah's writing?
Why did God raise up prophets like Jeremiah?
Who was Jeremiah writing to and why?
What was going on in and around the nation of Israel when Jeremiah wrote it?
How does the book of Jeremiah tie in with the overarching biblical narrative?
As Professor Mercer noted, we don't see reality. The truth is that few want to. Instead, many are perfectly content with our Matrix-esque delusional dream state of experience-biased and expectation-skewed interpretation of reality. One example is seen in Evolutionary Theory. Despite the total lack of evidence of even a single case of life from non-life, the unavoidable gaps in the fossil record, irreducible complexity, evidence of superior technology, and the inexplicable fine-tuning of the universe... brilliant individuals everywhere still affirm evolution and reject God.
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. -Proverbs 14:12
The IRRATIONAL reason is that in our depravity and sin, we desire affirmation and homeostasis, not transformation and correction. But God, The Divine Creator and Sustainer of all things knows that what we want always leads to death. That's why The Father sent Jesus, The Lamb of God, as The Way, The Truth, and The Life. Sadly, as King Jesus said, "And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil."
Therefore, the only proper approach to reading Scripture always accounts for the Divine Author's intended meaning. God doesn't call us based on our intelligence or ability to grasp His message. In fact, Scripture reveals that He calls us purely based on His mercy and grace as a gift so that no one can boast (Eph 2:8-9). That's why Jesus called twelve ordinary men. If our approach to reading the Bible is nothing more than hoarding ammunition to win arguments, gleaning promises for self-affirmation, or claiming blessings and prosperity, then God is not in it.
But if our approach to studying God's Word is an exercise in humility and thanksgiving as an act of worship to see "Thy kingdom come and Thy will be done," then, as Oswald Chambers once wrote, "When we choose deliberately to obey Him, then He will tax the remotest star and the last grain of sand to assist us."
That is the most RATIONAL thing we could ever do.
Blessings and love,
Kevin M. Kelley
How to Read The Bible for All Its Worth is a fantastic resource for Bible Study and interpretation.
For more background info on the flaws of Evolutionary Theory, check out Genesis: Paradise Lost
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