a historical fact

 

“People write to me that evolution is only a theory. Well, it is not a theory. Evolution is as solid a historical fact as you could conceive,”

- Sir David Attenborough

 

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anti-intellectual mysticism gone to seed

 

I’ve recently received an email by a well-intentioned friend about the value and virtue of “studying the bible”, even when one is on a desert island. He claimed that:

 

“Studying the bible…doesn’t take a bunch of expensive tools. You don’t need commentaries or bible study software.”

 

I wonder if he really meant “studying”. The bible is a collection of ancient pre-scientific and premodern hebrew and christian texts far removed from our own post-enlightenment culture, written in three different ancient languages in a variety of literary genres. It would be very arrogant to suggest that one is able to understand what the bible says by simplying resorting to devotional or mystical reading of the texts without a knowledge of the historical and cultural backgrounds of the texts.

 

Maybe this friend of mine is a literary savant who could read any literary masterpiece and get away with a goldmine without much background study.

 

My suspicions were confirmed. He isn’t refering to “studying” in the correct sense of the word:

 

“Here’s a method you can use to MEDITATE on God’s Word in a way that’ll please God…and getting every ounce of spiritual nutrition you can out of it.”

 

Meditation is an entirely different endeavour all together. It is neither study nor a serious engagement with the biblical texts. It is but a purely mystical way of “understanding” a text that flies in the face of common sense and human reason.

 

Colossians 3:16a was the example used in the email:

 

“Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you.”

 

This is a very poor example for native speakers of English. What if the poor christian does not understand the word “dwell”? He surely has to ask someone who knows or look the word up in an English dictionary. How on earth can one even read any piece of text without intellectually engaging it? It is rubbish. What if the text in question refers to an ancient place, an ancient city or an ancient deity? One cannot simply “meditate” on words one do not even know.

 

Anyhow, the email suggests the bible reader to:

 

“…start with a verse and read it over and over again. Each time you read the verse, you emphasise a different word. It’s the simplest way to start unlocking Scripture…Each time you emphasise a different word, you get a different perspective.”

 

The only perspective I get from repetitive reading is a splitting headache and nausea.

 

Besides, textual meditation is a spiritual practice that hinges on the premise that the text in question is somehow divine in nature or origin. In the case of my friend, the text is wholly God’s Word – every jot and tittle. I have a problem with that.

 

The bible is but a collection of ancient writings written by HUMAN BEINGS, no different from any other ancient work of literature. And meditating on a biblical verse is the same as contemplating on a mantra in contemplative practice. But of course, in contemplative spirituality, the mantra is just a medium for one to centre one’s focus.

 

How on earth am I going to survive when the people around me goes on and on talking like schizophrenic nutheads who have hotlines to God twenty four hours a day??!

 

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