Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes

All of us are captives of culture. And most of us think that he, she, or they certainly are, but that I am not.

Each of us tend to see our own roots going way past the loam where culture grows, way on down into the bedrock of God or “the truth.” But, in fact, we all draw most of our sustenance from the topsoil of our own codes, traditions, rituals, language, etc. Naturally and inevitably we pull the ancient and living Bible into service to our own culture and selfishness.

That is basically the idea behind Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes by E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O’Brien (IVP, 2012).

Western culture has specific notions about ethnicity, individuals, groups, law, honor, privacy, rules, time, and virtue and vice. And we continually impose those notions on the Bible and faith. For example, the authors write, “The technical term for behaviors like smoking, drinking and cussing is mores…Webster’s Dictionary defines mores as ‘folkways of central importance accepted without question and embodying the fundamental moral views of a group.'” Yet “Christians are tempted to believe our mores originate from the Bible.”

I found Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes to be very helpful in identifying the specifics behind those “Western Eyes.” For example:

• Language. “English is a subject-verb language; it is actor- and action-oriented. We prefer sentences with a clear subject and a clear predicate, and we like it best when the verb is in the active voice. It is difficult to construct a meaningful sentence in English without a subject. Even when we describe weather (‘It is raining’), we supply a subject (‘it’). Other languages can manage without a subject…in Indonesia, one can say, ‘Exists rain.'”
• Sex. Western societies tend to let sex drive relationships. We allow, even encourage, boys and girls to get together…alone…in the dark…with alcohol! We call it “dating.” But more communal cultures see that as irresponsible parenting. As one Indonesian father said, “Wow, you Americans are amazing. If Indonesian kids did that, someone would get pregnant.” He goes on, “For Indonesians, it seems unfair to leave an individual in a situation in which his or her only real protection is willpower.” Is it possible that we in the West are confused about sex?
• Time. Westerners are schedule-driven. But most people of the Bible (and other times and places) were/are relationship-based. We set times for a meeting to begin. But for non-Westerners, a meeting begins “when everyone who needs to be there has arrived.” We impose our time and schedule as virtues on our reading of the Bible.

One of the great and deep joys of this book is how they blow the dust and smoke away from some biblical passages. For example, they show how Western Christians read the story of David and Bathsheba through issues like personal guilt and populism. We completely miss that David was a king. In fact, Uriah failed to treat David with the honor due him. So David had him killed and probably never thought another thing about it. The authors sure persuaded me that “David was not tortured by a guilty conscience.”

However, this is really a story of a king and The King. Only when God confronted David, did the lesser king break! Oh, I loved that view.

They also show how the Apostle Paul had to navigate a patronage system when he raised money.

But the real payload and joy of the book, for me, is in the conflicting views of rules vs. relationships. “In the West, rules must apply to everyone, and they must apply all the time.” But, in the Bible, “rules applied except when they didn’t.” What a lovely line!

One of the authors tells of a time when he was a speaker at a Baptist “pastor’s conference” in Indonesia. He knew that the bylaws of the denomination permitted only men to serve as pastors. But he saw women in the audience. When he mentioned it to his host, he man just nodded. So, the author said, “But your laws say pastors must be male.” And his host calmly replied, “Yes, and most of them are.”

He then wondered about the Apostle Paul… “Paul states, ‘I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet’ (1 Tim 2:12). ‘But what about Priscilla and Junia?’ we might ask Paul. ‘They taught in church. You said women must keep silent.'”

“Perhaps Paul would answer, ‘Yes. And most of them do.'”

If you want a book to challenge your traditions and attitudes (perhaps even jerk you out of them), I highly recommend Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes.  

NOTE: The authors bring very diverse and many international perspectives into play. For some reason, the Indonesian examples spoke more to me. That’s why I used several in this review.