Culture and the Bible 9/26/10 5:15 PM

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Culture and the Bible

By Michael J. Fast
Associated Canadian Theological Schools
Canadian Baptist Seminary
Langley, British Columbia, Canada
3 April 1998

Any reproduction must include acknowledgment of author.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Introduction
II. Introductory Matters
III. Intertextual Awareness of Biblical Writers
IV. Biblical References to Outside Sources
V. Inclusion of Cultural Details by Biblical Writers
VI. Conclusion
NOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHY

I. Introduction

One of the most important aspects of biblical study is hermeneutics. This is because the chief purpose of the
Bible is to reveal the mind of God to humanity. In order for this to happen it must be interpreted properly.
However, this is easier said than done. There are many variable factors that enter into the picture. One of
these factors is culture. Ever since the confusion of languages at the tower of Babel people have had a
difficult time understanding each other. Moreover, the tower of Babel incident resulted in the dispersion of
humanity in little enclaves over the entire earth. Each of these enclaves has developed largely in isolation
from each other resulting in different cultures.1 The goal of the church is to bring the truth of the gospel to
each of these cultures where they exist.
The problem does not only lie with present-day cross-cultural mission work, however. Each Christian must
deal with the difficulties of examining another culture every day as they read the Bible because the writers
of the Bible largely wrote from different cultural backgrounds.
One major present-day discussion revolves around the question of the extent the Christian must understand
the culture of the time periods of the biblical writings in order to determine the meaning of the text. Is it
important for me, as a twentieth-century biblical scholar, to fully understand the cultural intricacies of
biblical times or is it simply sufficient for me to read the Bible and find the hermeneutical keys therein?
Further complicating this issue is the fact that many of the books were written at times different from the

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times they record. Thus, one has to determine which culture is to be examined--that of the writer or that of
the character or event?
In the past the difficulty appeared to be almost non-existent. For example, John Wycliffe wrote
On the opposite end of these beliefs are those held by many modern liberals in what is known as the
There is a major discrepancy here--Can the Bible be understood by the modern-day reader or not? And,
since there is such a vast gulf between the world of the writer and the world of the modern-day reader, how
can the reader of today cross that gulf?
2 Timothy 3:16-17 sheds some light on this difficult issue. It says,
Another key verse is 2 Peter 1:20-21, which says,
All of this leads to one conclusion--the Bible provides within its pages all the information necessary for
determining its correct meaning. What is the one thing the writer knows he will have in common with his
readers? The text. The only thing he can be sure all his readers are aware of is the content of the text he is
writing to them. As a result he will include information in it that will enable them to adequately interpret it.
Sailhamer says,

Since the topic is so large, this paper will focus on one aspect of the discussion: Can biblical context be
equated with culture for the purposes of determining meaning? It will approach this question from three
angles. First, it will examine the intertextuality of the Bible by asking the question: Were biblical writers
aware of the meanings previous biblical writers had assigned to certain words and concepts? Second, it will
examine the references made within the text of Scripture to outside sources and ask the question: Did the
writers expect their readers to be familiar with the contents of these outside sources? Thirdly, it will
examine those instances when the writers have included cultural information into the text and ask: Was this
done in order to aid in its understanding?

II. Introductory Matters

Before it enters into the world of the text, however, this paper will begin with some introductory matters.
The first introductory matter relates to the nature of literary characters. Writers use words to portray
meaning. As a result, the reader must have the ability to understand what the words mean. These meanings,
by and large, come from outside the text. For example, it would be difficult to pick up the Bible and begin
reading if one did not know how to read.
What do we know about the Bible as it exists in the twentieth century? First, the Bible is a book. While this
may seem obvious at the outset it does have some implications for the modern interpreter. In order to
understand these implications something about literature must be understood. There is a fundamental
difference between the Abram who lived approximately 2100 years before Christ8 and the Abram who is in
the Bible. The difference is one of reality. The Abram we read about in Genesis 12 and following is not
really Abram--it is merely the writer
An example of this would be the picture of my wife I have hanging above my desk. I can look at it and see
that it is my wife. She has blonde hair, a beautiful smile, and a generally cheerful disposition. However,
there are also some other things I notice about her that are very disturbing. She appears to be only two-
dimensional! She also feels like plastic, and, if I try hard enough, I can tear her into small pieces and throw
her into the garbage can. She cannot talk, change her expression, eat food, use the washroom, or watch
television. All in all, one could argue that she appears pretty dull.
Of course, this description is absurd. We all know the limitations of pictures. Why does my wife appear this
way in the picture? Because a picture is limited in what it can portray. If I want to find out if my wife can
talk, change her expression, eat food, etc. I must see her physically--she has to be in the room herself. My
wife

