The book says it best: Our confidence in a stable and orderly universe leads us to prioritize rules over relationships, but it does more than that. The Western commitment to rules and laws make it difficult for us to imagine a valid rule to which there may be valid exceptions. When we begin to think…
Tag: Richards and O’Brien
Misreading Scripture: Time 02
R/OB remind us how Matthew jumps from the birth of Jesus to some indeterminate time later when the Magi show up. The idea of the shepherds and Parthian wise men showing up all together makes for good Christmas pageants, but is a critical failure in historical accuracy. Joseph and Mary stayed in Bethlehem at least…
Misreading Scripture: Time 01
Most of us are aware of the common western notions about time. There’s a wealth of English figures of speech to indicate that time is treated as a precious commodity. It’s impossible to literally buy it, but our culture is wrapped around the wringer on trying to make the most of it, as if it…
Misreading Scripture: Honor/Shame 03
The New Testament clings to the collectivist and honor-based culture of the Old. When you read Paul’s warning that God on His Judgment Seat will review all our deeds in this life, it might sound embarrassing, but we don’t feel threatened. But to the folks in Paul’s audience, this would be devastating. They would be…
Misreading Scripture: Honor/Shame 02
R/OB advance the warning that our usage — our pool of meaning — for the words “honor” and “shame” are not the same as they are for collective cultures. Shame indicates you know how to behave; that’s a good thing. However, shaming someone is a negative. In a footnote, they refer to Saul’s conversation with…
Misreading Scripture: Honor/Shame 01
The authors tell us: “the entire issue of honor and shame over against right and wrong (innocence and guilt) is a bit of a mystery to us” in the west. It’s simply part of our individualistic culture, while the emphasis on honor/shame is typical of collectivist cultures. Even acknowledging that, it gets worse. Our western…
Misreading Scripture: Collectivism 03
I believe the authors stumble on the third section of this chapter. Indeed, I believe they have mishandled a rich opportunity on the whole chapter. What they do manage to say is that your church is your true spiritual family, and that we should learn to think more collectively about this. But they spill a…
Misreading Scripture: Collectivism 02
The third section of the chapter on collectivism begins with a reference to the next book we’ll be looking at (Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes). The issue is the birth of Jesus. All of our Christmas imagery comes from Victorian England, not from the Hebrew culture. The Holy Family were hardly alone; individualism is a…
Misreading Scripture: Languages 03
The final issue in language is the American preference for brutal clarity over ambiguous beauty. The amount of metaphor and figures of speech in English are massive, but our underlying thought process prefers propositional clarity when it comes to something so important as eternal truth. We get impatient with the Hebrew habit of parables and…
Misreading Scripture: Languages 02
The next question is: Can reality be expressed in our language? R/OB start this section with the Reformation. The whole point of Luther’s objections to the system was that the Church ritual of “penance” was not equivalent to what the New Testament referred to as “repentance”. This transitions into Americans and their presumptions about American…