Introduction
Religion is an intricate subject that defines human civilizations as a component that guides their daily lives. Notably, the case of Christianity is premised on the context of biblical scriptures that are considered a guide for those that prescribe to the beliefs. However, history indicates that the interpretation of scriptures has been the subject of debate, causing the Reformations as Martin Luther questioned the autonomous power of clergy to dictate the meaning and teaching of faith and the Bible. Nonetheless, Luther conceptualized scripture as the primary source of self-descriptive knowledge, giving a literal basis for private judgment of faith and urging a symbolic basis for his understanding of faith. Thus, the context forms the basis of this paper is a critique of “Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes” by Randolph Richards and Obrien, which theorized scripture interpretation as a flawed element due to the cultural relativism of Westerners, viewing their perspectives as superior.
Summary
Religion has been comprehensively researched to understand human culture and belief systems. Richards and O’Brien set their readers into a space that influences the understanding of how Westerners conceptualize scripture. The authors present an extensive view of the readings and their implications based on actual cross-cultural missions, presenting the conceptualization of culture from multidimensional premises. Using these experiences as case examples, they offer clarity on the contextual reading of the Bible and its varied interpretations.
Central to the book is evidence that truth and faith may not exist as objective entities in every life context, such as location, time, culture, and even race. Instead, the book presented that people are bound by relativism, which influences Western culture to perceive their way as the truth and discount another contextual premise of Biblical interpretation. From the beginning, the book highlights the case of the Laodicean spectrum of spirituality, a phrase O’Brien uses to present the hot, cold, and lukewarm faith ideology. “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth” (Rev 3:15-16).
The idea is that faith has been considered from a lukewarm position, so people do not seek the full extent of understanding spiritual commitment. Therefore, the critique incorporates these ideologies as the discourse, identifying flaws and consistencies in their deductions.
The book is centered around the core themes of Mores, the theoretical premise of individualism vs. collectivism, and the notion of race and ethnicity. Under the conceptualization of Mores, Richards, and O’Brien, integrated issues of morality are described as “the fundamental moral views of a group,” guiding what Western people consider norms and holding others to those standards. On the other hand, race and ethnicity are otherwise expressed as ethnocentrism and prejudicial assumptions. Then, individualism and collectivism were compared to the independence of Westerners and the communal cultures of the East. Collectively, these themes envision a state of transposing ideals and culture and a sense of superiority that deems others’ views insignificant.
Book Themes
Mores
The first chapter, “Serving two Masters: Mores”, forms the premise to consider social constructs that relate to sex, money, and food. Mores are reflected as circumstantial norms that define the morality of society as the anchors that sustain order. Sex is dissuaded by scripture as Paul argued celibacy as a preferred choice for spiritual well-being: “I saying this for your good, not restricting you…” (1 Cor 7), arguing marriage opened man and wife to worldly obligations. However, marriage is reinforced as “a man leaves his mother and father and is united with his wife, and they become one as flesh” (Gen 2:24), which supports the underlying implication of intimating principles. Thus, sex is a subject of contention blinded by a cultural bias that inclines to specific scripture inferences.
On the other hand, wealth is of relative insight into modern society. Scripture dictated that people trusting in wealth are susceptible to straying from righteousness. The challenge is commonly perceived as owning wealth, but it is mainly the attribute of substituting wealth for God that is questioned. Elsewhere, lack of wealth can also be rationally perceived as neglect by the poor, that “if a man does not work, they shall not eat” (2 Thes 3:10).
Richards and O’Brien argued wealth was proximally a subject that was misinterpreted to influence weakened faith; however, scripture presents that it is not wealth that is compelling provisions. Similar condemnations are found in the perception of food, such as rats and dogs that are otherwise shunned as inedible. Therefore, the book offers these perspectives in comparison to present the diverse interpretations and applications and not as a form of justifying one against the other. This approach is a symbolic debate premise in which two arguments are contradictory.
