Star Trek and the Perspicuity of Scripture
Do you have to be a
great scholar to understand the Bible?
We were serious Star
Trekkers. We’d adjust the aerial antenna to catch whatever weak signal we could
from Cincinnati, 90 miles away. Our black and white TV would give us just the
faintest picture, in a blizzard of static and sound. Still, 20 years later, we
were watching the same reruns.
In 1989, we moved to
the North Cascades for grad school, taking only my books and a couple of cats.
We heard rumors that a new Star Trek series had come to television. Having no
tv ourselves, we soon discovered that if we scrolled the FM dial to the extreme
left, we could catch audio of the new show Star Trek: The Next Generation. So,
my wife and I would drive down to Lake Paddon where we had our best radio
reception, and parked the car and listened to the show.
About three months
later, my parents drove across the US to visit us. They brought our old 13”
black and white tv. We extended the telescoping antenna and fitted it with the
obligatory aluminum foil, and if we tapped the tuner just right, we could add a
snowy image to the audio of the show. It was like Plato’s cave—we could see
shadowy images of people acting while they spoke.
When we returned to
visit relatives, we saw Star Trek: TNG for the first time on cable tv. We were
surprised to see that Data the android had white skin. We were surprised to
discover that Klingons looked much different in TNG than in the original series.
And we were surprised at how the ship looked so real in comparison with the
original.
As good as the
picture was on cable, it was not until we saw the show in high definition that
we discovered that Ferengi have a faint tattoo on their forehead.
Now, back to the
question: do you have to be a great scholar to understand the Bible? Well, if
you are capable of reading the Bible in your own language, you have the
advantage over those who cannot read or who do not have the Bible translated in
their own language. Still, having one’s own Bible was hardly possible prior to
the 19th century; for most of the Church’s history, access to the
Bible had to be mediated by someone who read the Bible aloud to an audience.
So, most 21st century English speaking Christians have the advantage
over most Christians of prior centuries. These realities, however, do not prove
the notion that one must be a great scholar to understand the Bible any more
than one must watch Star Trek: TNG in high definition in order to appreciate
the show.
Even though for many
months we only had access to the audio, we still understood what was happening
in each episode. We still perceived the story line and the characters. Of
course, acquiring the show’s video enhanced our appreciation, and we picked up
on more and more of the nuances. Still, it was, all in all, the same show
whether we only heard it on radio, or watched it through snowy static, or got
the full effects in high definition. And thus it is with the Bible.
Let’s do the hard
work of fine tuning the details.
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