Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Cultural Lenses, Part 2

I want to post a response to a blog Scot McKnight wrote yesterday. This was my thought on this idea:

I think Wright is right on point about our culture affecting our reading/understanding of Scripture. Almost everyone we read in seminary is a dead white guy, whose understanding of Scripture has been influenced by Tubingen, Calvin, Barth, Luther, etc. But the interesting thing is what happens when we expand our cultural worldview.

First of all, the Bible is primarily written from a Semitic, middle-eastern worldview. As Christian we extrapolate our understanding from what we hear and read, but the understandings gleaned by present-day Bedouins on parables is probably closer to the real meaning than what we hear on Sunday mornings.

I think one of the things we must do is move beyond our Western understanding of Scripture. There are valuable insights to be gained from our African, Asian, and South American brothers and sisters as they attempt to wrestle with Scripture and God's revelation. To simply say that dead white guys have it figured out is, quite frankly, and insult to the Bible, which has truth to teach to all mankind, regardless of their culture.

I think the moment that we neglect to understand that the Bible was not written to us, but we try to understand God in light of our own cultural understandings, we immediately limit our understanding of God and his mission.

What do you guys think? Am I wrong?

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