“Context is key.”  I can still hear my instructors and professors in my Bible classes at Faulkner University saying that over and over and over.  They are right, “Context is key!”  Anyone can take a single verse or a collection of verses from the Bible and make a point.  The point or lesson may or may not be valid or worse even an accurate observation. Critics of the Bible are good at pulling various verses out of context to attempt to disprove the Bible. Those of us who claim to be Christians can also be guilty of pulling verses out of context to prove our arguments.

What follows is an example that I am using to show how someone can misuse the Bible.  It is an extreme example of pretexting or eisegesis.  (** WARNING  **  What you are about to read is incorrect, even if the words are straight…

A few weeks before I took my break from posting, a regular reader asked if I could write about how to study the Bible. They said, as a young adult they are used to studying (cramming) for tests in college and often  they find themselves studying the Bible in a similar way. They study for Bible Class, study for Bible Bowl, study so they could prove a point to their friends or even parents, so like many of us, they feel like they are “hit and miss” with their Bible study. So the question remains, how does one study the Bible?

Start by simply reading the Bible the way you would any book. This starts by purchasing a Bible you will read.  Some versions are more cumbersome than others by virtue of the style of language.  Find a version that you can easily read, then:

• Read in canonical order, that…