God's Word 'then' and 'now'

I've been thinking about 'contextualization' and the merging of 'horizons of understanding'. Contextualization - relating us to the Bible and the Bible to us across history and culture. Merging of horizons of understanding - when my standpoint and perspective merges with the biblical author's and his with mine. Sounds like a spiritual mine-field but we will get through safely if Scripture inteprets me while I try to interpret it - then, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, I might begin to think his thoughts after him.

I don't like culture that much - some bits are all right - but basically it is what society is and scripture is not very complimentary about it. But interpreting Scripture requires me to take account of it - not just mine or ours, but the biblical author's. I want to bring God's word to my culture because that is how it can be saved from its fallen-ness. As somebody once said, since we cannot bring a presuppositionless mind to God's Word, a proper self-awareness, which enables us to set aside our baggage, helps in letting God speak for himself.

Yes, I want my horizon of understanding to merge with that of the biblical writer, and more than that, with the mind of the Holy Spirit, but all this stuff about horizons and contextualization is a bit daunting. Never mind, God's word is living and powerful & sharper than any two edged sword! That's the point, it is his word, not ours, with an authority neither bounded nor compromised by our experience. The danger with the contextualizing thing is not just provincialism or syncretism but the shifting of the focus from the author (God) to the reader. This, it seems, is the essence of every heresy and perversion - ancient, modern and post-modern.