For scores of children throughout the late 60s all the way to the present day, the animated TV show The Flintstones is your typical cartoon. The setting and characters are funny and irreverent. What surprises most children, however, is when they learn that the program was aired from 1960-66 as a prime time show aimed at adults. In fact, shows like The Flintstones and Gilligan's Island (another prime time show), showcase double entendre humor -- jokes and gags that have different meanings related to the age of the viewer!
Now, for a rather odd transition, this got me to thinking about the bible. Actually, I didn't wake up this morning thinking about the bible, but was intrigued by a post at A Time to Rend entitled "Different Angles". The thrust of the post had to do with how two people -- coming from differing perspectives -- could read certain passages in the bible and arrive at completely different conclusions.
From my perspective, one of the inherent problems with modern day Christianity is that adherents read and understand their holy document out of context. Most of the bible is written in the midrash literary form. Midrash is never taken literally as it is an allegorical form open to multiple interpretations.
Because midrash is not prevalent in modern western society, today's believers take a great deal of the messages contained in the bible at face value. It's sort of like watching The Flinstones from a child's perspective without understanding the more mature aim of the jokes and pratfalls. While a child may glean out of the jokes a fragment of the intended humor, there's no way in the world the majority will understand the more adult nature of the material.
So, when a present day Christian reads a passage in a particular book, they replace the intended context with a present day context and this difference can radically alter the perception of what a particular author may be trying to get at.
Now, for a rather odd transition, this got me to thinking about the bible. Actually, I didn't wake up this morning thinking about the bible, but was intrigued by a post at A Time to Rend entitled "Different Angles". The thrust of the post had to do with how two people -- coming from differing perspectives -- could read certain passages in the bible and arrive at completely different conclusions.
From my perspective, one of the inherent problems with modern day Christianity is that adherents read and understand their holy document out of context. Most of the bible is written in the midrash literary form. Midrash is never taken literally as it is an allegorical form open to multiple interpretations.
Because midrash is not prevalent in modern western society, today's believers take a great deal of the messages contained in the bible at face value. It's sort of like watching The Flinstones from a child's perspective without understanding the more mature aim of the jokes and pratfalls. While a child may glean out of the jokes a fragment of the intended humor, there's no way in the world the majority will understand the more adult nature of the material.
So, when a present day Christian reads a passage in a particular book, they replace the intended context with a present day context and this difference can radically alter the perception of what a particular author may be trying to get at.
Hehe :)
ReplyDeleteNice one.
Interpretation is not truth.
It is interpretation.
Through the interpretation, we may arrive at truth.
But lacking truth, how can we accurately interpret?
Tao te Ching does not pose as anything: makes no claims for itself. It may be rubbish. Or it may contain the crown jewel of wisdom.
Go interpret...
Thanks for the link and add fellow wanderer! Nice post, I appreciate the attitude of seeking to interpret. And I think the bible can be beautiful in some ways understanding mishrash (midrash?).
ReplyDeleteThe Flintstones is also a parody of the sitcom The Honeymooners, with exact parallels between the main characters. So maybe it is something like a double-double entendre in the sense you are writing about.
Warning: Atimetorend's comment above will not make sense to most people because I have edited the post entry to include the correct spelling of m-i-d-r-a-s-h. Before the astute comment, I had mangled the spelling of the word (mishrash).
ReplyDeleteExcellent point, and I agree completely. I wish you could somehow convince a few hundred million people about that overnight, that would surely change a lot of things for the better!
ReplyDeletelol I love the comparison with The Flintstones.
ReplyDeleteThis is actually something I've been thinking a lot about lately. Judaism has its scriptures and sets of commentaries on them; if there's a faith that relishes arguing over the meanings of its own scriptures, it's Judaism. The four Gospels attempt to present another level of interpretation, seeking to prove that Jesus is the Messiah, and a lot of the ambiguity of interpretation disappears. Finally, the letters of St. Paul and the apostles add another layer of interpretation over the Hebrew scriptures. I just finished rereading Romans, and I was quite unsettled by how some passages in the Hebrew scriptures are creatively interpreted to support Paul's claims about Jesus, the nature of faith, and the role of the Jews in history.
Growing up in, then growing out of, the literalist form of Christianity has made me sensitive to these issues.
Thanks for the post.
I would like to add a new word to the English language...
ReplyDeleteMINDRASH: a spontaneous eruption of meaningless words, based upon groundless assumptions, brought on by an epidemic of baseless self-importance.
Crow,
ReplyDeleteThat cracks me up!!