“..not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully,
but by manifestation of the truth..” -2 Cor 4:2
but by manifestation of the truth..” -2 Cor 4:2
The word of God is a valuable thing to have. Without it there is no direction or light to guide us in our way. But the word of God must be handled properly by it’s users. There are those today as in Paul’s time who only saw the scriptures as a means of gain. And there are those today who see it only as a good piece of literature but not really God’s word in its entirety. I believe that what one believes about the scriptures will determine their handling of the scriptures. If you believe they are truly God’s inerrant word, as Paul puts it “God-breathed” (2 Tim 3:16) you will see to it that you handle it carefully so as not to misrepresent God Himself. But without the fear of God in the “handler” there will not be the proper handling of it.
Here are some ways the word is mishandled; some approach the text with their own pre-suppositions and commit the error of eisegesis by adding to God’s word something that the text clearly doesn’t say. Others just twist it to their advantage.. “Well if you look at it from this angle and close one eye you can see that..”. Some from the liberal camp who do more reading about the word than the word itself tend to uphold extra-biblical knowledge above scripture leading to much conjecture and theories, making the word of God to be a book of non absolutes and relatives. Still others choose to grab a bite of it and just go on a ramble about their own stories or how they feel about something that given week. This is usually called “springboarding”, when one emotionalizes the text. And still others who do more harm than good tend to be more so proof-texters and buffet style theologians in that they only go to the scriptures to prove their own point - picking and choosing while they willfully ignore other texts that bring balance or totally contradicting their own out of context “evidence”. No.. we must avoid these textual pitfalls and submit ourselves under the text, and let the word tell us what it means, as Paul says “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15)
Here are some ways the word is mishandled; some approach the text with their own pre-suppositions and commit the error of eisegesis by adding to God’s word something that the text clearly doesn’t say. Others just twist it to their advantage.. “Well if you look at it from this angle and close one eye you can see that..”. Some from the liberal camp who do more reading about the word than the word itself tend to uphold extra-biblical knowledge above scripture leading to much conjecture and theories, making the word of God to be a book of non absolutes and relatives. Still others choose to grab a bite of it and just go on a ramble about their own stories or how they feel about something that given week. This is usually called “springboarding”, when one emotionalizes the text. And still others who do more harm than good tend to be more so proof-texters and buffet style theologians in that they only go to the scriptures to prove their own point - picking and choosing while they willfully ignore other texts that bring balance or totally contradicting their own out of context “evidence”. No.. we must avoid these textual pitfalls and submit ourselves under the text, and let the word tell us what it means, as Paul says “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15)
- WHAT PROMISES DOES GOD GIVE IN REVELATIONS 22:18-19? WHY IS INDUCTIVE BIBLE STUDY A GOOD WAY TO STUDY THE WORD?
- “Don’t be a bible shark be a bible cow, sharks don’t chew they just swallow chunks, but cows will chew the cud, swallow it, bring it back up again and chew it again.” -Albert G