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Thus, when we look at a story in the Bible we must understand it is merely a portrayal of what really
happened and is not the event itself. Abram is not really Abram, but a perspective on Abram that the writer
wanted us to see and understand.10
The second introductory matter relates to culture. William Larkin has defined culture in this way:
Culture is that integrated pattern of socially acquired knowledge, particularly ideas, beliefs, and values
(ideology) mediated through language, which a people uses to interpret, experience, and generate patterns of
behaviour--technological, economic, social, political, religious, and artistic--so that it can survive by
adapting to relentlessly changing circumstances.11
Larkin continues by saying that the primary aspects of culture are ideational (i.e. world view oriented) and
the secondary aspects are behavioural. However, it is extremely important to realise that belief cannot be
separated totally from behaviour. Just look at the book James for an example of this.
When a missionary goes to another culture to minister the gospel he is necessarily faced with a different
world view than his own. This is because, as Larkin says above, culture is
An example of this comes from Don Richardson who, in his book Peace Child, tells of his experiences with
two warring tribes in New Guinea. One morning, to his shock and dismay, he saw the chief of one tribe
give his only son to the chief of the other tribe. He wondered what new form of cruelty would result from
this. However, to his surprise, the giving of the child was a peace treaty--as long as the child lived there
would be peace between the two tribes. Richardson
The third introductory matter relates to context. The above illustration is similar to any study of the Bible.
When studying the Bible we often speak of reading things in context. Any interpretation derived from the
Bible without looking at the context of a certain word, phrase, sentence, verse, chapter, or book is bound to
be wrong. This is because an author chooses the words, phrases, sentences, verses, chapters, and books he
uses very carefully so that the meaning he intends to convey is conveyed. Because of this reality it is also
safe to say that meanings of words are contextually acquired.
All of these above points seem to be leading a certain direction. Is it safe to assume that in order to be
interpreted properly something must be interpreted in the culture from within which it originated?
Just like the culture that people develop around themselves, the Bible also has a culture within its pages.
This culture is different from both the cultures of its various contributors and from the cultures that are
being described therein. For example, just as in Larkin
Thus, Larkin

III. Intertextual Awareness of Biblical Writers

Throughout the Bible there are many terms that seem to be repeated and used over and over again. As a
result, the interpreter must ask why this is. Were biblical writers aware of the meanings previous biblical
writers had assigned to certain words and concepts? And, is it important that the Bible interpreter be aware
of this intertextuality?
The parable of the Lost Son provides us with a test case for use in determining writer awareness of
intertextuality.12 One of the questions that arises at the very beginning of the story is why the father allowed
the younger son to receive his inheritance and leave for a foreign country. Some light can be shed on this
odd action by looking to Proverbs 22:6 where it says,
In this example Luke does not refer to Proverbs 22:6 in an obvious way. Rather, the reader can assume he
alludes to it in the story.
Another New Testament passage that is more obvious in exhibiting this is Revelation 11:1-14--the story of
the two witnesses. In this chapter the writer, John, demonstrates his awareness of the Old Testament
Prophets in his references regarding the witnesses. For instance, in verse 4 the witnesses are referred to as
But there is more. In verse 5 the two witnesses are also described as having fire coming from their mouths

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that will devour their enemies. this is reference to Jeremiah 5:12-14 where God tells Jeremiah
Here it is quite obvious that John is aware of the meanings

IV. Biblical References to Outside Sources

Above we made note of Sailhamer

There are seventy-nine references to outside sources in the Bible. Of these, thirty-four occur in 1 & 2 Kings
in relation to the kings of Judah and Israel.15 The formula is simple--a king
Another category of outside reference relates to the books God keeps with him in heaven wherein are
recorded the names of the righteous.17 For example, Revelation 20;12 says,
In the book of Esther five references to Medo-Persian records are made, primarily in descriptive passages.18
The author makes no intimation that the reader needs to know their contents. In fact, the contents that the
writer would like us to know about he tells us about. For example, in 2:23, the writer tells us that Mordecai
The New Testament also has several references to other texts.19 Some of them were discussed above under
the books God has with him in heaven. The most interesting of the other references, however, occurs at the
beginning of Luke
Another New Testament passage touching on this issue is John 20:30-31, which says,

V. Inclusion of Cultural Details by Biblical Writers

Because of the very nature of stories and records, it is impossible for a biblical writer and a Bible reader to
have the same vast wealth of information and allusion to draw upon. As a result, at certain times biblical
writers are forced to include small tidbits of information in their writings so that their readers will be able to
understand exactly what is going on.
There are several of those instances when the writers have included cultural information into the text. In
order to fully address the issue at hand these passages must be identified and asked the question: Was this
done in order to aid in its understanding?
There are several different varieties of this type of inclusion in the Bible. The first is primarily in the New
Testament where, given the different languages involved, the writers had to include translations in order to
clarify their objectives. John seems to be filled with them--an example being John 19:17 where it says,
The second of this type of inclusion is primarily in the Old Testament and involves the writer
The second example is found in 1 Samuel 9:9, which says,
Clearly the biblical writers felt that without the inclusion of these bits of information the point of the story
would be lost. Thus, the writers considered these points to be essential to a correct understanding of the
passages at hand.

