The Joy of Interpretation and the Misery: How Interpretation Impacts Your Life

How should you interpret what you read? Are there universally valid principles of interpretation–or is meaning dependent on the reader? What is the cause of the vicious infighting over Supreme Court nominations? What was the cause of the sixteenth century Age of Reformation?

In a world where it is fashionable to believe that all meaning is relative and that written texts mean only what the reader thinks or feels they mean, this book delivers a wake-up call and provides a helpful primer on the rules of interpretation.

In The Joy of Interpretation, Steve F. Richardson asks us to thoughtfully consider something we do every day–interpret texts. We constantly interpret, but seldom pause to contemplate the act of interpretation or whether we are doing it correctly. Some of what we read does not have a large impact on us. Make a mistake in interpreting a Shakespearean play or a Robert Frost poem and it is unlikely to entail significant consequences. However, similar laxity in interpreting the US Constitution and the Bible can result in severe consequences, seeing they make authoritative demands on our behavior and beliefs. This book offers guidance to help readers more successfully navigate the interpretive landscape.