Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes by Richards and O'Brien

In Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible, E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O’Brien develop the thesis that contemporary Bible readers’ cultural norms and expectations inevitably influence the way they read Scripture. The authors’ stated goal is to demonstrate that the cross-cultural nature of biblical interpretation must be appreciated and accounted for in order to rightly interpret, and consequently, apply the Bible. As the title indicates, the book emphasizes the cultural preconceptions that tend to specifically inhibit Western readers’ ability to properly understand Scripture.

Some preconceptions endemic to the Western worldview are easy to detect and relatively less likely to cause substantial confusion. For instance, mores—accepted values and expectations that go without saying—are sometimes influenced more by culture than plain statements and teachings of Scripture. Yet, these preunderstandings and unspoken assumptions sometimes lead Christians to read their cultural values and expectations into Bible texts rather than extract values from them. In fact, Christians in different places and times have different mores regarding fundamental matters like money, food, and sex. It is imperative, then, that Christians work to draw their mores out of Scripture rather than project they are cultural mores onto Scripture.

Similarly, ignorance about original Bible languages and the ethnicities of people in the Bible—including the significance of stereotypes, language dialects, and geography—can and oftentimes do lead to misunderstandings about interactions, statements, and expectations operating within and between the people in Scripture. Language, in particular, is a dynamic medium for transmitting meaning, and most Western readers have little or no appreciation for the original languages. Translations are effective but limited because directly equivalent terms are not always available in the receptor language and translators must sometimes make interpretive decisions that necessarily omit important nuances. Richards and O’Brien rightly observe that, while these reader limitations are easily overcome, they must first be acknowledged.

Other cultural challenges are more subtle and, hence, more latent. For instance, contemporary Western society tends to be individualistic while biblical cultures were far more collective, and the difference in these prisms influences Western expectations about simple things like the letter writing process, decision-making, and family dynamics. Moreover, in the communal settings depicted and assumed in Scripture, honor and shame were substantial influences on behavior, but they are far less significant as factors for individual motivation and societal expectation in Western culture. Fundamental conceptions about things like time are also heavily influenced by culture, and more substantial effort is typically required to bridge the chasm between Western and biblical cultures. Still other matters, like social relationships, conceptions of virtue and vice, and the deep-seated Western self-centeredness are so fundamental to the Western worldview that it is hard for modern readers to imagine that their conceptions are not universally applicable. Differences here are harder to detect and more likely to lead to profound misunderstandings.

According to Richardson and O’Brien, the keys for Western readers include paying  attention to their instinctive interpretations while being intentional about overcoming their cultural blinders. This requires acknowledging the presence of different instincts in Scripture and assumed by its first readers. Western readers—like others—should first determine what the texts meant in its original context, which includes the cultures of those discussed in the texts and their primary audiences, before the question of contemporary application is considered. This openness to the complexities in biblical cultures and texts, the need to continue learning, acceptance of the possibility of having read incorrectly before, and engaging with modern readers from different contemporary cultural contexts can enhance Western readers’ understanding and proper application. 

The authors’ premise is intuitive—though oft overlooked in practice—and refreshing. Every reader has preconceptions and preunderstandings that influence their reading of Scripture, and this book explains the need for ensuring that Western worldview is not allowed to function as a barrier to proper engagement with the Bible. The thesis is developed and illustrated in clear and readily accessible ways that can benefit most readers.