Perrydox.com is devoted to the pursuit of truth, whether plain or paradoxical, whether simple or sublime, or simply absurd yet absolute.
North Korea in Millersville?
On 31W in Millersville, TN, I saw a sign that read, “North Korea”. More accurately, I “saw” a sign that read, “North Korea “. Even more accurately, I didn’t see a sign that read, “North Korea.” And this happens in the Bible study way too often.
My brain saw what the eyes saw and interpreted it and changed it into something completely different. The sign read, “North Nashville KOA”. And recently I had watched an acapella group called Maytree who are from…South Korea. I also have a sister adopted from South Korea. The 3 letter abbreviation for Korea is KOR. My experiences and knowledge, plus quickly passing the sign, changed the reality of the sign in my brain. Of course, my brain which made up the wrong message was quick enough to think that can’t be right.
And yet, do our experiences color how we read the Bible? Do we view any topic through the lens of our life? In fact, we see every topic through our life. That is the first hurdle we must overcome, acknowledging our experiences affect us.
A second hurdle is quickly reading instead of deeply reading. Ironically, we can quickly read a thousand times and not see the true reality of the passage.
A third hurdle is recognizing context. Seeing a sign which reads, “North Korea” on 31W in Millersville, TN is out of “context”. When reading the Bible, that is more difficult than misreading a sign.
And finally, the fourth hurdle is even our knowledge of what is right can be misplaced and misused so that when reading the Bible we take a fact from one part and plug it into another when it doesn’t fit. An example of this is how Paul and James use “faith” and “works” in Romans and James.
What this short article is about is “hermeneutics”, the science of interpretation. Don’t let that big word scare you. I just illustrated how we use “hermeneutics” in everyday life, including seeing a sign but not seeing the sign.
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