VI. Conclusion

The purpose of this paper was to answer the question: Can biblical context be equated with culture for the
purposes of determining meaning? It approached this question from three angles. The first angle asked the
question: Were biblical writers aware of the meanings previous biblical writers had assigned to certain
words and concepts? The examples from Luke 15:11-32 and Revelation 11:3-12 show us that indeed the
writers of the Bible did write with previous biblical terminology in mind. This was done to ensure the
intended meaning of the author would be maintained.
The second angle asked the question: Did the writers expect their readers to be familiar with the contents of
the outside sources referred to in some Bible passages? A look at some of these outside sources show that

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they were used primarily for apologetic purposes. God saw fit to add these natural helps into the text in
order to defend it against attack. those sources that are vital to the understanding of a particular pericope are
suitably explained so that the reader receives the full benefit of the information contained therein.
The third angle asked the question: Were cultural clues added to the text in order to aid in its understanding?
Like the outside references referred to above, the writers of the Bible included cultural tidbits into the text in
order to aid in finding its meaning.
All of the above findings point to the fact that the Bible has a culture of its own that must be understood in
order to discover what the biblical writers really meant to get across. Only through a renewed emphasis on
intertextuality and complete textual understanding will the objective meaning of Scripture be found.
So what of the issue of culture and Bible interpretation. Where does the whole cultural part of humanity
enter into the picture? I think that as one moves from determining the meaning of the text into
understanding and transmitting that meaning the cultural aspects of humanity play a large role. However, to
base the objective meaning of Scripture on such loose variables is dangerous, to say the least.

NOTES

1 William J. Larkin, Culture and Biblical Hermeneutics: Interpreting and Applying the Authoritative Word
in a Relativistic Age (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1988), 202.
2 John Wycliffe, The Truth of Holy Scripture, 1377; quoted in Roy B. Zuck, Basic Bible Interpretation
(Wheaton: Victor, 1991), 44.
3 The Westminster Confession of Faith, 1647; quoted in Zuck, 49.
4 Zuck, 45, 47.
5 Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method (London: Seed and Ward, 1975), 273; cited in Zuck, 55.
6 See John H. Sailhamer, The Pentateuch as Narrative: A Biblical-Theological Commentary (Grand Rapids,
Michigan: Zondervan, 1992), 10.
7 Sailhamer, 14.
8
9 I borrowed the word
10 For more on this see Sailhamer, 9-10, especially note 14.
11 Larkin, 192-193.
12 Luke 15:11-32.
13 Verse 21.
14 Zechariah 4:14.
15 1 Kings 11:41; 14:19,29; 15:7,23,31; 16:5,14,27; 22:39,45; 2 Kings 1:18; 8:23; 10:34; 10:34; 12:19;
13:8,12; 14:15,18,28; 15:6,11,15,21,26,31,36; 16:19; 20:20; 21:17,25; 23:28; and 24:5. 1 & 2 Chronicles
have statements that serve a similar purpose but are a little different in form. For example, 1 Chronicles
27:29 makes references to further information about David in
16 2 Kings 14:15.
17 References include Psalm 69:28; 139:16: Daniel 7:10; 12:1; Malachi 3:16; Philippians 4:3; Revelation
3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12,15; and 21:27.
18 Esther 2:23; 6:1; 8:13; 9:32; and 10:2.
19 Luke 1:1-3; John 20:30-31; Acts 19:19; and 2 Timothy 4:13.
20 This is not to deny, of course, the validity of consulting all the Gospels when doing a topical study of for
Systematic Theology. However, the point is that John had a purpose that we should also seek to understand
and to do this the reader must use what has been given him.
21 Other instances occur in John 5:2; 19:13; 20:16; Revelation 9:11; 16:16.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barker, Kenneth, ed. The NIV Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan
Bible Publishers, 1985.

Carson, D. A.

Larkin, William J. Culture and Biblical Hermeneutics: Interpreting and Applying the Authoritative Word in
a Relativistic Age. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1988.

Sailhamer, John H. The Pentateuch as Narrative: A Biblical-Theological Commentary. Grand Rapids,

Michigan: Zondervan, 1992.

Zuck, Roy B. Basic Bible Interpretation. Wheaton, Illinois: Victor Books, Scripture Press, 1991.

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