presuppositions

New books, new notebooks, classrooms and professors, grades and assignments...
I love my new school!! I must warn you, this post is a little... head-y if you will. My mind is being stretched and my world is being rocked. Here is a little bit of what I am learning:

I am taking New Testament History & Theology with Dr. Chapman. I was not super excited about the course until I sat in on his first lecture. He argued the importance of understanding the author's intent when you read any text. Have you ever thought about that? The author had a specific intent for writing the way he or she did. How often do we read a book, an article, or even scripture and think, "What does this mean to me?" before we ask or even wonder what the author was trying to say?

I know I am guilty of doing that all the time. Dr. Chapman discussed our presuppositions and how everyone has them. Presuppositions are the ideas and beliefs you base your life around. We all use these beliefs to help us define and categorize information. Have you ever thought about what shapes how you view the world? Or how those thoughts shape the information you are studying?

Then you throw in the issue of culture. This is an even harder problem because we are so encompassed in our culture that it is hard to even discern. We bring our own culture to that which we are studying and expect the text to fit into our cultural norms. This is exactly the opposite of what we should be doing! Text has little to no meaning unless it is placed within its CONtext.

Presuppositions. The word has been challenging me this week. When I start to think about it, almost everything I do is based on my presuppositions. The way I interact with my husband, the way I order my house, the way I take care of Hunter... all based on ideas and beliefs I had before entering into the situation. Nothing is wrong with that, necessarily.

But when I take what I believe and project it onto what I am reading ... especially scripture... is it really considered learning or studying anymore? Or is it just looking for confirmation of what I already believe?

If I am not studying the author's intent for the passage by digging into the author's culture and times, then why am I even reading? I think time might be better spent looking in the mirror.