Bible Customs: Culture Impacts the Understanding

1. Bible Customs: Culture Impacts the Understanding The evangelists read the Bible through their own eyes. Indeed, humans come to the Bible bound in their cultural habits. They usually have a deeply ingrained pattern of interpreting the world, a habit that often interferes with their understanding of Scripture. This insight has become a common thing of discussion about biblical interpretations in major circles. However, the reality is different. As humans, everyone must read themselves and the culture well. Just imagine being in an ocean and picture an iceberg looming in distance. How much of it one can actually see? Unfortunately, very little. If just the tip appears through the water, announcing its presence, the actual risk goes undetected in the depths. In the same way, humans have their own perceptions of their cultures’ patterns and it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Most of the cultural patterns remain hidden below the surface, and it’s beyond one’s realm of awareness. Reading of the Bible and understanding the Bible customs requires a broad approach and more awareness. Reality is that one’s experience impact the reading of the Bible. However, in this world, people are wearing tinted glasses which may even distort the vision somewhere while allowing seeing some things clearly. Many students who study Bible often have their own interpretations. Asking them to retell something they have learnt would often come in different contexts. However, people who have suffered a lot and have something deeply rooted in their culture would retell something else about the same parable. The cultural influence remains there. More than that, the Me-Centric approach takes in while interpreting a Bible Study.

2. While talking to different group members about something in a Bible study, one may come across several interpretations of the study. Individuals respond in a certain way: ‘for me, it means this’ – is the kind of answers. Asking what does a passage mean is definitely a right thing. But interpreting it on the individual level can have dangers. Generally, it may make individuals consider themselves as the center in their search for meaning in Bible. The meaning will certainly become relevant to a particular life. It may even prevent individuals from actually understanding the real meaning their applicability to the world. This me-centered approach to the Bible study can also confuse application with meaning. The Bible’s real focus should be the Christ. Much of the Bible’s context reveals how he came to save the humanity and how he did it. It’s important to understand the true Bible Customs and their real meaning. Source url- https://bit.ly/2PqfrFn