The Black, the Grey, and the Colorful

the past few conversations i've had with people when it comes to Christianity have seemed to center around the concept of interpretation.

C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity about how interpretations should be digested. if you were to look at a diagram of a cell in a science textbook, it would be clear to you that it is not an actual cell, but it is only a description of a cell picturably. the diagram's existence is only meant to help the reader understand the function of a cell. since its very purpose is only to help, it is safe to throw out the picture if it does not make sense to you personally. there are other ways of understanding a cell; its written-out functions/cycles, mathematical elements, or its simple ability to sustain life may all in themselves be enough for a person to truly understand the concept and reality of a cell. no one interpretation is superior to another, and no one interpretation is the cell itself.

though Lewis used this analogy to allow readers to "throw out" his own writing, i believe this analogy and way of thinking can be applied to the numerous translations of the Bible as well. working in a Christian bookstore, i get plenty of people walking in and out of my life bashing this Bible version and worshipping another, generally between the KJV and the NIV. each version can be put on a scale between strictly word-for-word and strictly thought-for-thought, just as people can generally be put on a scale between strictly mathematical-thinkers and strictly artistic-thinkers. just as pretty much everything else goes in life, it all depends on the person when it comes to which works for whom.

and being such a black-and-white person myself, this vast amount of grey overtaking my logic has been quite a journey. i've never struggled with "right vs. wrong" when it comes to Bible translations, but plenty of other areas have been put to the test.

at this point, all i know is that i am the black and God is the white. the only light i have been given has been His own. the only holiness given to the Bible has been His breath. the only vindication of my words has been His truth. the only life that i have lived has been His life.

the color white reflects every other color in existence, while black absorbs them. maybe interpretations and theories are meant to be the different colors people can reflect for/to one another, all coming together to become the white of God. or this in itself could be an interpretation a person can/should throw out of their mind.