Hermeneutic
September 17th, 2007
On Tuesday nights I have a class called Introduction to the Hermeneutical Task. Hermeneutics is, essentially, how one interprets a certain text, and more specifically for me, the Bible. For instance, I read the Bible from a Western, caucasian, upper-middle class, male, 21st century point of view. All of these factors contribute to how I interpret the text. A female living in Kampala, Uganda might, and probably does, read the text very differently than I do. Neither points of view are right or wrong, but understanding them is essential.
This class in many ways deals with what one believes and why he or she believes it. The professor, who I think is a brilliant and compassionate man, is very honest in his approach to interpretation and faith and asks the same of all of his students.
On the first day of class he passed out surveys for all of the students to fill out. The questions were generally along the lines of what books have you read lately? and who are your favorite authors? and what are your top few films?…that sort of thing.
But the last question of the survey took a different direction:
How do you know?
It was a very vague, yet somehow specific question. I looked at it and waited for a good while before I began to answer.
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The next week our prof read aloud a few of the most common answers to the questions. Lots of people are reading Dan Allender (not surprising), David Sedaris, Rainier Maria Rilke, and that woman who wrote all those stories about a wizard boy. Apparently she’s the bees knees. I had no idea. Someone should have told me.
He got to the last question, the one about knowing, and read aloud some of the responses.
I don’t know.
From my experiences in my lifetime.
Those who have gone before me have taught me.
I can feel it deeply within me.
It feels like the right way to live.
Because of circumstances I’ve lived through.
And then he read this response:
Everything to me is black and white. True and false. Right and wrong. I believe it and have no doubts.
Everyone in the classroom sort of chuckled at the last one. Quite a few people laughed out loud. The statement seemed so definitive. I smiled because it reminded me of my undergrad and how lots of people seemed to know without having any doubts about anything at all, or at least that’s how it appeared.
Our professor, with compassion and anger in the same moment, looked at the class with tears in his eyes. He paused. I could feel the silence in the room.
“How dare you laugh at and judge someone’s belief system,” he said quietly, but loud enough that everyone could here it. “Damn it if we ever judge anyone’s hermeneutic.”
….
I was humbled, and I think the rest of the class was as well. I had quietly judged someone because they were sure of things which I often doubt. For years I have felt as though I have been trying to figure out what I believe in an environment that thought they had it all figured out. And now here I sat, in an opposite environment from the one I just left, doing the exact same thing as those I had disagreed with in college had done.
How dare I ever judge someone’s belief system.
I cannot express in words how much that simple moment taught me.
——————————————
I called my dad that night and told him the story from class.
“Sounds like you’re in the right place, doesn’t it?” he said.
“I was thinking the same thing.”
Tags: graduate school, spirituality
Thats powerful my brother, thank you for sharing that moment with us.
mmmmmmmmm
……. glad that your classes are going well friend
We can all learn a lesson from that one, I’d hope. I’m learning continually that humility is so key in this journey.
Thank you, Josh. I’m looking forward to hearing more.
[...] Love in the Key of Longbrake (which I follow to keep an eye on some fun photography) has written a post about a moment that hit him during a class on hermenutics, I think that you should go and read it. [...]
even beyond the response and its story, I’m amazed by the question in general, and its vagueness. “how do you know?” i can’t count on two hands all the questions like that that we should daily have running through our heads.
That was a powerful story man. Thanks for sharing that…it humbles and embarrasses me to think how I would have reacted in that situation. Thanks for sharing the light.
Be Blessed and Be a Blessing. Mike
Thanks for taking us to class with you. I think we all just got schooled.
I’m so glad that you wrote about this…
wow, awesome man
that picture you took…stirs something in me…but I don’t know what…
Woohoo brother! Great class and great topic.
I found you through ragamuffinsoul.com. Los, was my worship pastor.
