Every reader of the biblical text, Stephen Breck Reid contends, places it in the context of other texts and narratives, whether they be the stories of the reader's own experiences, or the broader myths and communal narratives of their culture. The value of such a reading is that it helps render the Bible intelligible in our contemporary context. The danger, however, is that we will import false and destructive elements form our cultural context into our understanding of the Scriptures.