What's the Author Doing?

Once upon a time, a good friend and thinking buddy introduced me to a new concept related to literary interpretation. He’d been exposed to it by someone else, who had probably received it from someone else…. That’s the way good ideas migrate. This idea, as expressed by the title question, has opened my eyes to a richer understanding of the author’s intent, and triggered thoughts and conversations that would’ve never taken place without it.

With Biblical texts, why is an author’s intent important? For many years, it wasn’t for me. I considered fundamental Biblical authorship to be Divine, and included in my inspiration paradigm, God was an irresistible force dictating content to selected scribes. I hadn’t considered any other options, or the possibility that Divine inspiration and human authorship could be compatible. In that mindset, why would I be aware of, or interested in, Matthew’s intent? Thanks to my friend, my new and mostly unexplored world of interpretation came into existence.

After I had become acquainted with authorial intent, it occurred to me there are four gospel accounts, which are similar but not identical. Why? If the purpose of the gospels is to create a historical narrative of Jesus, why wouldn’t one Divinely dictated version be sufficient? God chose a different approach. As a result, we have three similar versions of the gospel, called “synoptics”, which aren’t identically aligned. Each gospel has a unique purpose, recording different events, recording events differently, and containing distinguishable literary styles and differing perspectives. In other words, there is distinct and identifiable personality and literary art in each gospel. Similarly, the NT letters, like the gospels, are intended for different audiences and serve different purposes. Getting inside the mind, and as close to the intent, of the authors, should be fundamental in serious interpretation. Certainly, it should carry more weight than I was giving it.

What about the Old Testament, or Hebrew Bible? Do those books reflect human authorship, literary styles, and different purposes? They do, and sadly, Gentile Christians minimized the Hebrew text in the early years of Christianity. This arrogance robbed many generations of insight into the Hebrew text. Recently (and that’s relative), this drought has started to ease.

We know that the earliest manuscripts were not written in English, nor were the ancient stories told in English. Access to, and acceptance of, Hebrew and Greek scholarship, scarce for a time, has begun to uncover insights into the Bible that English cannot arouse. So, to answer the question of the importance of author’s intent, I conclude that the enlightened expansion into the depth of the text is a tremendous benefit to all – even non-scholars like me, who, in many ways, were not reading the fullness of the Bible, as intended.

Please hear me say …. We don’t have to become Hebrew and Greek scholars to read our Bibles. However, accessing scholars who have put in the work, can benefit the rest of us. For me, though previously limited by my paradigm, which throttled down my curiosity, a new door was opened to Robinson, Levine, Zevitt, Brueggemann, Mackie, and others. There is easy access to scholarship today, if we are curious.

I can read Genesis in English and comprehend a reasonable understanding. However, if I access Hebrew scholars, I begin to discover what the author is doing. For instance, I can see, more clearly, the use of repetition (in words, phrases, themes, and styles) for focus and emphasis, which is more difficult in English. Authors say as much with spaces as with words, shaping their audience’s understanding – whether a literally illiterate audience, or a spiritually illiterate audience. The use of words and styles in patterns of sound and rhythm, communicates a message that can be easily remembered and shared.

Which brings us to the original audiences of these texts. They knew the languages and contexts in which the texts were written. There was no need for translation, and the loss that can occur. Understanding the message as they understood it brings insight that isn’t always visible, especially if we inhabit a later generation. If we can know how the target audience understood the writing, and we can minimize importing current culture, with its Western philosophical and theological bias, into the writing, the closer we’ll get to the ancient message the author intended.

For example, if we read a letter from our great grandfather to our great grandmother, the context illuminates the words on the page. Had they suffered a loss? Were they separated by a necessary hardship? Did they live with the fear of danger? Time and life contexts fill the spaces around the words, so the more we know about our ancestors, and their contexts, the more we’ll receive from reading their words.

Remember, the way we see the Bible will shape how we read it. How we see the author and the audience is paramount in how we see the Bible. Our rigidity, whether self-imposed or peer driven, about author’s intent and audience understanding, can misshape how we see the Bible. As with any journey of discovery, curiosity will launch and fuel the journey. At times, discomfort will accompany us, and occasionally, our paradigms will get stretched. I’m not shocked at how few are willing to explore new ideas. I think of Lewis’ mud pie makers who are too easily satisfied.

While it may seem noble, and humble, to be content with our current level of knowledge, is that always true? Perhaps there’s nothing more arrogant, than thinking our current level of knowledge, handed down, handed over, or personally researched, is sufficient; that anything more is unnecessary, and anything contrary is wrong. There are few things of more value than an honest introspection at how we view our current inventory of knowledge, and our desire, or lack thereof, to accumulate more. Complacency and stunted curiosity are sedatives to a vibrant journey of faith.

Ask. Seek. Knock.

The journey will never end.

“Enough” doesn’t exist.

Answers await the curious.