We hold these truths to be self-evident

I'm reading Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis right now, and in Movement Two, he makes a fascinating point about how people interpret the Bible. A parishoner of his spoke up in a meeting saying, "There are so many commentators and opinions out there about the Bible, but I've decided to just read the text for itself" [paraphrase].

I've been working on a theory for a while about knowing and (the lack of) humility. (Turns out Anne Lamott thought of it first and was referenced in Bell's book.) The idea is that you either have to be psychotic or really, really un-self-aware to say, "You know, I have some opinions, and I know they're wrong, but I'm just not going to bother changing my opinion." I decided at that point a couple of years ago to be semi-humble and say, "I'm right until you give me information that I need to know to change my opinion." I think true humility would be a learning posture that doesn't assume rightness at all—because the humble know that they don't have all the information. That's an ongoing need of reformation in my mind.

This leads me to understand something about how I have viewed the Bible for much of my life, and what is now so frustrating when I hear other people talking about the Bible. Though the words just came to me this morning via those Founding Fathers, it is the perfect assessment of how people read the Bible. "We hold these truths to be self-evident." There is a complete lack of humility in most modern hermeneutical discourse (which may be too generous a phrase to describe how individuals study the Bible). The attitude seems to be, "I know those people have PhDs, but how can they be so dense? It's so obvious!"
(Thanks to Micah for pointing out the lines from Ladykillers:
- Allow me to present myself, um, formally. Goldthwait Higginson Dorr, Ph.D.
- Like Elmer?
- I beg your pardon, ma'am?
- Fudd.
- No, no, Ph.D. is a mark of academic attainment . . .
I think this is how many see PhDs.)
We tend to read the Bible centered exactly around our culture and experience (another point wonderfully expounded upon by Bell), such that we think it's totally obvious. No wonder there are so many denominations; we've taken seriously the charge to study the Bible for ourselves, but we've forgotten to come back to the community to moderate views that go outside the bounds of orthodoxy. All you need is an isolated exegesis and a strong personality, and you can create your own denomination! Either that, or you can lead a denomination astray so that the more orthodox among you will start a new one.

Bell's point about the Bible and my thought about life in general is that we need to see truth as becoming evident through solid inquiry within community, not as self-evident.