The Bible makes assumptions about what you know because in the ancient world, there were some things that everyone knew and took for granted. They were so basic, it was hard to explain. That’s why Westerners and modern people often misread the Bible. It’s because we are importing our own cultural assumptions into our reading. Think about stories you’ve heard where a traveler dealing with another culture makes hilarious and embarrassing mistakes because there was something they didn’t know about the culture. A missionary in Indonesia said he was no longer surprised when he woke up and found people he didn’t know cooking a meal for him, his family, and themselves in his kitchen. His kitchen wasn’t a private place. St Paul and the writers of the gospels use certain analogies when talking about FAITH and when talking about GRACE. If you don’t understand what these assumptions were, you don’t understand what Scripture means when you read those words. Listen to find out what you’ve never heard about faith and grace.

Resources:

Richards and James, Misreading Scripture with Individualist Eyes: Patronage, Honor, and Shame in the Biblical World. InterVarsity Press.

Wheatley, Patronage in Early Christianity: Its Use and Transformation from Jesus to Paul of Samosata; Princeton Theological Monograph Series Book 160. Pickwick Publications, an Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers.

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