Not much has changed since the apostle Paul’s day when he warned the Church in Ephesus, saying, “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and DISTORT THE TRUTH in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard!”
Studying the entirety of God’s Word for yourself will help you to spot the Scripture twisting of false prophets, false teachers, heretics, cult leaders, and others who are oftentimes motivated by increasing their book, CD, and DVD sales… gaining more digital downloads of their teachings…raising their popularity on radio and television…increasing their conference numbers…and getting more “likes”, “clicks” or Subscribers on their Social Media.
In 2 Corinthians 2:17, Paul says, “Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.”
For my next few blog posts, I will share some helpful excerpts from James W. Sire’s book on “Scripture Twisting”, which will shine a light on some of the more common ways that Scripture is distorted.
Misreading No. 1: Inaccurate Quotation
The Bible is not always quoted accurately. So if you’re confronted by someone who quotes the Bible, CHECK TO SEE if their basic claim is true. Does the Bible say what the person says it does?
Misreading No. 2: Twisted Translation
To get at the meaning of the Bible, we need to have an accurate text. If there are errors in the text before us, we are bound to be misled. Some religious movements have addressed this problem by providing their own translations.
Current translations, they hold, are inaccurate in some crucial aspects. The fact is, of course, that no single translation or group of translations are beyond improvement.
That is why scholars in every generation, especially since the reformation, have worked to provide an ever more reliable Greek and Hebrew text, and why translators have been at work as well to turn this text into more and more accurate vernacular translations.
Misreading No. 3: The Biblical Hook
When Scripture is quoted, especially at the beginning of an argument which turns out to promote a cult doctrine or point of view, it may be that it is being used primarily as a hook to grasp the attention of readers or listeners.
“The Bible says” gets the attention, but what follows the quotation may be far from traditional Christian teaching and far from the intention of the Bible itself.
Be on your guard, and tomorrow, I’ll share more ways that God’s Word is distorted.
a collector (of sentences) 