For those of our friends and family that would like to better understand this journey that God has us on take a listen to The God Journey. Wayne Jacobsen has been very influential in our journey and has a very loving way of explaining some of issues that we find important in living the life of God....

During some conversations with some brothers on a different blog I have really given some thought to our interpretation of the Bible. Especially the influence that bias and presuppositions have on our interpretation. I am no theology Nazi and I hold my interpretations fairly loosely. I have had to many experiences where I have found out my interpretations were flawed, or flat out BS.

For instance, when I first started following Jesus I was reading something like Mat 21:21

"Jesus answered and said to them, Truly I say to you, If you have faith and do not doubt, you shall not only do this miracle of the fig tree, but also; if you shall say to this mountain, Be moved and be thrown into the sea; it shall be done. "

I took this verse to mean that if we want to pray in effective ways that we MUST verbally speak our prayers. There were some other verses where Jesus says something similar, so I thought my interpretation was on strong grounds. . .until I told someone my interpretation. . .

We can look at the Bible through a hundred different lenses. If you are a music worship leader you will be able to find verses that make you think the core of the Bible is about worship. If you are passionate about helping the poor you will find enough verses for you to believe that the core of the Bible is about that. The bottom line is that our bias and presuppositions can drastically shape our interpretation of the Bible.

We really can't get rid of our bias and presuppositions. We are who we are. We were born in a certain nation, in a certain region, in a certain town. . . We all have had different religious experiences in different denominations. . . We all have had different family experiences, some healthy and some not so healthy. . .and all those circumstances influence how we read the Bible. For instance, isn't it interesting that European Christians typically don't believe in the rapture, yet it is a common belief among North American Christians?

Additionally, as we read the Bible we may be likely to give more weight to some parts of the Bible than others. We may choose to interpret the rest of the Bible through one our two verses that back up a certain position we hold. Our we may have certain beliefs about the nature of God that color our interpretations. Is God love? Is God just? Is He both?

So if we can't totally rid ourselves of bias and presupposition, how do we deal with them in order to move toward a better understanding of the Bible? I think the answer is to be self-critical of our bias and presuppositions. All of us have them. Most of the people that I discuss the Bible with are not even aware of them. Ignorance is bliss when it comes to presuppositions and bias. Once we realize that we have them we have to do the hard work of becoming aware as we read and interpret the text. We start asking questions like: Why do I interpret the text this way? What in my history biases me in this interpretation? What are the other possible interpretations? What were their presuppositions? If I change my presupposition can I see how it changes my interpretation? Am I willing to let others critique my interpretation? Am I willing to readdress my interpretation?

There are tons of other issues involved in this topic. The role of reason, sin, language, history etc. Understanding the Bible is a journey. As we gain knowledge, as we let God deal with and change our presuppositions, as we become conformed to God's image, as we interact and converse with others on this journey, we will gain a better understanding of the Bible and the story of God , of which we are part. . .