Jevam;
Age affects the experience of reading
It seems that as I age, both my age and experience are changing who I am and how I experience sacred texts. (For example, I am a different person after having been a parent than I was before I was a parent. I see different things and both experience and see social interactions differently and in greater depth of meaning and nuances than when I was young. This is to be expected). Because of this, it seems that I derive different meanings and nuances of meanings from what I read.
Prior Life experience affects a current reading of scriptures
If I have experienced unfairness, then the unfairness in some of the biblical stories are more "real" and have different impact on me than things I have not experienced. If I've been profoundly sad in my life, then my depth of understanding of, and empathy with profound sadness in some textual stories affects me differently. My point is that my own life experience and personal depth of understanding affects the experience of reading sacred texts.
Specific attention and Purpose affects the experience of reading :
If I am looking for specific themes and answers to specific questions, I seem to find more applications and answers. Instead of "browsing", in this case, I am digging for something specific.
Language knowledge and skills affects our reading:
Those individuals who are multi-lingual or who have some education and skill in philology will certainly have a different experience and different understanding of sacred texts than those who do not have a greater depth of languages.
bias and tradition affect our reading profoundly :
I find that, for the most part, individuals tend to read into text according to their prior understanding and they tend to read in such a way that confirms prior Bias and prior tradition, rather than to simply allow the texts to speak for themselves. I think this is simply human nature and, to a certain extent, unavoidable, since none of us can be purely objective. However, when I read text that has a certain meaning to me, and then wonder what the text might mean to another individual who has no knowledge of Christianity, I have often thought the meaning would be different, even give the same text.
The Versions of texts we read affect the experience and understanding of sacred texts
The translations are often different so as to change nuances and meanings, sometimes a great deal. We are also dependent upon the translator and their bias and their language skills when we read the bibles they have created for us. For example, Douglas Moo, one of the NSV translators relates that their "team" of religionists/translators must FIRST decide what a scripture means TO THEM as individuals, before they can put THAT personal meaning into text of the bible they are creating for us to read. However, they often can't agree on the meaning of a particular text and so must then put down a text that is a compromise that most of the group can live with.
I've noticed that when I read various greek versions, I would have translated certain passages differently myself since I think other translators missed the point, or took out words that should have been there or added words that should not be in the translation. Gaps or faults in the manuscripts a bible has been created from, often cannot BE fixed and so the sentence cannot make proper sense. Occasionally this is obvious to the reader of the text, sometimes not. However, when we read such faulty areas the text often leaves us feeling "confused" as to why a text would read the way it does.
It helps me to consider synonyms to the words I am reading to consider how a passage might have been better translated and make more sense. Considering synonyms to the words the translators plugged in to specific sentences allows our minds and considerations to flow in different logical paths which may be more correct than if we simply use the word the translator used when creating their specific bible version.
The Holy Spirit affects our reading :
I am convinced that this specific point is more important than all of the others yet is affected by the others. For example, I believe that the spirit will enhance our understanding of text to the degree that we allow it to. If I am unable to give up a bias, then the spirit will work with me up to the point that my Bias "over rules" his suggestion. I think the Spirit will give us information and understanding and application of what we read that goes beyond prior experience; language skills; etc.
Obviously there are many nire variables that are to a greater or lessor extent important. My point is that we all read differently and we read differently at different times in our lives (thus there is value in reading the text repeatedly). The answer to the question regarding "the best way" to read is difficult. I hope you consider and are able to find a way to study that benefits you most.
Good luck on your spiritual journey, Jevam
Clear
eivieinn
