what is required in the cheek-turning admonition "is not a bodily action, but

an inward disposition."Augustine was far more attuned, in a post-

Constantinian world, to what he perceived as a need for occasional violence,

and thus had to deal with passages which seemed to call for pacifistic

responses.

To most appropriately interpret, we may need to understand a great deal

about the socio-cultural context in which various parts of the Bible were

written. We may need to hone our language skills so we can better discern a

passage's true meaning. We may need to acknowledge some biases -- the fact

that the Bible was written in cultures where women were uneducated and had

quite subordinate roles -- and what impact such biases had on the text. We may

need to think creatively about trajectories in the text -- the logical directions

the words of Scripture would take us. We may need to ask about individualistic

interpretations over against those of the larger community. We believe deeply

that Scripture is meant to be read in community. We may need to ask what the

role of the Bible scholar, the student of Scripture, is in this discerning

community.

All of these methods of biblical interpretation may fall under the

umbrella of developing "critical thinking" skills, which is much of what

we're about in a liberal arts college. My perception has always been that as

students approach the sciences and literature critically, and as they learn and

develop in all of these other disciplines, they must also put their faith and

their biblical understandings to the test. If they don't, if they leave their faith

virginal, untouched, on a shelf, it may well be irrelevant to them by the time

they leave college, since it will be the only thing about their worldviews

which hasn't faced the renewing and purifying of refining fires.