Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 5
The speaker’s “Does the fish know he is wet?” illustration is used to argue that nobody reads Scripture without “glasses,” and that listening to modern teachers may still mean “we are still listening to Calvin and Augustine”; what “water” do you suspect you’ve been swimming in, and what would it take to identify which inherited assumptions are shaping your Bible-reading?
Another way to ask: What “water” (hidden influences or assumptions) do you think you’ve grown up in when you read the Bible? What could help you spot which old ideas you’ve inherited from past teachers and traditions?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
The transcript invites us to assume we have unseen biases (“water”) from our religious environment and teachers, and to intentionally identify the “glasses” we read Scripture through by tracing influences and comparing them to the earliest Christian understanding and the fruit of leaders. It takes humility to admit we may think something is “normal” simply because we’ve never known different.
- Illustration: the fish doesn’t know he’s wet because water is “normal… not… conscious of… because he knows nothing different.”
- He applies it spiritually: we may not realize “there’s a different way of thinking” because “we’ve always been taught… always heard this.”
- He answers “Why the big deal about the early church?” by saying, “none of us are viewing scripture without a bias… The question is, which one do we have and how accurate is it?”
- On modern teachers: “we don’t realize… we are hearing other people that they have learned from… we are still listening to Calvin and Augustine.”
- He asks whether influencers “bear the fruit of leaders that you should follow,” tying interpretation to life and obedience.