Book Outline: Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes

I wanted to share a sentence outline of a book from last year that I shared with an introductory level class.  This is NOT so much a review of the work per se as it is a survey of the content to help you know whether or not you might want to pick it up for yourself.

 

Written Outline of: Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible. By E. Randolph Richards & Brandon J. O’Brien. InterVarsity Press, ©2012.

Written by two authors, who have spent an appreciable amount of time as missionaries outside of the western cultural context, this volume attempts to point out what they call “blinders” (presuppositions, assumptions or bias) that those reared in the Western cultural context hold that may skew or prevent the Western mind from interpreting or understanding Scripture correctly.

Using the metaphor of an iceberg they split the book into three distinct parts: (1) what is “above the surface”; (2) what is “just below the surface”; (3) what is “deep below the surface.”

Outline:

1)    Western bias and suppositions that the authors claim are “above the surface.”

a)    Mores in the East and West, how they affect the biblical text and how our understanding of them affects our interpretation of the biblical text. 

i)       Are we aware of our cultural bias when we come to the biblical text?

ii)     Can we stop cultural bias from affecting how we read Scripture?

iii)    Diversity in a pluralistic society—is it helpful for understanding the Bible?

b)    Ethnocentrism through Western eyes and the inherit problems with race, ethnicity, and gender in the biblical narratives. 

i)       Will a postmodern, egalitarian, interpretive scheme get us closer to the truth?

ii)     Were these issues as important back then as they are today?

iii)    Do these issues prevent us from seeing what scripture is REALLY saying?

c)     Thinking about linguistics, language, and the need for clarity when reading Scripture.

i)       Is the West falling short by failing to REALLY comprehend the semantics of biblical languages?

ii)     If we know the biblical languages are we still affected by Western bias in our translations?

iii)    Because English is vastly different from European (much less Ancient Near Eastern) languages—have we misinterpreted the bible? 

iv)   Has our language bias forced passages to say things that they were never really meant to say?

v)     Because the West typically holds to a “correspondence” view of language and reality can we REALLY talk about biblical reality based on non-biblical (Western) interpretations?

vi)   Is this work merely a postmodern “language game” intended to redact or revise scripture based on a specific cultural ethos?

2)    Western bias and suppositions that the authors claim are “just below the surface.”

a)    Community: Western social individualism and the concept of collectivity.

i)       Sociological perspectives on the bible and how interpretations vary based on cultures.

ii)     Has the “radical individualism” of the West caused us to miss important truths in Scripture?

(1)  Does Western individualism taint the narrative model of Scripture?

(2)  What underlying sociological assumptions drive our individualism?

(3)  Is it possible to overcome this particular bias?

iii)    The Church as a sociological union—the concept of community is more than a collection of individuals.

iv)   Is there too much “me” in my interpretations?

v)     Can the West ever grasp the depth of collective intimacy that the bible presupposes?

b)    How does the “Honor/Shame” concept affect the Eastern and Nomadic cultures presupposed in the biblical narratives?

i)       Does the “honor/shame” concept influence Western notions of morality and ethics?

ii)     Individual responsibility to the concepts of right and wrong and the collective societies’ notion of shame and honor color the biblical texts: How? Why? Can the West grasp this concept which appears beyond the grasp of their rugged individual ethic?

iii)    How does language and semantics affect the Western understanding of the concepts of shame and honor?

iv)   In light of the shame/honor information how should our interpretations change?

(1)  Does the shame/honor model call for a reinvention of the Western conception of morality?

(2)  How do we in the West live now IF this model should change our presuppositions?

c)     The concept of time in the East and West and how it influences biblical interpretations.

i)       Time as a linear measurement of past, present, and future: a Western idiom?

ii)     Has sociological individualism made us a slave to our clocks and calendars?

iii)    How has our assumptions about time (past, present, and future) affected our understanding of various biblical passages?

iv)   Two biblical terms for time: kiaros and chromos—what they mean and why they are important?

(1)  Which “kind” of time are we living for kiaros or chronos?

(2)  Is the bible more about chronos or kiaros—why does it matter?

3)    Western bias and suppositions that the authors claim are “deep below the surface.”

a)    What is more important in life and interpretation: rules or relationships?

i)       How science and the Enlightenment shifted our focus away from relationships to objective truths that are scientifically verifiable.

ii)     How and why are relationships more important than rules?

iii)    Do rules undermine relationships?

iv)   Is this based on the community vs. individual society?

v)     Are both relationships and rules of value to a society?

vi)   Can we actually live without either of these as a society?

vii)  How does our understanding of these concepts change our perceptions about biblical interpretation?

(1)  The OT as a rule driven but relationship valued example.

(2)  The NT as a relationship driven but rule valued example.

b)    The concepts of virtue and vice in life and scripture.

i)       Which should we pursue?

ii)     How does our pursuit of these in our life presuppose how we come to the biblical text?

iii)    Making interpretive assumptions and priorities based on both virtue and vice on our lives.

c)     Finding the center: seeking God in the midst of a world that promotes Self.

i)       Understanding why Self is not all it has cracked up to be.

ii)     Why the Self influences our biblical reading.

iii)    Finding ourselves amidst the social construction of reality.

iv)   God and the Self—is there any hope?

(1)  How the Self completely changes the way we come to SOME texts in scripture.

(2)  The Bible, oddly enough, is NOT about me and me alone as an individual!

(3)  Understanding how we got where we are in light of biblical interpretation and the Self.

(4)  How might our views change if we REALLY understood that not every text will speak to me directly?

4)    Conclusion:  three steps for removing cultural blinders.

a)    A disappointment: it is NEVER as easy as three steps!

i)       Embrace the complexity of scripture, culture, and self.

ii)     Beware of overcorrecting in light of this complexity—not everything needs to change.

iii)    Be teachable—it is never too late for “old dogs to learn new tricks.”

iv)   Embrace error—don’t see being wrong as failure—sometimes we learn best when we learn by trial and error.

v)     Read together—a way to overcome Western individualism is to understand the community context and practice it—two (or three or four) heads are better than one!