to everything we read. There is no such thing as a neutral or unbiased observer. This recognition has resulted in a “chastened” or refined view of exegesis and authorial intent. Preferable to the philosophy of naïve realism (the view that we can know things with absolute objectivity) is that of critical realism, the claim that there is indeed real meaning in the text that can be interpreted through “critical” (analytical, scientific) research.20 Though full objectivity and absolute certainty are