I enjoyed this topic. This is exactly why I want to attend Grad school yet it’s to smart for me.
thanks for this. just finished a couple of days workshopping bible in the communinty setting with youth workers of diverse cultural and church traditions in nz. Great experience. Love to get a copy of that question sheet and hear more about how the class goes.
much grace
I’ve been following your blog and flickr for a while now and I really enjoy your writing and thoughts.
Anyway, this entry really got me. I read it yesterday afternoon and I’m still thinking about it now. It’s quite powerful. I look forward to hearing what more you will learn from this class…
This is when Christianity gets interesting - theologically speaking.
I remember my hermeneutics class to this day - mindblowing! It still confounds my thinking!
Sounds like your on the same plane ride…
“How do you know?”
It’s interesting the differing things people relied on for their knowledge: feelings, experience, tradition, history, culture…
i had a conversation with a friend the other day. he is a black & white person. i am not. we agreed to disagree mostly.
he is a Christian turned atheist and does not understand how any one that claims to be a Christian could not see salvation as black & white and leave it at that. or how faith is an issue.
for the first time, i looked at him with admiration.
how great would it be to truly live each day in the freedom that God gives me, in the grace that He offers and live in the fact that He said “It is finished.”
you have a lot of learning and growth ahead of you.
i had a similar experience in one of my bible classes where a girl shouted out loud how “black and white” the bible is and that interpreting it shouldn’t be so difficult. her statement angered me so much that i went home and emailed the teacher a bit of a rant. he resonded with his agreement that the bible is not black and white but that different point of views was part of why we were taking the class.
humbled indeed.
thank you for sharing. i miss bible classes. please continue posting your experiences as you can.
much love from so cal.
and i just re-read that first line in my comment…sounds sort of harsh but really, what i mean is - we all do. but being in the school you’re at, i am very excited to read about yours in particular.
nothing like studying to bible to make your faith/brain/everything go crazy - in both good and hard ways.
joshua,
i was introduced to your photography and blog by a friend who goes to LU, and i just wanted to say that i really enjoy your pictures alot. you have a unique eye to be able to extract beauty from simple things in life.
thanks for sharing your gifts
I strongly disagree with your and your professor’s conclusion regarding hermeneutics. There ARE wrong ways to interpret the Bible, so to say that everyone’s views about exegesis are “neither right nor wrong” is postmodern and dangerous! Allegorical interpretation ensues and no longer can God’s word be considered absolute truth.
@jake: I would agree with you that there are incorrect ways to interpret the Bible, but nowhere did my professor say anything about that. He simply said that there is no room to laugh at someone’s ideas or hermeneutics. There is room for disagreement and discussion, but not mockery. I believe that was his point. I’m sorry if I misled you otherwise.
i’m thankful for the reality of God in your life, because through you, He is blessing many of us. through this character that you hold, your quirkiness and simplicity never fails to bring a smile to my face.
which makes me want to know you personally, only we’re oceans apart. want you to know that i’m praying for you each time i’m reminded of you…
i am also going to a film festival in Czech Republic next month. the event is not the highlight, the journey there is. i am determined to meet God there, so pray for me. =)
keeping you in prayer…
jeline joy
Thank you for sharing this thought, Josh It deeply resonated with the recent thoughts/struggles in my own journey (as well as the conversations within my cymbrogi). Please continue to share such things… its like we all get to experience grad school with you…
Thanks for the response to my previous comment. I see your point about mockery and agree with it. Thanks again!
Jake
As believers, I think it is really important that we always ponder why we believe what we believe and how what we believe can be communicated.
But I really agree with your professor in his assertion that we not judge another based on their beliefs. Whether you agree or not… you will learn more about who they are and where they are coming from if you withhold judgment and just listen to what they are saying.
This is a lesson I am learning a lot lately as I am in an environment where I as a Christian am a minority.
[...] Hermenutic - Joshua/Love in the Key of Longbrake [...]
Josh, God is doing great things in your life. Stay focused, stay grounded, and thanks for what you are sharing with us through your experiences!
Peace from Fort Wayne, IN.
Where do you think right and wrong come from?