Textual Maturity
by S. M. Hutchens
Almost every advantage I have received from any text, including that of the Bible, has come long after it has been read, marked, and inwardly digested: it comes from meditation on the text’s persistence as I re-encounter it in life, and it becomes explanatory of meaning as understanding matures. This, I believe, happens in all thoughtful people.
The fact is good to remember in pedagogy. One should not attempt to make children understand an important text any further than their immaturity allows. The good teacher will lead them to good texts and demand no more in their ability to know them beyond a simple appreciation. Lying then in the deep mines of the intellect, they may be worked upon as the materia prima of understanding. Only through this working can they become sermons, books, essays, and the sayings of the wise as the child grows up. So then can “Call me Ishmael” become more than a man’s merely giving his name, or “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” reflect Something Other than a remarkable feat of village magic.
S. M. Hutchens is a senior editor and longtime writer for Touchstone.
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