Don’t believe everything you think

I was recently turned on to a blog by a friend (HT: Foolishsage.com - twitter.com/trappermark) called “You Are Not So Smart: A Celebration of Self-Delusion” and it’s really a fun read.   A recent post there is on the “Misinformation Effect,” which engages the fallacy of a trustworthy memory.  A course I teach (Hermeneutics) deals with theories of literary interpretation and one that I like to stress with my students as absolutely important to understand is that of Reader-Response Criticism.  This post reminded me of what I do in that class.

To make my point I use a series of reader-response drills that help them look at the differences between readers.  One that crosses over into the subject of the “Misinformation Effect” I’ve borrowed from Mark Allan Powell’s book, Chasing the Eastern Star.   I separate students into groups of two and give them passages from the Gospels.  The first student reads the passage to the second and the second responds by repeating the story back from memory.  While the second student repeats the passage back, the first one writes down the specifics of what the second student remembers, focusing on word choice.

It is interesting to see what two students see differently in the passage.  What they forget and what they remember are often related to their backgrounds and interests.  Often the student will even insert elements that were not there originally.

There is an assumption that two people read the same text and therefore, for Christians, everything would all be so clear if you just read your Bible.  I suppose this helps delude us into a false security.  It would be hard to live in the world if you never trusted your own senses.  Overconfidence, however, only brings trouble with it.

This process I have them go through is a little glimpse into the real world—they, as individuals, are not the standard for interpretation.  No two people read the same Bible and many of the problems Christians experience come from a failure to understand this simple fact. In one sense, they create their own Bible every time they read it.  The child who reads Paul’s words to “obey your parents” will read them differently when they are an adult with their own children.

I once heard the poet, Lucy Shaw, give a lecture on writing good poetry.  She reminded us that good poetry requires leaving out adjectives.  The young poet may be eager to fill the poem with adjectives, but you have to give the reader an opportunity write the poem with you.  They too need to have room to include their own adjectives when they experience your poem.

We create texts as we read.  For the Christian, the Bible has three authors, God, the original author, and you.

Human beings find great comfort in the belief that two people knowing and understanding something is as easy as two people passing on the same rock to one another (which is also a disputable notion).  But, as every couple discovers in good couple’s therapy, what you think is true is not necessarily the case.  Two people can use a very similar vocabulary and discover that they mean very different things.

Think of Hamas and Israel, both can use the word “peace” to describe their goals, but what the final picture looks like is very different for each of them.  We jump when we hear they are willing to discuss the idea of “peace,” but we are surprised when they cannot figure out a solution.  Why are we surprised?

Human beings read texts or examine the world to find meaning.  We are pattern seeking creatures.  It enabled us to discover the migration patterns of animals when we were hunters.  However, the patterns we see are not always the same.  They are more like ink blots.

You Are Not So Smart includes this video from This American Life as an example, which I have below.  There are also other interesting examples at that same post, so be sure to check it out.

My revision of the Master of Arts (Theological Studies) program

One of my roles at Winebrenner Theological Seminary is to direct the Master of Arts (Theological Studies) program.  This being my first year, I’ve spent some time examining the program with the academic dean to see if it needs revision and several places came to mind.  Read more…

Stephen Prothero on “Separate truths”

Stephen Prothero writes against seeing all religions as teaching the same thing in “Separate Truths: It is misleading — and dangerous — to think that religions are different paths to the same wisdom.”

When it comes to safeguarding the world from the evils of religion, including violence by proxy from the hand of God, the claim that all religions are one is no more effective than the claim that all religions are poison. As the New Atheists (another species of religious lumpers) observe, we live in a world where religion seems as likely to detonate a bomb as to defuse one. So while we need idealism, we need realism even more. Read the entire article…

Bruce Waltke controversy heading to ABC World News Tonight

ABC World News Tonight will be covering the controversy over Old Testament professor, Bruce Waltke, and his endorsement of evolution. The show will air either Friday or Sunday night, according to Peter Enns, Senior Fellow of Biblical Studies for The BioLogos Foundation.  Waltke’s endorsement of evolution in the form of a video at Biologos, led to his resignation from Reformed Theological Seminary (see my previous post for more).  Peter Enns encountered a similar problem at Westminster Theological Seminary, when he published his book, Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament. Also slated to appear on the show is Ken Ham, a leading creationist from the organization, Answers in Genesis.

Update: ABC News has an article up now, with some comment from Peter Enns as well.  Note that ABC needs to get their titles right.  They apparently aren’t aware of the differences between evangelical and evangelist.