Kruse Kronicle

Context in Communication

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by

mwkruse
in ,

Recently I've been doing a lot of reading that has touched on biblical interpretation and hermeneutics issues. This has come to the fore in the debate about justification and N. T. Wright's new book on the topic. Some of Wright's critics want him to stop using Second Temple Judaism as the context for reading books like Romans and just read what's written there. The absurdity, of course, is that these folks are using an unexamined context (heavily influenced by the perceptions of Luther and Calvin) to get the meaning of the text. There isn't a non-contextual way to read Scripture.

Lately, I've seen the following ad on TV. It's a great illustration of how the exact same words said the exact same way by the exact same speaker can mean two entirely different things depending on the context the hearer assumes about the communication.

Comments

8 responses to “Context in Communication”

  1. Travis Greene Avatar
    Travis Greene

    Ha!
    Studying film you learn all about context and juxtaposition. Think of two sequences: in one, a man walks up to a window, then it cuts to a shot of a baby sleeping, then cuts back to the man, who is smiling. The second, same shot of the man walking up to a window, but this time it cuts to a woman beginning to undress, then back to the same shot of the man smiling.
    The smile is goes from heart-warming to creepy, even though it’s the exact same shot. Context is everything.

    Reply
  2. Michael W. Kruse Avatar
    Michael W. Kruse

    Great example.
    Also, turn on the tube and watch almost any sitcom. Many times the funniest episodes are where characters are filtering events through a false context … their false context leads them to incorrectly interpret events and the humor is in their mistaken response based their bad hermeneutic.

    Reply
  3. Don Johnson Avatar
    Don Johnson

    Context is EVERYTHING in understanding, else it is just sound in the air or marks on a sheet of something. EVERYONE brings a context in trying to understand something, this is what is so strange when hearing that one is using the WRONG context, since it seems just obvious before knowing more.

    Reply
  4. Paula Avatar
    Paula

    I agree, context is everything. But I also think that there are some people who go too far in dismissing the Greek, to the point where it is seen as almost useless. There is a lot of context even in the Greek language, and Greek culture was certainly a strong influence in the first century.
    I am hoping that both extremes can make the two contexts fit together instead of setting them up as mutually exclusive, as some seem to do. That would go a long way toward better understanding of the writings.

    Reply
  5. Michael W. Kruse Avatar
    Michael W. Kruse

    Language is always a piece of the puzzle but the women in this ad used exactly the same English and grammar in both instances. It was the context supplied to the language by the hearer that made all the difference. She assumed a common context with the hearer.
    Sometimes (not always) context is the stumbling block. Thus, when Paul writes in 1 Cor. that women should not speak in worship, it is utterly impossible to know what is meant without his context. He assumes his readers share the context. The language alone won’t answer the question any more than the language alone would help us sort out what the woman in the ad meant.

    Reply
  6. a.b.e. Avatar
    a.b.e.

    Michael,
    Thanks for depressing me with the truth. I appreciate it. I’m serious. It’s important to reflect upon when parts of the Bible are not being interpreted in light of their context.

    Reply
  7. Michael W. Kruse Avatar
    Michael W. Kruse

    “Thanks for depressing me with the truth. …”
    Depression is an all to frequent outcome from reading this blog. 🙂
    Maybe the lesson here is that if we would all take a swig of Minute Maid we could all correctly see biblical contexts. 🙂

    Reply
  8. ZZMike Avatar
    ZZMike

    “… Many times the funniest episodes are where characters are filtering events through a false context … ” That is the basis for almost all humor.
    PS: About Paul’s teaching about women not speaking in Church: There’s an excellent study by Kenneth Bailey about that. As he’s a Middle-East scholar, and lived there most of his life, I can accept his explanation. Here’s a 17pp pdf (so it may be slow loading for some):
    Women in the New Testament
    The part about speaking in church is on p8. And I just noticed, on p2, a reference to Acts 18:24+, where Priscilla and Aquila (note the order) tell Apollos “more accurately” the Way of God. And Apollos was no neophyte.

    Reply

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