Rayban glasses are everywhere this summer. Lots of people are seeing the world through Rayban lenses, as they put them on and walk around, enjoying the sunshine.
In a similar way, we all see the world through a ‘lens’ – this is shaped by where we live, our family background, this point in time and history, and the things we surround ourselves with.
Very little we see is really free from this ‘lens’, even though we THINK we view the world objectively (without any bias or colour).
Surely one of the most visible lessons taught by the twentieth century has been the existence, not so much of a number of different realities, but of a number of different lenses with which to see the same reality -
Michael Arlen
The same is true of the Bible. We all come from different streams of the Christian faith, and each group, denomination or movement, feel that their perspectives on Scripture are utterly right.
As with any book or film, we bring our own viewpoint and experience to the material when we read/watch it. Two people can take away totally different interpretations of a text or film.
So let’s chat here about the Bible. Yes, it’s God’s word, but what does that mean?
- Do you think God dictated it to the writers like a boss dictating notes to a secretary? How much were their personalities and own lenses involved in what they wrote down?
- We read the Bible in English and are SO sure we know what it says and means, but it was written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. The version you hold and read has come through years of different translations, with people trying to decide what the best English words are, to capture what the original language meant.
- Councils of human beings sat in the first few centuries and voted on which books should and shouldn’t be in the 66 texts of the Bible. All of these voting council members had their own lenses and opinions.
- Some of the words are “hapax legomenon” (greek for “said once”), which means a term that appears only ONCE in a text. Without a full understanding of the context it was originally used in, all we have are best guesses about what English words to use to translate them. There are about 1300 of these in the Old Testament alone, with 400 of them failing to come from any known Hebrew root words. So we are left guessing for the right translation.
Over to you…
How can we know the Bible stands as an authoratative text today, when there is so much human involvement in it’s writing, translation and preaching? How objective are you when you read it? Are you aware of how much of a lens you wear when you read it, based on your age, gender, upbringing and socio-economic situation? What do we say to people who don’t share our faith, about why we feel this book has so much authority?
I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Vicky
No related posts.
