Uncovering the Biblical Text: Unlocking Deeper Meaning and Insight Through a Non-Western Perspective

Bo Powell: This read was so timely for me. At a time where I am questioning the beliefs, doctrines, and traditions of how I was raised in the church, this helped to put language and understanding to why. To be transparent, based on how I had been churched and cultured, my faith had begun to wane because I hadn’t seen the outcomes in my life that God had promised “me”.

However, this book humbled me and yet gave me hope in that although I may or may not be one of God’s chosen individuals like Jeremiah or Paul, that didn’t mean God’s hand was not at work in my life. I realized how challenging the Western worldview has been to overcome despite my desire to read and interpret the Word of a God accurately. I’ve been on this journey to find truth for years T and this book is playing a significant role in help me reach those destinations.

You’ll be blessed in reading it and, more so, in applying it.

United States on Aug 21, 2023

E. CROYLE: Appears to be written for American readers. Interesting facts but not what I thought it would be.

United Kingdom on Feb 07, 2023

stefanus: it was fine, great for the layman or someone with little or no knowledge of scriptural back ground, i would recommend it anyone starting out. But there is nothing new in there that i snot readily available elsewhere. I would however highly recommend the books by Kenneth Bailey which are excellent even for the more mature Scripture reader

United Kingdom on Nov 18, 2020

Verner Drost: This is the best book on the subject of hermeneutics that I’ve ever come across. Every serious Bible student should read this! And yet, it isn’t dry theory but excitingly interesting. It has opened up a whole new and fresh understanding of scripture. I will be encouraging anyone wanting to understand scripture to devour this book.

Canada on Jul 16, 2020

Meetwithgordo: The book brought to my attention once again how Christians all over the world see things differently, are wearing different ‘coloured’ glasses. No only was the content challenging, but the conclusion insightful, especially to those who reside in the west. I would recommend this book to all overseas Christian workers no matter what country they are from.

Canada on Jul 07, 2020

Mr R J Madeley: This is a superb book for anyone who is seriously interested in studying the bible to discover what it really teaches. It looks at all the context elements that can lead us to misread biblical passages. It addresses the elements that "go without being said", either for the historical writers but not us (which mean we are missing vital pieces of the jigsaw to help our understanding) or for us (which means we layer our own world view on top, distorting the meaning). In the course we also see how our western world view and assumptions are not the same as those held by the many non-western christians - leading to differences in our understanding of scripture. Particularly informative are the sections on Honour / Shame cultures, which characterised biblical times but which are mostly misunderstood by modern western readers. The explanation of the story of David and Bathsheba in these terms is like scales falling from your eyes.

United Kingdom on Oct 04, 2019

James Veihdeffer: While very earnest and well-meaning, this book would be more aptly titled: "Misreading Indonesian Culture with Western Eyes." This is because the book continually references Indonesian culture with Western culture in order to show how things — words, events, customs — can mean very different things in different parts of the world. This is certainly an admirable goal and the book makes a very strong case for multicultural understanding. But it’s basically Anthropology 101. This would be great if we were studying anthropology, but the book promises, and mainly fails to deliver, much in the way of understanding biblical scriptures in any meaningful way. (There is at least one notable exception…below). Lack of a subject index is particularly vexing, esp. considering there is an author index, a scripture index and footnotes.

The authors, both well-credentialed evangelistic theologians, have each spent significant time in various locales ranging from Arkansas (Brandon) to Indonesia (Randy) and use their experiences in far-flung stations to make good points about how an expression in one place is interpreted quite differently in others. “The most powerful cultural values...

United States on Jul 12, 2018

A. Sawyer: Before embarking in a graduate level online hermeneutics course at major East Coast evangelical university, the professionally narrated version of Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible played through headphones in my ears. This introductory book illustrates nicely the concepts of hermeneutics; exposing the influence of culture, religion, race, ethnicity, and dualistic beliefs as they pertain to Biblical interpretation and cultural understanding.
Through the lenses of the two authors, who have each had significant cross-cultural experiences, they share their experiences of grappling to communicate and understand Scripture cross-culturally. Through their combined experiences, the authors share their blunders and frustrations in trying to convey Biblical truths across cultures. They revealed their own personal biases and the impact that these biases had on their own biblical interpretations. It is through these examples that a student beginning to study hermeneutics can learn not only the principles of biblical interpretation, but also attain awareness of their own cultural biases.
In the first chapter, the premise of...

United States on Nov 16, 2017