Discussion Thread: Introduction to Hermeneutics, Question 2
Question: Four challenges for Bible interpretation are listed in your text – the distance of time,
cultural distance, geographical distance, and distance of language. Offer an argument for which
challenge is the easiest to overcome and which is the most difficult. Be sure to define the
challenge and to identify clearly the problems inherent in it.
When looking at Bible interpretation, the cultural distance is the one which is the most difficult
to overcome. Cultural distance highlights the differences between our cultural attitudes today and
those of the people “from the world of the biblical texts.”1 What we consider to be cultural norms
or acceptable in our culture would be considered unacceptable during biblical times. For
example, as Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard explain, Leviticus 19:19 forbids the of cloth
garments made from more than one type of material.2 Cultural norms shift in time and if it can be
easy of us to approach the Bible and lay our cultural norms over those of the people from biblical
times. The resultant error can cause problems when attempting to properly interpret the
Scripture. We also can easily miss the significance of certain passages of Scripture because our
personal cultural understanding which will always cause us to have presuppositions to work
through. Along with this is the concept of cultural mores or “what goes without being said.”3 It is
easy for us to impose our cultural mores into a passage or to omit the cultural mores of those to
and about whom the text was originally written. Proper interpretation of the Bible requires us to
set aside many conscious presuppositions and to be on guard for those which we carry
unconsciously, making cultural distance a large gap to cross.
Conversely, geographical distance is the least difficult to overcome. This is not to say that it is
easy as while we have the ability to travel to the lands written of in the Bible, the topography and
environment is often very different due to the influence of man over the years. As expressed by
Klein, Blomberg, and Hubbard, “We have seen satellite dishes stationed next to Bedouin tents in
the Negev! In other words, we have difficulty picturing why the Assyrians came “up” from
Lachish to Jerusalem…or “down” from Jerusalem to Jericho.”4 As time has passed, there are
changes to the specifics of the geography written of in the Bible. however the places written of in
the Bible are still able to be seen and understanding basic concepts in geography, including the
use of maps and other charting materials, helps make bridging this gap more manageable than
the other distances which must be crossed when interpreting Scripture.
Bibliography
Klein, William W., Craig L. Blomberg, and Robert L. Hubbard, Jr. Introduction to Biblical
Hermeneutics. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2017.
1 William W. Klein, Craig L. Blomberg, and Robert L. Hubbard, Jr, Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics
(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2017), 56.
2 Ibid., 56.
3 E. Randolph Richards and Brandon O’Brien, Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural
Blinders to Better Understand the Bible (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012), 49.
4 Klein, Blomberg, Hubbard, Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics, 57-58.
Richards, E. Randolph, and Brandon O’Brien. Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes:
Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible. Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 2012.
