Bible
Twisting
By
The
Cults...
Bible Twisting:
There are at least 20 ways in which various cults, and others, 'twist'
the
Bible to suit 'their' own teaching. See 2Pet 3:15-16.
They are...
1. INACCURATE QUOTATION:
A biblical text is referred to but is either not quoted in the way the
text appears in any standard translation or is wrongly attributed. Example:
The Maharishi Mahesh Yogi says, "Christ said, 'Be still and know that
I am God.'" Whereas this text is found ONLY in Psalms. (Old Testament)
2. TWISTED TRANSLATION:
The biblical text is retranslated, not in accordance with sound Greek scholarship,
to fit a preconceived teaching of a cult. Example:
The Jehovah's Witnesses translate John 1:1 as "In [the] beginning
the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the word was 'a' god."
3. BIBLICAL HOOK:
A text of Scripture is quoted primarily as a device to grasp the attention
of readers or listeners and then followed by a teaching which is so nonbiblical
that it would appear far more dubious to most people had it not been preceded
by a reference to Scripture. Example:
Mormon missionaries quote James 1:5 which promises God's wisdom to those
who ask him, and then, follow this by explaining that when Joseph Smith
did this he was given a revelation from which he concluded that God the
Father has a body.
4. IGNORING THE IMMEDIATE CONTEXT:
A text of Scripture is quoted but removed from the surrounding verses which
form the immediate framework for its meaning. Example:
Alan Watts quotes the first half of John 5:39 ("You search the Scriptures,
because you think that in them you have eternal life"), claiming that
Jesus was challenging His listeners over emphasis of the Old Testament,
but the remainder of the immediate context reads, "and it is they
that bear
witness to me; yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life"
(verses 39-40), which shows that Jesus was upholding the value of the Old
Testament as a testimony to Himself.
5. COLLAPSING CONTEXTS:
Two or more verses which have little or nothing to do with each other are
put together as if one were a commentary of the other(s). Example:
The Mormons associate Jeremiah 1:5 with John 1:2,14 and thus imply that
both verses talk about the premortal existence of all human beings; Jeremiah
1:5, however, speaks of God's foreknowledge of Jeremiah (Not his premortal
existence) and John 1:2 refers to the pre-existence of God the Son and
not to human beings in general.
6. OVER SPECIFICATION:
A more detailed or specific conclusion than is legitimate is drawn from
a biblical text. Example:
The Mormon missionary manual quotes the parable of the virgins from Matthew
25:1-13 to document the concept that "mortality is a probationary
period during which we prepare to meet God." But the parable of the
virgins could, and most probably does, mean something far less specific,
for example, that human beings should be prepared at any time to meet God
or to witness the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
7. WORD PLAY:
A word or phrase from a biblical translation is examined and interpreted
as if the revelation had been given in that language. Example:
Mary Baker Eddy says the name Adam consists of two syllables, A DAM, which
means an obstruction, in which case, Adam signifies "the obstacle
which the serpent, sin, would impose between man and his Creator."
8. THE FIGURATIVE FALLACY:
Either (1) mistaking literal language for figurative language or (2) mistaking
figurative language for literal language. Example of (1):
Mary Baker Eddy interprets EVENING as "mistiness of mortal thought;
weariness of mortal mind; obscured views; peace and rest."
Example of (2):
The Mormon theologian James Talmage interprets the prophesy that "thou
shalt be brought down and speak out of the ground" to mean that God's
Word would come to people from the Book of Mormon which was taken out of
the ground at the hill of Cumorah.
9. SPECULATIVE READINGS OF PREDICTIVE PROPHESY:
A predictive prophesy is too readily explained by the occurrence of specific
events, despite the fact that equally committed biblical scholars consider
the interpretation highly dubious. Example:
The stick of Judah and the Stick of Joseph in Ezekiel 37:15-23 are interpreted
by the Mormons to mean the Bible and the Book of Mormon.
10. SAYING BUT NOT CITING:
A writer says that the Bible says such and such but does not cite the specific
text (which often indicates that there may be no such text at all). Example:
A common phrase "God helps those who help themselves" is not
found in the Bible.
