We all interpret, that’s why I finally woke up from the “we just let the Bible speak for itself” movement I once was part of.

But go for it and tell us what happens!

Story time: First year of university Philosophy Class. First class. Prof passes out this paper that’s a ‘test’. He asks us a series of about 50 questions that we get throgh in about half an hour. Now we ‘grade them ourselves’. He begins the grading by telling us how incredible it is that we could answer 50 questions in half an hour that philosophers have struggled with, debated and wrestled with for centuries. Basically he say, “you guys just don’t get it.”

One of the older guys in class finally speaks up and says, “Maybe we’ve been wrestling with these same questions before we ever came to Philo 101. Maybe we’ve come to some conclusions based on our own experiences and study.”

The Prof was having none of it. If you hadn’t ’studied’ philosophy and read all the right books, gone to the right conferences, you couldn’t possibly have an insight or conclusion worth holding, let alone sharing.

It was a revealing moment for me about the arrogance and prejudice. We were just close-minded nits to him because we didn’t accept his conclusions or because we’d reached our owns without his class.

Part of learning is evaluation. It’s not closed minded to recognize a red herring or other bad reasoning. Pointing out some shakey thinking isn’t ‘defending your world view’. David’s list is just a list, he didn’t add any ‘defense’ to it. Those statements are just what they’re labeled. He doesn’t say they’re wrong or he disagrees, he just observes. Why would anyone seeking truth have a problem with that?