“Rich Christians” and the Independent Review

I was sitting in my office yesterday struggling to stay awake while I prepared a class on international balance of payments. I glanced over at my bookcase and saw this “Sider” sandwich. Ron Sider’s 1977 classic title: Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger (this particular copy is the 1984 second edition) was wedged in between two copies of the Independent Review. I thought “what an apt illustration for one error we frequently encounter when interpreting the Bible.” The error occurs when we read and interpret the passage of Scripture in the context of our day, rather than first understanding it in the context in which it was written. This is particularly true of passages which we believe give us some insight into our socioeconomic condition and political economy. It is very easy to “see” interpretations of the Bible that were not in the original author’s intentions because we think we see a connection to some contemporary issue.

Let me set the context of Rich Christians and the Independent Review for those of you who may not be familiar with these publications. The Independent Review is a scholarly journal published by the Independent Institute.

The mission of the Independent Institute is to boldly advance peaceful, prosperous, and free societies grounded in a commitment to human worth and dignity.

I would consider the independent institute a libertarian think tank. While it is too simple to consider the Independent Institute as conservative, on economic issues their analysis helps form the foundation for the political right in the United States. Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger is foundational politically and economically for the current evangelical left. So the two publications represent very different perspectives on the political and economic landscape in the United States. In addition, the Independent Institute is secular while Sider’s book is a definitive attempt by a historian to express political economy from a biblical perspective.

I did not “pose” the picture. At some point in time I have set down a copy of the Independent Review sometime later placed Rich Christians on top and then finally completed the sandwich with another copy of the Independent Review. I do not intend to evaluate the content of Rich Christians. That is not the point of this particular post.

The intent of the post is to remind us how very careful we need to be with biblical interpretation. I have been schooled in the secular economic environment for years. While at the University of Tennessee I was taught a very particular way to understand economics (not necessarily always consistent with the Independent Institute’s perspective – but generally secular in orientation). I always need to be aware of my basic understanding of economics when I engage in biblical interpretation. If I am not aware of this I can very easily “see” conclusions in the Scripture that are not really there. All of us can’t commit this error at some point in time and at the very least we need to be cognizant that this is possible.

Good biblical interpretation is work. We first need to understand the socioeconomic environment in which the Scriptures were written. We must  make certain we understand what the author was saying to his audience. Once we understand what the Bible was saying to the intended audience, then we can pull forward interpretations into today. When I saw Sider’s book sandwiched between the copies of the Independent Review I was reminded of how careful I need to be when interpreting scripture, particularly about political economy, and making statements on what the Bible says.