11. SELECTIVE CITING:
To substantiate a given argument, only a limited number of text is quoted.
The total teaching of Scripture on that subject would lead to a conclusion
different from that of the writer. Example:
The Jehovah's Witnesses critique the traditional Christian notion of the
Trinity without considering the full text which scholars use to substantiate
the concept.
12. INADEQUATE EVIDENCE:
A hasty generalization is drawn from too little evidence. Example:
The Jehovah's Witnesses teach that blood transfusion is nonbiblical, but
the biblical data that they cite fails either to speak directly to the
issue or to adequately substantiate their teaching.
13. CONFUSED DEFINITION:
A biblical term is misunderstood in such a way that an essential biblical
doctrine is distorted or rejected. Example:
One of Edgar Cayce's followers confuses the eastern doctrine of reincarnation
with the biblical doctrine of being born again.
14. IGNORING ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATIONS:
A specific interpretation given to a biblical text or set of text which
could well be, and often have been, interpreted in quite a different fashion,
but these alternatives are not considered. Example: Erich von Daniken asks
why in Genesis 1:26 God speaks in the plural ("us"), suggesting
that this
is an oblique reference to God's being one of many astronauts and failing
to consider alternative explanations that either God was speaking as "Heaven's
king accompanied by His heavenly host" or that the plural prefigures
the doctrine of the Trinity expressed more explicitly in the New Testament.
15. THE OBVIOUS FALLACY:
Words like OBVIOUSLY, UNDOUBTEDLY, CERTAINLY, ALL REASONABLE PEOPLE HOLD
THAT, and so forth are substituted for logical reasons. Example:
Erich von Daniken says, "Undoubtedly the Ark [of the Covenant] was
electrically charged!"
16. VIRTUE BY ASSOCIATION:
Either (1) a cult writer associates his or her teaching with those of figures
accepted as authoritative by traditional Christians; (2) cult writings
are likened to the Bible; or (3) cult literature imitates the form of the
Bible writing such that it sounds like the Bible. Example of (1):
Rick Chapman list 21 gurus, including Jesus Christ, St. Francis and St.
Theresa, that "you can't go wrong with." Example of (2):
Juan Mascaro in his introduction to the Upanishads cites the New Testament,
the Gospels, Ecclesiastes and the Psalms, from which he quotes passages
supposedly paralleling the Upanishads. Example of (3):
The Mormon DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS 93 interweave phrases from the Gospel
of John and maintains a superficial similarity to the Gospel such that
it seems to be like the Bible.
17. ESOTERIC INTERPRETATION:
Under the assumption that the Bible contains hidden, esoteric, meaning
which is open only to those who are initiated into its secrets, the interpreter
declares the significance of biblical passages without giving much, if
any, explanation for his or her interpretation. Example: Mary Baker Eddy
gives the meaning of the first phrase in the Lord's Prayer, "Our Father
which
art in heaven," as "Our Father-Mother God, all harmonious."
18. SUPPLEMENTING BIBLICAL AUTHORITY:
New revelation from post biblical prophets either replaces or is added
to the Bible as authority. Example:
The Mormons supplement the Bible with the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine
and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price.
19. REJECTING BIBLICAL AUTHORITY:
Either the Bible as a whole or texts from the Bible are examined and rejected
because they do not square with other authorities, such as reason or revelation,
do not appear to agree with them. Example:
Archie Matson holds that the Bible contains contradictions and that Jesus
himself rejected the authority of the Old Testament when He contrasted
His own views with it on the Sermon on the Mount.
20. WORLD-VIEW CONFUSION:
Scriptural statements, stories, commands or symbols which have a particular
meaning or set of meanings when taken within the intellectual and broadly
cultural framework of the Bible itself are lifted out of that context,
placed within the frame of reference of another system and thus given a
meaning that markedly differs from their intended meaning. Example:
The Maharishi Mahesh Yogi interprets "Be still, and know that I am
God" as meaning that each person should meditate and come to the realization
that he is essentially Godhood itself.
From a book written by James W. Sire.
Scripture Twisting: Twenty ways the Cults misread the Bible.
Please buy his book for much more: It is available here
and here
and many other book stores:
Updated February 14, 2001
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