CROOKED CUTS

This is a GREAT LIST of Techniques to Misunderstand the Bible. I just thought I share this. Amazing how we can conveniently apply much of this to our advantage when we do not want to hear what God wants to say to us. Well, I hope this would be helpful.

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“CROOKED CUTS”

By Richard Mayhue
Grace Community Church

A Text Without a Context

PROOF-TEXTING: Stinging together an inappropriate or inadequate series of Bible verses to prove out theology.

ISOLATIONISM: Failing to interpret a single Scripture text in light of its context.

Adding to Scripture

SPIRITUALIZING: Reading a spiritual or historical truth into a text rather than extracting truth from it.

NATIONALIZING: Seeing one’s own country as the recipient of natioinal promises made by God in the Bible to Israel.

Editing God’s Mind

EMBELLISHING: Reading current thinking into the Bible.

METHODOLOGIZING: Interpreting the Scripture by means of an unproven theory about the Bible’s literary origin.

Modernizing the Bible

ACCOMODATION: Viewing Scripture through the lens of human reason.

CULTURALIZING: Limiting a text to a specific time in history or culture, when in reality the text demands a wider application in time. OR extending a past practice or culture into our time, which in fact should have been limited historically.

Twisting Scripture

REDEFINING Giving historically accepted biblical words new definitions to support our theology.

ANGLICIZING: Reaching inaccurate conclusions by drawing theology from the English text alone.

MYSTICIZING: Finding hidden meaning in Scripture that can be understood only by the one who knows the “secret code”.

Over Literalizing

LETERISM: Ignoring figures of speech and drawing woodenly literal conclusions.

LEGALIZING: Overemphasizing the letter of God’s Word at the expense of its spirit.

Reverse Interpretation

GENERALIZING: Assuming that any specific historical experience reported in Scripture is a valid, general experience for today.

EXPERIENTIALIZING: Reasoning that if any experience has occurred in Scripture, and I have the same experience, then it must be from God, i.e. using experience to validate Scripture instead of vice versa.

Over Systemizing

DOGMATIZING: Starting with a conclusion, which is then used to interpret the evidence, thereby assuring that the desired conclusion will be affirmed, i.e. circular reasoning.

DISPENSATIONALIZING: Overemphasizing the variations in God’s stewardship of redemption throughout history while minimizing God’s never-changing dealings with mankind according to His never-changing character.