Misreading Scripture With Western Eyes

E. Randolph Richards, Brandon J. O'Brien

Because of the cultural distance between the biblical world and our contemporary setting, we often bring modern Western biases to the text. For example, when Paul exhorts women to "dress modestly," we automatically think in terms of sexual modesty. But Paul is likely more concerned about economic modesty -- that Christian women not flaunt their wealth through expensive clothes and gold jewelry. And Western individualism leads us to assume that Mary and Joseph traveled alone to Bethlehem. What went without saying was that they were likely accompanied by a large entourage of extended family. Biblical scholars Randy Richards and Brandon O'Brien shed light on the ways that Western readers often misunderstand the cultural dynamics of the Bible. They identify nine key areas where modern Westerners have significantly different assumptions about what might be going on in a text. Drawing on...