Candy, Earplugs and Hermeneutics
Earlier tonight, my delighted daughter and youngest son ran up to me declaring that I open up a small plastic package. Their excitement indicated one thing—they had scored some candy! I grabbed the package, wondering how they smuggled contraband into my house, only to discover a small package of orange, foam earplugs. That’s right, earplugs.
My children see everything through their craving for candy. The battle against their addiction begins every year about October 31st. So until September, my wife and I struggle to put our children through candy rehabilitation. They have it so bad that pencils look like pixi-sticks and every plastic wrapping contains a sweet surprise.
So, as I sat in my chair laughing about the moment I thought, wow, we adults do the same thing. No, not with candy, but we envision events and circumstances through our biases and preconceived notions. Also, I thought, some read their preexisting ideas and convictions into the Bible. Every passage and context funnels through their prior judgments and conclusions.
Hermeneutics is a fancy word for the science of interpretation. I admit, it’s a bit much for a title, but the word is shorter than its definition. Anyway…back on track…when we apply our interpretive skills to the Bible one of the most difficult challenges presented is to stay objective and focused without the influence of personal bias.
Jesus spoke highly of those who embraced the word with “honest and good hearts” (Luke 8:15). Honest seekers of truth refuse to project their culture into the world of the first century. They demand to see the real Jesus and not the one they’ve created or others have concocted. When it comes to what God wants, it stays with what God wants and not what they perceive him to desire through their religious or personal persuasions.
Dishonest Bible interpreters will find things in the Bible that don’t exist, sealing the deal on a spiritual catastrophe. They only see what they want to see. I think you can understand the disaster this hallucination can incur.
My children saw one thing in that small plastic bag—candy! However, had I let them act on that persistent desire causing them to see the earplugs as candy corn, the Heimlich maneuver would have certainly ensued. As their father, I’m glad that reality prevailed.
My children see everything through their craving for candy. The battle against their addiction begins every year about October 31st. So until September, my wife and I struggle to put our children through candy rehabilitation. They have it so bad that pencils look like pixi-sticks and every plastic wrapping contains a sweet surprise.
So, as I sat in my chair laughing about the moment I thought, wow, we adults do the same thing. No, not with candy, but we envision events and circumstances through our biases and preconceived notions. Also, I thought, some read their preexisting ideas and convictions into the Bible. Every passage and context funnels through their prior judgments and conclusions.
Hermeneutics is a fancy word for the science of interpretation. I admit, it’s a bit much for a title, but the word is shorter than its definition. Anyway…back on track…when we apply our interpretive skills to the Bible one of the most difficult challenges presented is to stay objective and focused without the influence of personal bias.
Jesus spoke highly of those who embraced the word with “honest and good hearts” (Luke 8:15). Honest seekers of truth refuse to project their culture into the world of the first century. They demand to see the real Jesus and not the one they’ve created or others have concocted. When it comes to what God wants, it stays with what God wants and not what they perceive him to desire through their religious or personal persuasions.
Dishonest Bible interpreters will find things in the Bible that don’t exist, sealing the deal on a spiritual catastrophe. They only see what they want to see. I think you can understand the disaster this hallucination can incur.
My children saw one thing in that small plastic bag—candy! However, had I let them act on that persistent desire causing them to see the earplugs as candy corn, the Heimlich maneuver would have certainly ensued. As their father, I’m glad that reality prevailed.
posted by Josh Linton at
8:57 PM
1 Comments:
I liked this article. You have a gift for writing. Keep it up.
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Anonymous, at 12/20/2005 1:19 PM
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