September 13, 2006

Hermeneutics

To the great relief of everyone, the ongoing mystery of Youtube's Lonelygirl15 has been resolved, and even the New York Times reported today that she was a fake and a scam.

It reminds me of the Scripture professor who taught us about form criticism. At the end he said, "Form criticism isn't just for the Bible; do form criticism on anyone who seems to need to tell you anything!"

Or the religious studies professor who said that just about anything could be interpreted with just two simple hermeneutical rules:

1. Everyone's Lying.
2. Follow the Money.

Of course it's coarse for spiritual people to talk this way, but we do well to be suspicious, especially of ourselves and our own motives. As spiritual as we like to think we are, our little angers and jealousies reveal us for who we really are. And we have two choices of what to do with this realization. We can become bitter and angry with God, or admit our need and creatureliness and learn to give ourselves up to him.

2 comments:

Eleanor Burne-Jones said...

:0)

Jeff said...

I remember speaking to my grandfather when I was a kid, and late in his life, he became very cynical. It became harder and harder to talk to him about anything, whether it was sports, or politics, or work, because he'd always say, "Ah, the whole thing is a bag job. It's all fixed... They're all on the take..."

As I get older, and have been burned a few times, I can now see the earlier senses of innocence and trust fade away and can feel some of that cynicism creeping in. How do we hold onto a trusting and open heart through the scar tissue?