Categories: uncategorized
Date: 09 February 2006 00:15:30
I was using Dreamweaver (software by Macromedia to help build websites) today to do some search and replace on strings of code and other random things, and it occurred to me that it would take all afternoon by hand, but Dreamweaver lets me do it in about 2 minutes. So I thanked God for Dreamweaver.
Then I thought, that's a bit weird, thanking God for a piece of software.
Then I thought, no it's not, we should be thankful in all circumstances.
But it still seems a bit weird. 9-5 job, computers, internet, websites, international software corporations - none of those would have been in the mind of those that wrote the parts of the Bible where it says "in all things give thanks". None. I'm just assuming that it covers my situation. I'm interpreting the Bible, translating its message into a modern context. I'm performing exegesis on the fly.
Don't you think that's interesting? Even such a simple verse as this requires interpretation to make it useful - and where there's interpretation there's the possibility (perhaps inevitability) that people will interpret it differently. So anyone that thinks the Bible can be read "without interpretation" - like people who say "our church preaches the Bible and nothing else" - they are fooling themselves. There is always exegesis. There is always interpretation. Otherwise it's meaningless.