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Book Critique Assignment – Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural
Blinders to Better Understand the Bible
NBST 610: Hermeneutics
October 9, 2024
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Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................................3
Summary........................................................................................................................................3
Analysis...........................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion....................................................................................................................................10
Bibliography.................................................................................................................................11
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Introduction
Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes is written by Randolph Richards (Dean of the
School of Ministry & Professor of Biblical studies at Palm Beach Atlantic University) and his
former student Brandon O’Brien (Leadership Journal editor at large & Doctoral student at
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School). This book seeks to explain why Western readers of the
Bible have such a hard time correctly interpreting the Scriptures. One of the reasons for this is
that many Westerners today seek to understand the scripture from their own cultural lens which
often leads to misinterpretation. The message that was intended for the original audience
thousands of years ago may have been clear to them at the time, but in many cases, it is not clear
to Western audiences today. Richards and O’Brien understand this issue and use their
background as biblical scholars to identify nine important areas where many Westerners provide
their own assumptions about the text at hand and why that becomes a problem when reading the
Bible. While it is not without its flaws, Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes is a well written
book that dives into what it means for Western Christians today to look past their own cultural
assumptions to better understand the Scriptures as they were written thousands of years ago.
Summary
Richards and O’Brien divide the book into a total of nine unique chapters that touch on a
variety of different topics including their own unique experiences which have led them to admit
their own personal biases when reading the scriptures. The authors introduce the reader into the
vast challenges of interpreting scripture the right away by referencing the Bible as “The Foreign
Land of Scripture.”1 They mention that reading the Bible is a “cross-cultural experience” and that
1 E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O’Brien,=Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing
Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible=(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012), 9.
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opening the Bible is akin to stepping into a “strange world.”2 The authors do a good job within
the introduction showing how different the culture, geography and times were when the
scriptures were being written for their original audience. Richards and O’Brien highlight the
differences that people see in the scriptures in certain parts of the world. They use the example of
Russian and American readers to highlight this difference. The passage used in this example is
the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:14. The authors point out that based on the location,
Americans and Russians disagreed on what were considered crucial details of the story. Russians
focused more on the famine as a crucial element of the story while Americans did not give the
same significance to the famine as their Russian counterparts.3 The point of this example is to
highlight how Christians in certain parts of the world understand biblical passages differently.4
Part one of the book is titled Above the Surface and is divided into three chapters. This section
goes into detail on what cultural differences look like and what their sources can be. Chapter one
is titled Serving Two Masters and focuses on a difference in values and customs when it comes
to touchy subjects such as sex, money and food and discusses how the culture values these things
vs. how Christians value them. The highlight of chapter one is when the authors are discussing
how Westerners will often misinterpret instructions about modesty in the Bible by believing that
sexual modesty was of greater importance than economic modesty to the original audience.5 This
is due to a passage in 1 Timothy where Paul is telling women not to dress inappropriately but to
be more modest in their appearance (1 Tim. 2:9). It is easy for the reader to assume that Paul was
referring to sexual modesty, but the authors point out that the case can be made that Paul was
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid., 12.
4 Ibid.
5 E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O’Brien,=Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing
Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible=(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012), 35.
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speaking about being economically modest which meant that they should not flaunt their wealth
using clothing and expensive jewelry that women outside the church had done.6 Richards and
O’Brien use this chapter to highlight the importance of these topics, but to also remind us that
sex, money and food were important issues to the original audience but often times get distorted
because of the perceptions our own culture have placed on these sensitive topics.
In chapters two and three, the authors discuss race and ethnicity and language. The authors use
this section to highlight the different perspectives that American readers have on race. Richards
and O’Brien acknowledge that they have specifically white readers in mind when discussing
issues with race and ethnicity in the west.7 They also acknowledge that minority readers will also
be more sensitive to issues surrounding race and ethnicity.8 The authors seek to remind the reader
that all races were created in the image of God and that in order to truly understand a culture, one
must be aware of the significance of ethnicity and also understand prejudices that exist within a
particular culture.9 The authors main point of chapter two is that ignorant attitudes towards race
and culture can lead to misunderstandings and misinterpretations. Chapter three discusses
language. Richards and O’Brien highlight that “the words that make up language is a complex
system of values, assumptions, and habits of mind that reveal themselves in the words we use
and leave unsaid.”10 They also highlight how grammar and syntax (ethnicity and social class also)
reflect and determine how people within cultures think and speak.11 The authors also choose to
6 Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O’Brien,=Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural
Blinders to Better Understand the Bible=(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012), 35.
7 Ibid., 45.
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid., 46.
10 Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O’Brien,=Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing
Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible=(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012), 46.
11 Ibid.,61.
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highlight that while language conveys many different things, some of the most important aspects
of language are not words.12
Part two of the book is titled Just Below the Surface and is divided into three chapters.
Chapter four is titled Individualism and Collectivism and looks at the individualistic culture of
Western societies. The authors mention “the highest goal and virtue in this sort of culture is
being true to oneself.”13 That is compared to the collectivist culture which is heavily centered
around the community at large. This includes the tribe, clan, family and country and not the
individual.14 Richardson and O’Brien point out that “individualist assumptions affect our reading
of scripture in many ways, some of them more serious than others…this can lead to the more
serious problem of misunderstanding what it meant.”15 Chapter five is titled Have you no Shame
and takes a look at the concepts of honor and shame through different cultural lens. Richardson
and O’Brien define the western view of right and wrong. They note that “our point is that our
decisions to act rightly are not necessarily made with other people in mind – to please others…
but on the basis of an objective and largely individual sense of right and wrong.”16 The authors
also note that Westerners (especially Americans) feel that people should be internally motivated
to do what is right because of internal punishment if they don’t. They use an example of a poem
by Edgar Allen Poe titled The Tell-Tale Heart to illustrate the Western assumption that internal
guilt can convict a wrongdoer of a crime they committed.17 Chapter six is titled Sand Through the
Hourglass and looks at the concept of time and its interpretation in different cultures. In Western
12 Ibid.
13 Ibid., 84.
14 Ibid., 85.
15 Ibid., 88.
16 Ibid., 101.
17 Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O’Brien,=Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing
Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible=(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012), 101.
