Reason # 14: Problem Stated: Emotional Bias
At times people are governed or ruled more by their emotions rather than by reason and logic in reading and interpreting the words in the Bible. In such cases a person may hate what he or she sees in the text and due to an internal chemical reaction in their brains they react negatively and reject the meaning of the Bible. For example, a man reading the text about treating a woman as a weaker vessel may become convicted that he has been too harsh with his woman and thus make attempts to redefine that text in his own life so as to avoid the accountability of that text. Also, a woman might read Bible texts about submission to her man and become so emotionally distraught that she will relegate those texts to only the biblical times and thus deny it for one’s personal life today. In these cases the emotional reaction of the brain short-circuits and leads a person to reject the truth of the Bible. This often occurs in regard to the doctrine of polygyny. In fact it relates more to the underlying premise of polygyny which is the doctrine of patriarchy or headship. Weak men who do not want to recognize the role God has assigned to them will often shirk their responsibility whereas women too will at times do the same when they do not want to accept their functional role under a man's headship. In both cases the man and woman react emotionally and redefine terms of the Bible in order to escape the emotional distress that the Word itself brings upon them when taking it at face value. It is a sin of lacking self-control.
Solution? All of us have emotions. Scientists and biologists have properly noted that men and women differ in a degree as to which one takes a more prominent role in each gender. Yet even so since both genders have emotions each gender is susceptible to reading the Bible and seeing something in it that causes a severe emotional reaction that revolts against the clear teaching of Scripture. The president Abraham Lincoln once noted that people only make decisions through one of two ways: (1) Because of the public appearance of it and (2) because it fits with them emotionally. Rather or not he was true on that is another discussion for another day. But certainly some theologians have recognized the power of emotions as well. One of the most brilliant and famous theologians in the history of the church was Dr. Jonathan Edwards. He noted of religious affections that the "Creator has bonded body and soul together" and because of that the "physical life can be affected by such emotions." He also noted, "Everywhere the Scriptures place much emphasis upon the affections: fear, hope, love, hatred, desire, joy, sorrow, gratitude, compassion, and zeal." And because there is such an emphasis on emotions in the Bible he stated that "it is thus clear that a great part of true religion consists in the affections" (Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards). Thus, when a person finds something in them that reacts strongly towards some subject in Scripture it is a sign that more time needs to be spent there in study, prayer, and meditation over that subject. To overcome emotional bias we must mature through our emotions and the only way to gain maturity is to deal with our emotions over a subject. We must talk to others, ask questions, examine what is underlying our emotions and see if we can discover any underlying pain, grief, or insecurity. We need to find others who can help us examine the matter reasonably so that we can get our emotions in line with the truth so the two are working in concert. That can be done and will be done when a person walks in godliness.
At times people are governed or ruled more by their emotions rather than by reason and logic in reading and interpreting the words in the Bible. In such cases a person may hate what he or she sees in the text and due to an internal chemical reaction in their brains they react negatively and reject the meaning of the Bible. For example, a man reading the text about treating a woman as a weaker vessel may become convicted that he has been too harsh with his woman and thus make attempts to redefine that text in his own life so as to avoid the accountability of that text. Also, a woman might read Bible texts about submission to her man and become so emotionally distraught that she will relegate those texts to only the biblical times and thus deny it for one’s personal life today. In these cases the emotional reaction of the brain short-circuits and leads a person to reject the truth of the Bible. This often occurs in regard to the doctrine of polygyny. In fact it relates more to the underlying premise of polygyny which is the doctrine of patriarchy or headship. Weak men who do not want to recognize the role God has assigned to them will often shirk their responsibility whereas women too will at times do the same when they do not want to accept their functional role under a man's headship. In both cases the man and woman react emotionally and redefine terms of the Bible in order to escape the emotional distress that the Word itself brings upon them when taking it at face value. It is a sin of lacking self-control.
Solution? All of us have emotions. Scientists and biologists have properly noted that men and women differ in a degree as to which one takes a more prominent role in each gender. Yet even so since both genders have emotions each gender is susceptible to reading the Bible and seeing something in it that causes a severe emotional reaction that revolts against the clear teaching of Scripture. The president Abraham Lincoln once noted that people only make decisions through one of two ways: (1) Because of the public appearance of it and (2) because it fits with them emotionally. Rather or not he was true on that is another discussion for another day. But certainly some theologians have recognized the power of emotions as well. One of the most brilliant and famous theologians in the history of the church was Dr. Jonathan Edwards. He noted of religious affections that the "Creator has bonded body and soul together" and because of that the "physical life can be affected by such emotions." He also noted, "Everywhere the Scriptures place much emphasis upon the affections: fear, hope, love, hatred, desire, joy, sorrow, gratitude, compassion, and zeal." And because there is such an emphasis on emotions in the Bible he stated that "it is thus clear that a great part of true religion consists in the affections" (Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards). Thus, when a person finds something in them that reacts strongly towards some subject in Scripture it is a sign that more time needs to be spent there in study, prayer, and meditation over that subject. To overcome emotional bias we must mature through our emotions and the only way to gain maturity is to deal with our emotions over a subject. We must talk to others, ask questions, examine what is underlying our emotions and see if we can discover any underlying pain, grief, or insecurity. We need to find others who can help us examine the matter reasonably so that we can get our emotions in line with the truth so the two are working in concert. That can be done and will be done when a person walks in godliness.