As we say here in the States, Mackan: "My bad."
My amazing professor Bob Lyon always said, and the MacMan (who even put it on a T shirt...cool!) still doth say:
"Context is everything."
The paraphrased quote at hand(by another seminary professor of mine):
Most of us are programmed by books we never read.
George Hunter, Radical Outreach: The Recovery of Apostolic Ministry and Evangelism ,p. 105
The context:
He was specifically lamenting that so many pastors, without even knowing or reading the book that such theology was based on (Richard Baxter's 1656 classic, "The Reformed Pastor"), have adopted/been taught such theology. Namely, and stated extremely, the view is that pastors do all the work, and the laity are just there to listen to you. Hunter recommends that we take a page from another Book that we have hopefully read (The Bible, which makes the priesthood of all believers quite foundational) ; as well as John Wesley's books, which journal well what happens when the so-called "laity" are empowered.
He also applies the "Most of us are programmed by books we never read"principle to other disciplines. A most obvious example is physics: We are still informed by a Newtonian worldview, when Einstein/relativity/quantum theory/string theory has rocked that old mindset. To cross disciplines, this revolution/shift of wineskins in physics holds profound implications for theology , as Len sweet, Len Hjalmarson and Margaret Wheatley have creatively explored.
Every field of study has its seminal textbooks, some hundreds of years old; and most which have a lot to offer and are indeed classic (as Baxter..he got a lot beautifully right). But most have never literally read them; Just been"by default hugely influenced by them (trough their graduate school' s secondary source texts)
"Protestant Christianity's equivalent of Darwin's 'Origin of Species'-for understanding who we are--and Newton's 'Principia'--for understanding our place in the scheme of things,and how the (church) world works--is Baxter" (p.105)
Another way of saying this then, is "The mind can only take pictures using the film with which its been loaded." (quote by Richard Rohr, hat tip to Len).
Basic to a postmodern epistemology is a (healthy) questioning of our lenses and our "texts" (as Derrida used the term, a "text" could be anything, not just a literal book).
It's also a helpful question in overcoming ethnocentrism.
Lord, help us to know how we have been programmed. We may need deprogramming, deconstruction, or even a kick in the butt. Amen.
and how about the "common culture" of TV shows and movies? Over time, whether we've watched them or not, they become part of the grand common experience of all Americans that are not troglodites.
ReplyDeleteI didn't watch Seinfeld in the 90's. I'm not even sure if I can be considered a human.
exactly
ReplyDeleteSeinfield who?
as much as people see me as in touch with pop culture..
and i haven't even seen "the Office" yet in the 00s..
and i know i'm not human yet(:
Scott el al:
ReplyDeletewhat other TV shows that this generation may have never seen still program us..
name some..
In my day,"All in the Family" changed everything...later on the more cheap sarcastic sitcoms messed up our culture, huh?
--
Postman:
"Not long ago, I saw Billy Graham join with Shecky Green, Red Buttons, Dionne Warwick, Milton Berle and other theologians in a tribute to George Burns, who was celebrating himself for surviving eighty years in show business. The Reverend Graham exchanged one-liners with Burns about making preparations for Eternity. Although the Bible makes no mention of it, the Reverend Graham assured the audience that God loves those who make people laugh. It was an honest mistake. He merely mistook NBC for God. (Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman, 1985)
see Postman:
www.serendipity.li/jsmill/post_1.html