Are you interpreting Scripture like a Berean? You should be. Acts 17:11 says, the Bereans “were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” (Acts 17:11)
The Bereans were eager to hear the Word of God, but they also verified the accuracy of the message they heard by searching the Scriptures for themselves to make certain that what they had heard lined up with Scripture.
As Charles Stanley says, “We aren’t free to interpret the Bible any way we want. The goal is to discover what God meant rather than to find a meaning we like. Remember, it’s our Father’s approval we are seeking—not our own or that of others. Therefore, let’s devote time to studying Scripture, use our resources to learn about context, and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us to the truth.”
The excerpts below, from James W. Sire’s book, “Scripture Twisting”, will help you identify some common ways the Bible is misread. (I highly recommend reading his entire book, as he includes a total of 20.)
Check for yourself. Are you listening to messages where verses are taken out of context or the person is making any of the following errors in their logic or inductive reasoning?
Misreading No. 10: Saying but not Citing.
“The first task of anyone who wishes to make a case based on data is to place the data into evidence. When we try to make a case from Scripture, for example, we often hear the rejoinder, “But the Bible is full of contradictions”. Usually when one asks for an example, the respondent is at a loss, or he gives an example which will not stand up under even the most cursory analysis.
In any case, the proponent of any position must show us his facts. Jesus did not just tell John’s disciples what he had been doing; He showed them. Sometimes, however, cult writers do not do this. They proclaim that there is evidence, but they don’t show us.
Evidence which is said to exist, but not shown to exist is not sufficient for any inductive argument.
If someone would have us believe that the Bible teaches any particular doctrine – either orthodox or eccentric – we must ask them, first, to quote “chapter and verse” and, second, to explain why these Scriptures TAKEN IN CONTEXT are relevant to the issue. Apart from this, we would be well to remain skeptical and unconvinced.
Misreading No. 11: Selective Citing.
Another misuse of evidence in argument comes when only a portion of the relevant texts is cited.
You can “prove” almost anything from the Bible is you are allowed to select verses or portions of verses as if they told the whole story.
Misreading No. 12: Inadequate Evidence
Some parts of the Bible are obscure, puzzling to say the lease. Scholars simply don’t know what is being said or referred to. Sometimes even when we have considered all the evidence seemingly available in Scripture there is not enough to satisfy our curiosity or to draw solid conclusions.
The Scripture does not answer every question we bring to it, though only by asking and seeking are we likely to discover just which questions can’t be answered.
The inadequacy of Scriptural data, however, has not kept people from speculating. Oftentimes, then, seeing how their speculation matches other evidence or other speculation, the speculators conclude their speculation is true.
The antidote to such arguments is not to seal ourselves off from anything not from our own particular Christian tradition. For one thing, that is not possible, especially today with all manner of ideas vying for attention on television, the radio, the movies, and the newspaper. Second, that would imply that we (our tradition, our denomination, our pastor, our fellowship group, our friends) have a corner on the truth. That is simply not true.
The antidote to these arguments is to examine them carefully, asking, ‘What is the source (chapter and verse please)? Are all the relevant data there? Is it adequate? How do traditional Christians deal with the data?
The more you know the Scripture, the more deeply you study it on your own, the easier you will find the answers to those questions when you need them.”
a collector (of sentences) 