Elliot Clark has a wonderful piece entitled “6 Wrong Ways to Approach Difficult Bible Passages.” I am certainly guilty of a few of these. How about you?
- Avoid hard texts
- Exaggerate their significance
- Assume correct interpretation is simple
- Assume correct interpretation is inaccessible
- Research texts like a cold technician
- Query the Bible as judge and jury
Clark’s counsel is both concise and practical. For example, regarding point 2:
As I recently prepared to teach from 1 Timothy 2—one of the most controversial chapters in the Bible—I was struck by Paul’s primary command: urging prayer in the church. This focus is often obscured by the more controversial aspects of the chapter. Yet if we spend all our time thinking about a Christian’s relationship to government or women’s roles in the church and never address our calling, posture, and purpose in prayer, we’ve missed the main point. We’ve made the reader’s questions and concerns preeminent.
These errors are worth your consideration. Check it out!