Race and Ethnicity
Modern research has expressed similar themes to predict human interaction and assumptions depicted in the chapter “The Bible in Color: Race and Ethnicity.” In its conceptualization, some nuances are transposed in understanding race elements in the Bible. Richards and O’Brien gave life accounts of how adopting a child of varying ethnicity had significance in society, requiring training to manage anticipated societal reactions.
Hence, Richards and O’Brien purported that subconscious preconceptions were assigned to specific society communities in Western culture. He gave a lay example of the subtleties of prejudicial assumptions through the ethnicity of Moses’ wife. They reflect that “Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite.” The meaning in the sentence would imply that the contention was the ethnicity of Moses’ wife, who, in Western culture, would be viewed as a dark-skinned person, which would lead to the assumption she was enslaved.
The implication was the inferiority of African descent, as Western culture has shown a predisposition to the racial assumption that Africans were a slave race based on the history they identify with. Richards and O’Brien argued that the assumption would imply Miriam and Aaron’s contention that the wife was black and an enslaved person who was under Moses. However, the context shows that at the time, the Israelites were, in fact, the ones who were enslaved people in Egypt and considered in a low position in the culture. Thus, race is misrepresented in biblical interpretation based on subtle cultural identification with historical experiences and connotations of knowledge. However, these ideas are not to be transposed as fact, presenting contradictory interpretations that are biased with the integral racial and ethnocentric ideals in Western culture.
Individualism and Collectivism
As expressed earlier, the idea of religion has long faced challenges in its context, with individualism and collectivism that exist in opposing contexts. Westerners are commonly branded as exuding an independent culture based on staying true to oneself. The singularity of decision-making is emphasized and considered an approach to resilience and liberalism.
Conversely, non-Western cultures are majorly founded on understanding one’s contribution as a component of society, with an essential role in supplementing collective growth. Between the lines, scripture underquotes the virtuous importance of collectivism and its essence. “For whoever does the will of my father… is my brother, sister, and mother (MT 12:49-50), portraying the belief in collectiveness beyond family units. Thus, a non-Western culture appreciates the message’s value, but in Westernism, it becomes more of an interpretation.
“Western societies are, by and large, individualistic societies. The most important entity in an individualistic culture is the individual person. The person’s identity comes from distinguishing herself from the people around her. She is encouraged to avoid peer pressure and be an independent thinker. She will make her decisions regardless of what others think; she may defy her parents by choosing a college major, career, or spouse. This culture’s highest goal and virtue is being true to oneself. The supreme value is the sovereignty of the individual.”
The segment reveals Richards and O’Brien’s convictions of the distinctions between Western individualism, with its sense of independence, and Eastern civilizations, with their collectivist communal attitude, based on their experiences in Indonesia. Although the term Western is supposed to refer to countries in the Western hemisphere, including the United States, the primary focus appears to be against American exceptionalism. Therefore, these assumptions present the divergent perspectives that define attitudes and their insights on faith.
Conclusion
The book is a treasure in a modern society facing significant diversity with the new adoption of cultures. The book chapter reflects fundamental challenges faced in contemporary environments, disenfranchising elements in the Bible through interpretation. The book systematically forms themes validated by scripture, giving the cultural contraindicators that reveal varying contextual beliefs. To this extent, the works add to the discourse of how scripture is misappropriated to support Western culture and political ideals. The piece is thus helpful to the global community as a premise of understanding contextual elements in faith-based concerns and the human interaction prone to judging people on irrelevant norms.
Bibliography
Levering, Matthew. “Paul R. Hinlicky, Luther vs. Pope Leo: A Conversation in Purgatory.” Pro Ecclesia: A Journal of Catholic and Evangelical Theology 28, no. 1 (2019): 98–101. Web.
Richards, E. Randolph, and Brandon J. O’Brien. Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible. Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Books, 2013.
Wood, Shane J. “Interpenetration Logic: Pauline Spirituality and Union with Christ.” Religions 13, no. 8 (2022): 680. Web.