The ancient context

We can begin to understand the claims of the text as an ancient document by first paying close attention to what the text says and doesn’t say. It is too easy to make intrusive assumptions based on our own culture, cognitive environment, traditions, or questions (i.e., our cultural river). It takes a degree of discipline as readers who are outsiders not to assume our modern perspectives and impose them on the text, but often we do not know we are doing it because our own context is so intrinsic to our thinking and the ancient world is an unknown. The best path to recognizing the distinctions between ancient and modern thinking is to begin paying attention to the ancient world. This is accomplished by immersion in the literature of the ancient world. This by no means supersedes Scripture, but it can be a tool for understanding Scripture. When we are trying to understand the opening chapters of Genesis, our immersion is not limited to the cosmology texts or flood accounts of the ancient world. The clues to cognitive environment can be pieced together from a wide variety of ancient literature. Obviously, not everyone can undertake this task, just as not everyone can take the necessary years to master Hebrew and Greek. Those who have the gifts, calling, and passion for the original languages and the opportunity to study, research, and write use their expertise for the benefit of those who do not. In the same way, those who have the gifts, calling, and passion for the study of the ancient world and the opportunity to research and write can use their expertise for the benefit of those who do not.—Lost World of the Flood, 12