contexts

To be clear, I’m not claiming that trying to understand the context in which Jesus lived is incorrect or somehow misguided. On the contrary, I think that any good student of Jesus would attempt to understand the historical contexts surrounding Jesus and the Scriptures.

The meat of the point that I wish to make is this: to frame “context” as only or even primarily historical in nature has a powerful blinding effect on the reader/writer/follower of Jesus. Even more important than historical context is present context.

My argument is straightforward. On logical and empirical grounds, whatever present contexts we find ourselves in are more significant for understanding our relationship with Jesus and the kingdom of heaven than are the historical contexts in which the words were originally spoken.

“You’re taking that out of context.”  

That is a charge often leveled at people interpreting the Holy Bible.  The critical claim that an interpreter is taking a piece of text “out of context” serves to call into question the validity of the interpretation.  Taking a piece “out of context” is a bad practice, in other words.  And perhaps it is.