In a casual conversation this week, I found myself falling over my words. My brain knew what it wanted to convey, and the words that came out simply did not align. It took our conversation to a very silly space, as I told the dog not to lick her food (meaning foot) and I told my friend I just needed to Gran a bite (grab a bite).
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In general, we have become familiar with our technology changing some words in our texts. We overlook typos that pop up in our media. We allow grace when our friends mis-speak.
While that grace can be withheld in some arenas (where topics are already contentious – think courtrooms or parliamentary debate), we have the opportunity to get clarification in other cases. Asking someone to repeat their comment, or requesting that they say more about that, opens the door to better understanding.
It’s a lens we could also apply to our understanding of scripture and theology. We can recognise that things have been written over millennia: contexts have changed, scribes may have made a genuine error (we know of thousands of biblical typos over the years), some human editing may have taken place, translations aren’t always accurate, colloquialisms and idioms can affect the message, puns and wordplay changes meaning over time. Even the evolution of language can add to the complexity of comprehension. The Gospels themselves offer varying nuances in the accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus.
When we read something that gives us pause, it can be healthy to lean into that pause. If we would ask a person to expand on a statement, we should be comfortable asking the same of scripture.
We may not get a complete answer; we may not get an answer we like. But the process will be worth it, and invite us into deeper relationship with the teachings of our faith.
We don’t have devices to repel misquotes like mosquitos – so we rely on our reason and intellect to help us through the journey.
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