Ep. 156 - Dr. Dan McClellan ”Data Over Dogma” pt. 1

The Deconstructionists

John Williamson

Religion, Religion & Spirituality

4.4 • 823 Ratings

🗓️ 29 May 2023

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Guest Info/Bio:This week I had the chance to talk one of my favorite scholars, Dr. Dan O. McClellan in part 1 of 2 episodes. Dan received is bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University in ancient Near Eastern Studies, where he focused on Biblical Hebrew and minored in Classical Greek. He completed his master of studies in Jewish studies at the University of Oxford in July of 2010 and his mater of arts in biblical studies in 2013 at Trinity Western University. In early 2020, he defended his doctoral dissertation written for the University of Exeter on the cognitive science of religion and the conceptualization of deity and divine agency in the Hebrew Bible. He later worked as a scripture translation supervisor for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Salt Lake City from 2013-2023, and has occasionally taught courses at Brigham Young University as an adjunct professor. Dan’s areas of specialization are Second Temple Judaism, early Israelite religion, textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible, early christology, the cognitive science of religion, cognitive linguistics, and religious identity. Check out Dan’s social media channels and his new podcast, Data Over Dogma Guest (selected) Publications: YHWH’s Divine Images Guest Website/Social Media: www.inktr.ee/maklelan www.maklelan.org www.danielomcclellan.wordpress.com YouTube: @maklelan Instagram: @maklelan Twitter: @maklelan Theme Music by: Forrest Clay off the Recover EPYou can find Clay's music on iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, or anywhere good music is found!This episode of the Deconstructionists Podcast was edited, mixed, and produced by John Williamson Stay on top of all of the latest at www.thedeconstructionists.com Go there to check out our blog, snag a t-shirt, or follow us on social mediaJoin our Patreon family here: www.patreon.com/deconstructionists Website by Ryan BattlesAll photos by Jared HevronLogos designed by Joseph Ernst & Stephen PfluigT-shirt designs by Joseph Ernst, Chad Flannigan, Colin Rigsby, and Jason Turner. Starting your own podcast? Try Riverside! https://riverside.fm/?utm_campaign=campaign_1&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=rewardful&via=john-williamsonThis episode is sponsored by Hello Fresh! Go to www.hellofresh.com/deconstruct16 and use the code deconstruct16 or 16 FREE meals plus free shipping! Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-deconstructionists/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Transcript

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0:00.0	One of the implications of the fact that text don't have any inherent meaning and the fact that we have to generate the meaning in our own heads and the fact that we can only generate that meaning based on our own experiences with and understandings of the agreements about language, one of the implications of that is that meaning is going to be different from mind
0:21.7	to mind.
0:23.1	Every, as we generate things, like the guy, the poor young man at KFC who had no idea why I was
0:28.5	getting upset.
0:30.8	His generation of meaning was different from mine.
0:34.7	And so we are already having to, in a sense, negotiate with the text just to try to produce
0:39.9	any meaning at all. If we want the text to generate a meaning, we're bringing our experiences
0:46.1	and our understanding of language to bear on the text to generate that meaning. So I refer to that
0:51.7	as in a sense a negotiation with the text.
0:55.0	But at the same time, we're also being driven by some intuitive desires.
1:00.9	If the text is authoritative, or if we believe the text is inspired, if the text is meaningful to us,
1:07.5	our intuitive cognition is going to play a role in how we are able to generate that meaning.
1:13.6	And the meanings that are going to make the text most meaningful and most useful for us are the ones that are going to bubble to the top.
1:21.6	And so subconsciously, we're negotiating with the text as well.
1:25.6	Our subconscious mind is trying to figure out what
1:28.9	will make this text meaningful or what will make this text useful. And the people who composed
1:36.9	the biblical text were writing because they wanted these texts to perform certain functions
1:41.6	that usually are totally irrelevant to what we're worried about today.
1:47.4	But for people who believe it is inspired, for people who want to leverage it authoritatively,
1:55.0	it needs to mean something useful or meaningful. And so subconsciously, frequently,
2:03.3	sometimes consciously, they're going to negotiate with the text and they're going to try to come up with something that makes it meaningful and
2:07.8	relevant and useful to us today. So on a few different levels, I think we are negotiating with the text.
	...

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