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Society, time is seen as highly valuable which is why such things like punctuality, planning and
predictability are seen as virtues while inefficiency, tardiness, nearsightedness and
undependability are seen as negative in America.18 On the other hand, many non-western cultures
have the opposite approach to time. The authors describe the use of the Greek terms Chronos and
Kairos. Chronos refers to clock or calendar time which can be described as discrete units of time
that can be measured precisely while Kairos refers to the more qualitative aspect of time, when
something special happened.19
The final section of this book is titled Deep Below the Surface and delves into cultural
differences that may be the least obvious but are often the most consequential for correct
interpretation.20 Chapter seven is titled First Things First, and this chapter looks at how
Westerners view rules and relationships. The authors note how Westerners tend to view all
relationships in terms of rules or laws, and this also influences how Westerners read the Bible.21
The authors point out that “our commitment to rules is deeply entrenched.”22 They make it a
point to tell the reader that we must not be willing to sacrifice relationships on the altar of rules.23
Chapter eight is titled Getting Right Wrong and dives into virtues and vices through cultural
perspectives. The authors encourage the reader to become sensitive to their own presuppositions
relating to vices and virtues and that to do that, you must begin with yourself and pay attention to
your own instinctive interpretations as you read the Bible.24 Chapter nine is titled It’s All About
18 Ibid., 123.
19 Ibid., 127.
20 Ibid., 139.
21 Ibid., 143.
22 Ibid., 154.
23 Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O’Brien,=Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing
Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible=(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012),155.
24 Ibid., 170.
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Me and focuses heavily on the concept of “me” or how we as Westerners put ourselves at the
center of everything. The authors observe that Americans are becoming more and more self-
centered, and that Richards generation is known as the “me generation.”25 The authors point out
who this “me” attitude can cause Western Christians to have a “what’s in it for me?” type of
attitude when it comes to Christianity. This self-centered attitude can cause readers to
misinterpret the Bible.26 The authors point out that this assumption about “me” at the center is
one where Westerners are the most blind.27 According to the authors, once we abandon the
concept of ourselves at the center of everything, we can then truly understand the Bible and what
it is ultimately about.28
Analysis
Richards and O’Brien do a very good job of grabbing the attention of the Western reader by
speaking to them directly about numerous subjects throughout the book. The authors start off
each section by going over a personal story. Richards experience in Indonesia takes a front seat
mainly in this regard. This was done primarily to show how their experiences shaped some of
their personal conceptions about different subjects. By doing this, Richards and O’Brien show
themselves as flawed human beings just like the audience they are talking to. They are not
25 Ibid., 175.
26 Ibid., 177.
27 Ibid., 187.
28 Ibid.
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displaying a “holier than thou” attitude, but instead show humility by talking about their own
unique experiences and why they think the way they do. One negative with this was that
Richards Indonesian experience is front and center as I mentioned previously. I would have liked
to see a bit more variety when it came to the personal stories of the authors. The Indonesian
stories were not bad by any means, but I would like to have seen some more variety in this
regard. The authors also use several verses of scripture that coincide with what they are talking
about in the chapters. An example is in Chapter one when Richards mentions 1 Tim. 2:9 which
talks about women dressing modestly. Richards and O’Brien highlight that Paul was most likely
not referring to sexual modesty but instead, economic modesty in that they should not dress in
fancy clothing and expensive jewelry as some women did.29 This was easy to comprehend, and
the authors did a good job with relating the information in the chapters to the scriptures. Richards
and O’Brien were very critical of Western culture at times in the text. I see this as a positive
position. The authors conveyed that Western philosophy is not always patient and tolerable when
it comes to other viewpoints around the world. The authors highlighted that what we often see as
negative within a culture, other parts of the world might see it as something good. An example of
this is in Chapter six and how the Western world perceives time as valuable while other parts of
the world see it as valuable but not at the level that the Western world does. Just because the
Western world sees something one way, does not necessarily mean that it is the right way,
especially when it comes to scripture. The authors end each chapter with a variety of different
questions which are designed to wrap up the section and help give some beginning steps to
readers to help them recognize their cultural blinders. I thought that this was a good way to
encourage the reader to act in addressing their cultural biases.
29 Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O’Brien,=Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing
Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible=(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012), 35.
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Conclusion
This is a very well written book that discusses a variety of important issues related to
misinterpretation of the Bible. It covers what can create biases and assumptions such as
differences in values and customs and race and ethnicity and how that can cloud our thinking
which in turn leads to misinterpretation. This book is aimed primarily for Western audiences
(mostly Americans), but I would recommend it to anyone who is seeking to gain a better
understanding of the scriptures from the viewpoint of the original audience for whom it was
written for. The authors admitted their own personal biases and encouraged the reader to do the
same. After reading this book, I found out some of my internal biases and made a goal to look at
the Bible from a different angle to better understand what the original author intended. Richards
and O’Brien have written a very thought-provoking book that should be read by past, present and
future biblical scholars.
Bibliography
Richards, E. Randolph (Ernest Randolph), and Brandon J O’Brien. Misreading Scripture with
Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible. Downers Grove, IL:
IVP Books, 2012.
