If the world around us were easy to explain then life would be really simple. We could label all liberals as "pinkos", all conservatives as "neo-Nazis", all business persons as "bourgeois", all poor as "lazy", and so it goes. Our tendency to take the intellectually easy way out is not merely out of our prejudices or hatreds, though some would tend to use that terminology. Rather our propensity to misapply Ockam's razor, to reduce things to something unnecessarily simple, leads us into some rash conclusions that untilmately are unnecessarily divisive and may even be destructive in our interactions with the world around us.
One expression of this error that I hear periodically is the (mis)use of I Samuel 15:23.
In his book Everyday Theology, Kevin Vanhoozer presents us with a challenge -- to observe our culture and the people in it apart from the simplistic ways we usually approach these matters. Dr. Vanhoozer notes that even some of the most prominent thinkers in recent the past (Marx, Freud, Nietzsche) have made the same error. We're most certainly not alone in all of this.
As we develop a way of looking at the world around us and interpret the times and the seasons of the world's events, Dr. Vanhoozer terms it a cultural hermeneutic, through what glasses shall we look at the world? Is it enough to say "through the lens of the Bible" or is there more?
My suggestions for interpreting culture are these glasses:
1) What are the popular media topics?
2) What are the common reactions to events?
3) How is language changing?
4) What are the philosophers and theologians writing about?
Here's what I'd like to learn from each question:
1) What are the popular media topics?
Does this material sell? Which people (young, old, male, female, rich, poor, etc.) are listening?
2) What are the common reactions to events?
When major events (real or perceived), how are people reacting? Which people are reacting and which are not? Is their reaction genuinely well-thought or part of a group response?
3) How is language changing?
Does the common terminology of the day mean something different than it did even two years ago? Which groups are affecting these changes? Is it taking place in literature, music, or elsewhere?
4) What are the philosophers and theologians writing about?
Some of what is being written about today will begin to influence culture in a couple of decades. Keeping tabs on these things (without become a mere academic) can prepare us for changes in the near future.
Your thoughts?
One expression of this error that I hear periodically is the (mis)use of I Samuel 15:23.
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
One prominent evangelical broadcaster a few years ago employed this verse to describe the behavior of all non-Christians. He reduced all of their actions to the equivalent of witchcraft and declared all of them to be evil, practicing the moral equivalent of witchcraft. (What he did not do was to apply this to himself and any disobedience in his own life.) This sort of reductionism plagues us all periodically, whether in how we view others or how we view culture. In his book Everyday Theology, Kevin Vanhoozer presents us with a challenge -- to observe our culture and the people in it apart from the simplistic ways we usually approach these matters. Dr. Vanhoozer notes that even some of the most prominent thinkers in recent the past (Marx, Freud, Nietzsche) have made the same error. We're most certainly not alone in all of this.
As we develop a way of looking at the world around us and interpret the times and the seasons of the world's events, Dr. Vanhoozer terms it a cultural hermeneutic, through what glasses shall we look at the world? Is it enough to say "through the lens of the Bible" or is there more?
My suggestions for interpreting culture are these glasses:
1) What are the popular media topics?
2) What are the common reactions to events?
3) How is language changing?
4) What are the philosophers and theologians writing about?
Here's what I'd like to learn from each question:
1) What are the popular media topics?
Does this material sell? Which people (young, old, male, female, rich, poor, etc.) are listening?
2) What are the common reactions to events?
When major events (real or perceived), how are people reacting? Which people are reacting and which are not? Is their reaction genuinely well-thought or part of a group response?
3) How is language changing?
Does the common terminology of the day mean something different than it did even two years ago? Which groups are affecting these changes? Is it taking place in literature, music, or elsewhere?
4) What are the philosophers and theologians writing about?
Some of what is being written about today will begin to influence culture in a couple of decades. Keeping tabs on these things (without become a mere academic) can prepare us for changes in the near future.
Your thoughts?
