What’s the implication of a story wrongly retold?
You’ve probably heard the motivational story of Einstein, aimed often at inspiring ‘underachievers’. Despite the German’s earnest efforts, we’re told he did not do well in his Mathematics exams and that he struggled desperately with Physics. Turns out Einstein was mathematically astute and was better at arithmetic and calculus at age 12 than most undergraduates. Einstein was so smart that he believed school was constraining him, and so his parents obliged him by buying him advanced textbooks for his personal study. Not only did he pass Mathematics in flying colours, he was actually known to be teaching his colleagues after regular teaching sessions. If Einstein was poor at a subject, it was in languages and other non-science subjects!
How then have we come to know a different story? Well, the myth about Einstein was told wrongly at a certain point in history; there are many theories as to how this fable was propagated, one of which is Ripley’s Believe it or Not.
One of the dangers of incorrectly retelling stories is that what is eventually known is actually not the truth. Admittedly, a wrong version of a story, in many cases, often has elements of truth. It is even possible that the story is rightly told, but has been removed from its original context, thus making the story mean something entirely different from its original reference. The probability of re-establishing the truth quickly diminishes, as subsequent generations are not able to tell which version of the story is actually true. It is also possible that only a wrongly retold version is known and the original version has since evaporated into thin air.
Them then, us now
It is only a matter of time before a story lifted out of its context becomes a completely different story that means different things to different people. The same is true when we approach the Bible: readers must consider situational contexts while reading, and seek to rightly differentiate ‘principles’ (which are not time-bound) from ‘customs’ (which may be time-bound).
To navigate this problem of retelling biblical stories wrongly (either as a result of removing them from their contexts, or of making wrong distinctions between customs and principles), we must be in no hurry to apply scriptural passages.
In an earlier post, we highlighted, in order, three main tasks before the reader, the last of which is application. As Bible readers, we should ask such questions that probe into how the original audience would have received or understood parts of Scripture. Not until we faithfully answer these questions would we be able to say that we understand what the text means, because the right understanding leads to the right application.
It is in learning precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little, and there a little that we keep in step with the biggest story.
Thanks for reading!
Sike Osinuga