Pre-understanding and pre-suppositions

Aldwin Naruse (Miyagi)

December 2013

“Preunderstanding refers to all of our preconceived notions and understandings that we bring to the text, which have been formulated, both consciously and subconsciously,  before we even study the text in detail” (Duvall 89).  In terms of preunderstanding, it is my cultural upbringing and values, relatedly, the environment.  I come from an Asian background which is different from the western background.  For example, in the Asian culture, the man cannot exhibit emotions.  He must stuff it, show insensitivity, and keep it objective.  That was one of the strongest influences in my culture.   Because of my cultural environment, my understanding of Jesus Christ in that context was different from the western world.  In our culture, we viewed Jesus Christ as a white man and as the God of the white people exclusive.

In other terms of preunderstanding, they were formed by some bad influences in my younger adolescent years, namely my parents, and my school.  In addition, as a youngster, I watched Bible movies about Jesus, King David, Moses, and the Prince of Egypt and my understanding of the Bible was based on those exposures.  Many of them were positive and I enjoyed those movies.  I identified with those stories and the characters as heros.  I looked up to them.  I was inspired, encouraged, fascinated and intrigued.  when I attended Easter, Christmas and candle light services, it impacted me by creating a sense of reverency for God.

My preunderstanding of God was not so bias and strong that it created puffed up, close-mindedness or a know-it-all attitude.  They were not that strong.  I maintained an open understanding of new concepts, facts and information.  From my personal experience, I know of attorneys who would use the Bible to prepare for their cases.  They use it as a research book to back up and justify their case arguments and to fit their case requirement.

So in terms of preunderstanding, these are some of the aspects that I bring to the table.  My prayer is to continue to pray for the mind of Christ to supersede my natural mind so that any preunderstanding that was created be given over to Jesus Christ and to transcend even more to a deeper personal relationship with Him through the Holy Spirit and the word of God.

In terms of presuppositions, as previously mentioned, my preunderstanding is always subject to constant processing, evaluation, analysis and study.   I must continue my own personal discipline where I get up daily at an appointed time and spend 2 to 3 hours in prayer, meditation, study and fasting.  I must continue to interact with the Lord and process the latent meaning of the Word.  It is a constant interaction.  It is an indication of growth.  I cannot be content with staying in grace and mercy.  I must move from glory to glory with the objective to be one with Christ Jesus according to John 17:21-22:

“that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one” (Hayford, John 17:21-22).

However, on the other hand, presupposition is addressing a particular belief and this particular belief system is a cumulative over a function of time in my belief in Jesus Christ.  So because of this basis that has been formulated over 20 years, I already have accepted the Bible as the divine inspired word of God.

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (Hayford, 1 Tim. 3:16).

According to the book Grasping God’s Word, “...our goal is to grasp the meaning of the text God has intended.  We do not create meaning out of a text; rather, we seek to find the meaning that is already there” (Duvall, 21).  

With this said, by faith, I have accepted the Word of God as truth.  I have already confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and according to John 3:16, I believe in Him.  Furthermore, I believe that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin birth and all those Christmas stories and plays that I attended as a child were some of the basis of my belief that Jesus is Lord and Savior.  My belief basis is derived from my faith and my faith has been developed from elementary teachings to a more deeper aspect of my faith in Jesus Christ.  AS I continue to engage daily in my quiet time, I practice and apply my belief system of Jesus Christ.

What I bring to the study of scripture is a twenty year belief system of presupposition that Jesus Christ is God.  He is my personal Savior, and Lord.  He is my life and my everything.  Any slanted, bias, opinionated understanding within me must be released to His divine Lordship.  The Holy Spirit will give me that.  Therefore, I must continue to submit to the Holy Spirit as my Teacher and Counselor.

By the way, this twenty year period includes my journey to find God.  It includes alot of the wilderness and desert time as well as time alone with God just reading the Bible.  It has been quite a spiritual journey.