The Realm of Scripture Is Not Primarily About Historical Information

The realm of Scripture, is not primarily about historical information. It is not primarily about factual information, nor about psychological information. In other words, biblical stories cannot simply be treated as history in the same way we view modern historical records.

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There may be historical elements within them, but those elements have already been mythologized. It is similar to trying to trace the real Prince Diponegoro after his story has become mixed with legends and myths. It becomes difficult to distinguish what is historically factual from what has been added through mythological interpretation.

Likewise, Scripture is not primarily cosmological information. It is not intended to tell us exactly how the universe was physically created. For example, taking the story of Adam and Eve as a literal scientific account becomes highly problematic. Modern science suggests that life emerged through far more complex processes.

Therefore, these stories are not meant to function as literal descriptions. Rather, they are calls for existential transformation—a change in one's orientation, values, worldview, and way of life. People are expected to grasp the deeper meaning of existence and their relation to God.

How we understand the contents of Scripture is therefore extremely important.

The thinkers being discussed here, especially Rudolf Bultmann and others influenced by Heidegger, developed their ideas first in the context of theology and later in hermeneutics.

For Bultmann, Scripture is fundamentally an event. The important question is not what happened historically, but how the Word of God becomes an event in someone's life. The significance lies in how the message transforms a person—bringing about insight, conversion, or a radical change in existence.

The discussion then moves to Hans-Georg Gadamer.

For Gadamer, the problem of interpretation is deeply connected to a more fundamental philosophical question: What does it mean to understand?

Traditionally, understanding has often been equated with analysis. In science, understanding an object usually means analyzing it through a specific method. However, Gadamer argues that this approach often leads only to justification rather than genuine truth.

Reality becomes trapped within our conceptual frameworks. We force reality into pre-existing categories rather than allowing it to reveal itself.

Therefore, Gadamer opposes the freezing or objectification of reality through rigid methods. Instead, we should allow reality—or the text itself—to present itself as much as possible without being forced into predetermined analytical models.

The task is not merely for us to interrogate the text. Rather, the text should be allowed to interrogate us.

Through repeated reading, our own assumptions, prejudices, and perspectives are challenged. Understanding becomes a process in which the text questions us as much as we question it.

This is why Gadamer describes understanding as a kind of play.

In play, outcomes are never entirely predictable. When playing soccer, for example, we do not simply control the ball; in a sense, the ball also controls us. We become participants in a dynamic process.

Similarly, in interpretation, neither the subject nor the object is completely dominant. Meaning emerges through their interaction.

The goal is not merely to obtain information. The goal is to arrive at a new awareness of life and reality.

Gadamer emphasizes that the most serious moments of life often resemble play. During intense play, people become fully absorbed. They lose self-consciousness and become united with what they are doing.

The same thing happens in deep interpretation. The more intensely we engage with a text, the more the text is able to reveal itself.

Gadamer extends this concept beyond texts. Art appreciation is one of the clearest examples. When we watch a film or encounter a great work of art, we become immersed in it. For a time, we forget ourselves.

Love works similarly. The more open we are to another person, the more our ordinary self-centered awareness diminishes.

Heidegger famously said that language is the house of Being. Gadamer develops this idea further. Language becomes the arena in which understanding occurs. We encounter reality through language.

The discussion then shifts to Paul Ricoeur.

Ricoeur views language as mediation. Language mediates between self and others, between self and the world, and even between self and self through reflection.

Language has both a structured system and an open-ended use. The vocabulary of a language is limited, yet the possible meanings generated through language are virtually unlimited.

Poetry is a clear example. A poet uses a finite set of words to create entirely new possibilities of meaning.

For Ricoeur, a text is frozen discourse—speech that has been fixed in writing.

Once discourse becomes a text, it acquires a degree of autonomy.

The meaning of a text always exceeds what its author originally intended. Language cannot be completely controlled by the author. Therefore, the best interpretation is not necessarily the author's own interpretation.

Texts also become autonomous from their original historical context. Historical context remains important, but it is not the sole determinant of meaning.

If texts only applied to their original circumstances, then ancient texts—including sacred texts—would no longer be relevant today. Yet we continue to read them because they speak beyond their original situations.

Texts also become autonomous from their original audience. A love letter written to one person may later move thousands of readers.

People often find themselves deeply affected by stories that were never written for them. Through these stories, they discover aspects of themselves, learn from the experiences of others, or encounter possibilities they had never imagined.

Interpretation can never be separated from the concerns and interests of the reader. We always bring our own questions and perspectives into the act of reading.

Even our reconstruction of the "original context" is itself based on present texts and present interpretations.

Thus, while history remains important, it is not the final authority in interpretation.

A text continues to generate new meanings because it has become an independent reality.

This is why people return again and again to old texts, especially sacred texts. Not because they are merely ancient documents, but because they continue to speak to new situations and new generations.

In the end, we read texts because we find value in them. Even sacred texts become meaningful only when they are actually read and engaged with. Many people possess sacred books, but never open them.