Presuppositions and Preunderstandings

Preunderstandings are understandings and notions that are preconceived that people bring to the biblical text. (Duvall, 89) Presuppositions by contrast are like preunderstandings without the potential for change when the biblical text is read. (Duvall, 94) In general many presuppositions for the Christian are basic doctrines of faith regarding what the Bible is and what people expect to get out of it in principle, but preunderstandings are often basic beliefs that change and develop through the text itself. For example the incorrect notion that New Testament people lived in caves is a preunderstanding (only a very limited few ever lived in caves at such a time in history), but the belief that the scripture is from God and is a good thing to use is a presupposition. Overall, as a person would read the bible the preunderstanding that New Testament people lived in caves would be clarified by the references to houses and cities as well as organized society, and a person would also see that caves had not been the norm.

How to Test Appropriateness

Preunderstandings need to be tested according to what the scripture says (See Klein, 163) in its details. If for example a person believes that Jesus was a white man with blond hair and blue eyes, then to find the truth regarding his appearance one would have to read the scripture very carefully to see exactly what race that Jesus was. A person could then get an idea of how that race of people normally appear in skin color, eyes, and hair, and thus have an idea of how Jesus would have looked in person. Overall, asking the question of, "how important is the appearance of Jesus for salvation?" can be used to identify how appropriate the study into his race actually is.

Preconceptions would develop through the work of the Holy Ghost, develop through interactions with people of faith, and they would be determined appropriate or inappropriate by a community of people. For example everyone that subscribes to the conservative Baptist community would generally believe that the bible is true without error, that all scripture is written by men under the direction of the Holy Ghost, and that the bible contains everything that a person needs for eternal salvation. If for example someone wanted to join the community that believed that the bible was full of contradictions and full of errors, then this would be inappropriate (this person would likely be shown some evidence to support the case that the bible is true and that the scripture has no contradictions). Overall, when the scripture makes statements about itself, then these can often be capitalized upon for supporting the preconceptions that people have regarding the scripture.

Changing Preunderstandings

Changing a preunderstanding can be done just simply through concentrating upon details in the scripture that suggest the way that things had been done and the way that things are. Not only that but also a person could learn about the supportive history regarding the biblical times and the biblical text, and this can change preunderstandings as well to some extent. Some primitive Christian tribal people for example might get the idea that the Old Testament is written about their tribe, and they may not realize that Israel is a very long way away from their historic tribal land. The point is that utilizing geography, promoting education, and making careful distinctions in history could change a false preunderstanding that a tribe might have about its ancient origins and claims to be God's chosen people through Jewish decent (this could be an issue for a very old African tribe with lots of myths that has been Christian for centuries).

Presuppositions and Preunderstandings from my Own Life

When I was an atheist, I had a preunderstanding that I was the only person that existed and that everything else around me (including people) had been like generated constructs of my imagination. This would have informed my reading of scripture incorrectly because I would not be able to 'understand' how I could have constructed (in my imagination) such a thing that would be so completely un-understandable to me as the scripture. The point is that the intelligible nature of scripture to be read, understood, and discussed by others eventually correctly informed me that I was misinformed about reality and that other people and objects had been objectively real and are objectively real. Overall, my change of preunderstanding about reality opened the possibility in my mind that God was truly real.

Origination of Presuppositions and Preunderstandings

Presuppositions often originate from a long chain of believers that date all the way back to Adam, but they could also originate with new believers that are influenced by the Holy Ghost. For example some people believe statements of creed concerning the bible because that is what their parents believed all the way back to Adam (with some modifications made along the way), but other people have presuppositions because they have experienced the work of the Holy Ghost first hand to reveal truths concerning the nature of the Bible. For example it is hard to believe that the Bible is only a door stop if a person detects the 'voice of God' when reading the words of Jesus, but on the other hand if generations of people always believed the bible to be nothing more than a door stop, then this likely will not change just by reading it.

Incorrect or inaccurate preunderstandings often originate from people being misinformed, people developing out of their culture alone, people having a bad childhood, and other such influences. Preunderstandings can have several sources and often collectively comprise a person's world view. Ideally the bible should provide the source of structure for all the preunderstandings that a person would have as the preunderstandings get clarified by the biblical text.

How a Person's Background Influences Biblical Reading

If a person has been instructed primarily through public education in the United States, then they may bring notions of liberty, freedom, and choice to the text, but they also might bring concepts of evolution, capitalism, and self gain to the text. All these ideas would differ incredibly from the New Testament authors that wrote primarily to slaves, and as a result the idea of Christians being purchased by the blood of Christ could be very difficult to understand. Such people would likely overlook many important details regarding salvation through submission to Christ, or they may find these things difficult to understand (they may instead see Christ as a friend only and not as someone that needs to be obeyed).

If for example a person had very poor religious education that taught that salvation was only possible through works alone (this is what my church taught), then salvation by faith alone or by grace alone would be almost incomprehensible. In this case reading verses that describe the relationship between faith and works would often result in faith being interpreted through viewing Christianity as being works based. James 2:17 that teaches that faith without works is dead would then be used as almost like a condemnation of faith and would be like saying entertainment without employment is bankrupt. The correct parallel to James 2:17 is more like saying that a bank without money is worthless (note that the bank in this case is what manages, transforms, and grows the money).

Objectivity in Scripture Interpretation

Christians do not and should not strive for a completely neutral objective viewpoint. (See Duvall, 95) Instead people should hold onto conservative preconceptions of the scripture that have been tested to be true for centuries (for example a person should assume that the scripture is all together complete as one bible), and a person should read the bible to constantly develop, clarify, and change their preunderstandings according to an objective reading of the text itself.

Bibliography:

Duvall, J. Scott, and Daniel Hays. Grasping God's Word: A Hands-On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible, Second Edition. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2005.

Klein, William, Blomberg, Craig, and Hubbard, Robert. Introduction to Biblical Interpretation. Revised and Updated. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1993.