Perspicuity and Pickaxes

For anyone who doesn't know and reads this blog (a category I'm not sure actually exists), I am currently enrolled in a Master's of Biblical Exegesis program. The thrust of the program is intensive study of original, biblical languages and exegetical methods in order to access the meaning of biblical texts. Seems straightforward right? The time-honored, scholarly tradition of ink-dyed noses and library havens. The assumption in this program is that textual meaning is found after one is educated in how to find it. You can't mine gold until you've been given a pickaxe.
I am also currently attending a Bible study that reads a passage (in English), then inductively interprets and applies that passage using the communal observations of the whole group. The assumption, of course, is that the text has a plain meaning, accessible in a 1-hour time frame by a moderately intelligent group of college students representing various majors. The biology geek and the cartoonist from community college carry just as much weight there as the trained exegete.

I am fully aware of the irony of participating in both these activities. One seems to say that only the elite can interpret, while the other believes the lay man can get at the meaning. One requires education and tools, the other common sense and a kind of stubbornness to grasp meaning.

The elitism question is one I had trouble with, and it is significant. To mix metaphors, who is the king on the interpretive playground? We want to be intelligent in our approach to Scripture, but we also don't want meaning to be unattainable for, say, the janitor in the congregation.

And so, with the janitor problem in mind, one of my professors, Dr. Walton, has this to say about the problem of elitism (note: this is my notes from class and is a near verbatim representation of what he said, so take it as such. It is not meant to be a formal answer, but it is amazing to me that he rattled off this response on the fly in class):

"I think two points need to be made:

1. The bible has a great scope, a great range of depth; from the simplest truths that any child in grade school can understand to the most sophisticated depths of advanced thinking that most (if not all) of us will never fully grasp. God gave us a revelation of himself that is represented in this graduated scope of truth and understanding. We would not be happy with a representation of God that we could exhaust by the end of the fifth grade and lay it aside. Alternately, we would be frustrated if we could not understand the Bible without a graduate degree. The question is how far along that range can we penetrate. Some may have the mental ability to go far; some may have the mental ability but not the opportunity.
2. Secondly, this is where the body of Christ comes in. This is where we see the benefits of gifting. God gives some the ability, inclination and opportunity to contribute in this or that way. We each have what God has given us and we are expected to serve the body of Christ with that gift. We should not be jealous of the gifting (“How come you got this and I got that?”) and call it elitist. Elitism hoards, but the body of Christ should share. Some people, taking this gifting, can put things in the hand of the janitor that he would never have been able to have otherwise."