Conveying the wrong message

The claims by Phyllisienne Brincat on a TV programme that original sin has cursed humanity and that illness and disability are part of this curse have been sufficiently rejected, condemned and corrected. However, this episode is just one of many instances of dangerous and unacceptable biblical misinterpretations that we frequently encounter on social media platforms, in the local press as well as on local TV and radio broadcasting stations.

In the name of theology and doctrine, sometimes our zeal gets ahead of our hermeneutical understanding. When we want to be orthodox or when we want to ensure that we’re theologically correct, sometimes we’re more loyal to a particular religious tradition than to a proper interpretation of Scripture.

Phyllisienne Brincat’s claims betray a lack of understanding of the biblical sense of the word ‘perfection’. Photo: Optima Photography

Misapplying Scripture is easy to do with the western approach to literature. Our culture wants to read a passage and immediately apply it to our lives. Our concern with productivity spills into our time with the Lord, where we tend to minimise the metanarrative in search of immediate application.

So, it becomes a dangerous process when we lead with the notion that we can give Scripture meaning. That perspective negates the wisdom of God – that God is the revealer of Scripture by which He wants to communicate meaning to us. So, I think the reader response philosophy is very dangerous and gives birth to a plethora of different religious positions that are predicated on what people want and what people feel, as opposed to what God actually communicated.

In fact, God, Jesus and facts about who He is, His life and what He taught have been misinterpreted, misunderstood and misapplied for thousands of years. The bible is a very important document. It doesn’t just merely contain the Word of God; it is the Word of God. It is written in plain language for the common man so that we can easily understand it.

Mark Twain once said: “When I read the bible, the parts that trouble me the most are not the ones I don’t understand but the ones I do understand.”Reading the bible is very important. Interpreting it correctly is vital.

Mark Said – Msida