E. Randolph Richards
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
The Bible was written within collectivist cultures. When Westerners, immersed in individualism, read the Bible, it's easy to misinterpret important elements—or miss them altogether. In any culture, the most important things usually go without being said. So to read Scripture well we benefit when we uncover the unspoken social structures and values of its world. We need to recalibrate our vision.
Combining the expertise of a biblical
...2) Misreading Scripture with Western eyes: removing cultural blinders to better understand the Bible
Author
Language
English
Description
Because of the cultural distance between the biblical world and our contemporary setting, we often bring modern Western biases to the text. For example, when Paul exhorts women to "dress modestly," we automatically think in terms of sexual modesty. But Paul is likely more concerned about economic modesty -- that Christian women not flaunt their wealth through expensive clothes and gold jewelry. And Western individualism leads us to assume that Mary...