Or… how your skewed view of biblical interpretation is not an overarching Christ-centric worldview
Photo credit: Unsplash
Yes, I meant to say “skewed”.
That picture above… that’s a typical Bible study venue. What it is not, is theology. Just because you read the Bible in a way that only confirms your bias does not mean that you have proper theology. Yes, I know, you learned the 4 spiritual laws and the Romans Road to salvation… but, that doesn’t mean you have good theological understanding of the Bible. And your buddies who you want to pledge to your specific sets of belief-isms… also a part of confirmation bias.
You believe that your worldview is biblical, that any worldview of value should be biblical, and I simply wanted to point out that it isn’t.
Why? I’m glad you asked.
Your “faith” and your “belief” are based upon your own societal and cultural (and tribal, I might add) experiences and not upon the context of text written by multiple authors over a couple of thousand years and compiled into one book. Your “biblical” worldview is filtered through your experiences (let’s just say that they are filtered through what you learned about the Bible from a preacher, teacher, Sunday school, VBS, or what have you). You culturally and socially inherited your beliefs.
Sure, you might not have inherited them from your parents and growing up in church. Maybe you got “saved” later on life. “I wasn’t raised in the church,” you may say. But, yes, you did shoulder yourself with the beliefs of those around you.
You learned the ropes, memorized verses, acted like they acted, shunned what they shunned, and learned what it meant to have a “biblical” worldview from others who were already carrying the torch for that particular worldview. This is where most people stop growing, once they have been established in their tribalistic views. And, again, that’s not theology nor is it the premise to spout your views and opinions as theology. That’s Why being “biblical” does not necessarily equate with being Christ-like.
You may not have the time and fortitude to drop everything to learn Hebrew, Greek, German, and French. You may not have spent hours studying and pouring over ancient texts and learning history of the Bible or the church.
Your worldview is only “biblical” according to your belief and interpretation of it (or of the beliefs and interpretations of those with whom you associate.) That, simply, is not theology.
Photo Credit: Jay Smith
If you don’t have time to go to an actual theological school (unbiased, of course), then you should at least peruse and study those who have. See part of my bookshelf in the picture above.
Photo Credit: Jay Smith
Or some of the books in the picture above.
Before you get started reading actual theological work instead of authors that will provide you the confirmation bias your ego-self desperately needs, please do some deconstruction in the area of your own personal psychology.
Why do you believe the way you believe? How does our psychological makeup attempt to provide us answers for questions of which no one has the answers? How does mythology and lore play its part in the formation of religion? Once you understand these things then you will be ready to move on to the tougher subjects.
So, instead of trying to create an atmosphere for more “faith” affirmation, confirmation bias, of your particular worldview, let’s do a little reading first, a little actual study, theology. Your worldview is specific to you and your culture…
and is certainly not “biblical.”
