Cross-Cultural Reading of the Bible

Peter Theodore Nash

Article Type: Article

Publication Date: 10/1/1993

Issue: Biblical Interpretation for Christian Ministry (Vol. 13, No 4, Fall, 1993)

What we often forget is that the texts themselves bear witness to cross-cultural experiences within the canon. This witness can be read as a positive example for living with the Word in today’s multicultural societies. Sometimes we attempt to make Scripture present a single theology: at the most extreme it is one of Israel and Yahweh against the world. This approach represents ancient Israel as a monolith of spiritual integrity in the midst of a neighborhood of faithless pagans. We ignore a great deal of Scripture if we try to read salvation history in a straight line from promise to redemption, not taking into account the many more or less peripheral stories of women and men who made significant contributions to the lives and well-being of the patriarchs and matriarchs.

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