The Lenses We Use

The Lenses We Use
by, Charles W. Christian


I didn’t wear glasses until I was 37 years old (I will be 42 this year). Ten years before that, when I was almost 28 and just beginning doctoral studies, I had an eye exam and my vision was 20/15 (better than 20/20) in my right eye, and about 20/20 in my left eye. My doctor in Texas knew that I was a pastor, an avid reader, and beginning doctoral work. He also saw some things in my left eye that hinted toward the future. So, he said, in about ten years I will probably need glasses. I forgot about his diagnosis. Then, ten years later, when I was getting a routine physical exam and was asked by my doctor in Seattle to read the eye chart. I did this quickly with my right eye, but when I looked at it with my left, things were blurry. I could not read the line she asked me to read. Then, she asked me to read one line above. Still nothing! At first, she seemed to think I was kidding and laughed. I was not laughing. Almost all the lines she asked me to read were blurry. “Go wash your eyes out and come try again.” I complied, but with the same results. My Texas doctor proved prophetic, and for the first time I needed glasses. The lens for the left eye was different from the lens in the right eye, but together they allowed me to see more clearly than I had in a long time. This delighted my wife who had recently expressed concern that I was not making out certain important signs along the roads and highways as we were riding together (like “STOP” or “YIELD” or even street signs while following driving directions to a particular location). My vision was clear, and we were all safer and better off for it!

Theological Glasses

When students begin the study of theology, we begin with a section called Prolegomena, a Greek term that means “first words” or “first things”. Famous theologians have sometimes called the Prolegomena the “throat clearing” portion of theology, referring to the clearing of the throat one may do when beginning to speak. It is the introductory section that helps us study the major doctrines in theology by reminding students of things like the nature and scope of theology itself, the tools we use, the structure of theology, and key concepts that help us “frame” our understand of the major doctrines about to be presented. Basically, the prolegomena helps us recognize the lenses through which we are about to view the key doctrines of the Church. It reminds us that we bring to the study of theology things in our own experience that both limit and enhance our encounter with Christian doctrine. It also reminds us that for Christians, the proper lenses to study, articulate, and share the key concepts of theology are provided by the person and work of Jesus Christ. In other words, for Christians, without Jesus our comprehension of the key doctrines of theology will be blurry at best. This is the difference that Jesus Christ, called the Word of God in the Bible, makes.

Using Our Lenses

So, for example, when I consider theological or ethical issues, the primary “filter” I am to use to comprehend these matters is to be Jesus Christ: how He lived, what He taught, etc. When I look at biblical events or teachings as a Christian, I am not allowed to lift these texts unfiltered from the page and make them into doctrinal truths without first considering them through the example of Jesus Christ. If a passage of Scripture speaks of war, I must first put on the lens of Jesus Christ and see what that passage would mean in light of what Jesus said and did about war. If I am addressing the ethics of capital punishment (death penalty), I may find Scripture texts that seem to affirm this practice. However, as a Christian I am also called to recognize that I follow Jesus Christ, who as a minority person (a first-century Jew) was put to death unjustly by the government (Rome). That means that regardless of my final position on issues like war, the death penalty, and a host of other issues, the experience and teachings of Jesus should at least raise key questions for me on my way to a final decision. In this way, the person and work of Jesus provide the lenses that can help bring clarity from the otherwise blurry vision I may have about key issues in our world. Only by seeing the Bible and the issues through the lenses of Christ can I come close to what would be called a “Christian” response to these and other kinds of issues.

The Inspiration of the Bible

John Wesley reminded ministers and others that we cannot simply say “the Bible is inspired” and leave it at that. Instead, Wesley always reminded that only “the Bible as properly interpreted” is inspired. In the case of Christians, that proper interpretation and the applications that come from the interpretations are blurry at best until seen through the clarifying lenses of love as expressed in the person and work of Jesus Christ, who is THE Word of God.