I love reading books that make me think. While completing my doctors degree at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, there were many. My first class was advanced hermeneutics (principles for correctly interpreting Scripture) with Dr. Bob Eby. The class was demanding and was much like jumping into the deep end of the pool. The books were challenging and difficult to read. However, Misreading Scripture With Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible by E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O’Brien, was a delightful exception. Wow. The book really opened my eyes and made me think about the unconscious biases we bring to the Bible because of American culture.
Reading the Bible is a Cross-cultural Experience
Perhaps you’ve never thought about it, but reading the Bible is a cross-cultural experience. Scripture was written in a different land, in a different time, in a different language (Greek or Hebrew), with different customs and behaviors. It was a very different culture than we have in America. Richards and O’Brien insist, “The most powerful cultural values are those that go without being said.” The authors go on to helpfully explain, “When a passage of Scripture appears to leave out a piece of the puzzle because something went without being said, we instinctively fill in the gap with a piece from our own culture—usually a piece that goes without being said. When we miss what went without being said for THEM and substitute what goes without being said FOR US, we are at risk of misreading Scripture” (emphasis added).1
Is YOU singular or Plural?
A fascinating example is the simple word “you.” In American English, the word can be used in either a plural sense (speaking of a group) or singular sense (speaking of an individual). In English the spelling remains the same. Greek and Hebrew are different. Both clearly indicate whether the “you” is singular or plural. American culture emphasizes the rights and privileges of the individual. Greek and Hebrew cultures typically had a collective emphasis on the entire family, clan, group, or community. It is easy to think that every “you” we read in the Bible applies to us as an individual. However, the original language makes it clear that in many Scriptures the “you” is a plural and the advice, admonition, or promise is intended to apply to an entire group or the whole church.
Romans 12 is Not for “Lone Ranger” Christians
For example, Romans chapter 12 is not intended as teaching for “Lone Ranger” Christians who don’t think they need to be in fellowship and relationship as part of a church to experience God’s perfect will. Instead, the chapter is full of great teaching about how every member should present their bodies (note “bodies” is plural) as living sacrifices and be transformed in how they collectively think so that instead of conforming to the surrounding secular culture, “you (again this “you” is plural referring to the entire group) may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2, NRSV). Wow, what a thought! An entire church can discern and become everything God wants it to be! The rest of the chapter emphasizes how an individual should not “think of yourself more highly than you ought to think” (Romans 12:3, NRSV), and verses 4-9 emphasize how much we need the gifts that we and other believers can and must rightly exercise for the benefit of the entire group.
Maybe “YOU-ALL” is not so Silly
This deficiency in the English language is one that some regions have tried to address (to the amusement of the rest of the country). For example, southerners often say “you-all” in an attempt to refer to an entire group or family. When I pastored a church in western Maryland, the local people would sometime say “you’s” to indicate a whole family or more than one person. Frankly, this single concept is such a big deal that an entire follow-up book was written to go deeper on this important issue.2
I highly recommend Misreading Scripture With Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible by E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O’Brien. It is a book that will make you think—and perhaps help you think better when it comes to understanding Scripture.
1E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O’Brien, Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2013), 12-13, Kindle.
2E. Randolph Richards and Richard James, Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes: Patronage, Honor, and Shame in the Biblical World (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2020), Kindle.