Scripture Twisting accusation
I love AOL chatrooms. They are such an exciting place to discuss ones beliefs. However, they can quickly become burdensome when someone begins to throw around accusations about what one believes. Accusations are not a comfortable thing to live with. Sometimes they can ruin a reputation.
As a Calvinist, I get pestered quite a bit. I hear things like, "Calvinism is a lie of Satan," or "Calvinist believe this or that...." (usually a charicature follows here). However, the worse accusation that I cannot stand in those chat rooms, much less in person, is the charge of "Scripture twisting" (cf. II Peter 3:16). I take this charge very seriously and I think it should be dealt out rather sparingly and not so nonchalantly.
Recently, I was defending the doctrines of Grace in a chat room when a member of the chat room began to post up comments which said that I was "twisting the Scriptures" and interpreting according to men. I quickly reacted by pointing out that I was quoting from the Greek grammar and basing all of my arguments on the Greek manuscripts. Not caring that the Greek is the Bible in its purest form (because the Greek manuscripts were the original God-breathed text), he simply said I was scripture twisting. For example, he would argue from John 3:16 that "whosoever will" can choose to be saved. I quickly pointed out that in the Greek text, the indefinite relative pronoun (whosoever) is not found. I would also point out that the verb for "believe" was in the present tense and should thus be understood as saying, "all the ones who are believing will never perish but have eternal life..."
Now, my question for him was, "how is this twisting the Scripture, when I have simply pointed out what the text, in fact, really does say?" Is this such a crime? Perhaps his presupposed traditions about that text and how it has been interpreted by Bible translations has so molded his thinking that he is not willing to examine the scripture and would rather charge all who do not interpret Scripture like he does with "Scripture twisting." My friends, this is a sad day for Christian who are not willing to really examine the Scriptures at their deepest level. Not that I am trying to turn Bible study into something deeply theological (although, that seems to be where serious Bible tends to lead), but I am saying, that one be willing to examine texts at the grammatical level. After all, that is one level, if not the most common level, where Scripture twisting does in fact take place.
One more thing was quite disturbing. After he was done accusing me of scripture twisting, I politely asked him to grant me the "true interpretation" of the text. After all, if he can say that I am twisting the Scriptures, then he must have a standard to compare my interpretation with. However, he was not willing to provide the "true interpretation" of the text. When he didn't want to do that, I pressed further and asked him how his charged of Scripture twisting was warranted if he couldn't even quote or support any "true interpretation" of the text. All he could offer was negative exegesis - "the text doesn't mean that..." "the text can't mean that..." but never any reasons. Simply a flat out rejection of the grammatical construction and syntax of text after text that I provided.
Certainly interesting experiences. I hope that Christians of all theological backgrounds will always be willing to examine the SCripture and see if the things that are spoken of by another are true. I hope that a flat out accusation of "scripture twisting" will not be resorted when one knows that they cannot support their beliefs from Scripture. The burden of proof lies upon the one affirming a proposition. If one is going to charge someone with Scripture twisting, they should be able and willing to provide proof for the charge. As Calvinist, I hope that we also will not flat out charge other with "scripture twisting" without being informed about the text ourselves and its proper meaning.
As a Calvinist, I get pestered quite a bit. I hear things like, "Calvinism is a lie of Satan," or "Calvinist believe this or that...." (usually a charicature follows here). However, the worse accusation that I cannot stand in those chat rooms, much less in person, is the charge of "Scripture twisting" (cf. II Peter 3:16). I take this charge very seriously and I think it should be dealt out rather sparingly and not so nonchalantly.
Recently, I was defending the doctrines of Grace in a chat room when a member of the chat room began to post up comments which said that I was "twisting the Scriptures" and interpreting according to men. I quickly reacted by pointing out that I was quoting from the Greek grammar and basing all of my arguments on the Greek manuscripts. Not caring that the Greek is the Bible in its purest form (because the Greek manuscripts were the original God-breathed text), he simply said I was scripture twisting. For example, he would argue from John 3:16 that "whosoever will" can choose to be saved. I quickly pointed out that in the Greek text, the indefinite relative pronoun (whosoever) is not found. I would also point out that the verb for "believe" was in the present tense and should thus be understood as saying, "all the ones who are believing will never perish but have eternal life..."
Now, my question for him was, "how is this twisting the Scripture, when I have simply pointed out what the text, in fact, really does say?" Is this such a crime? Perhaps his presupposed traditions about that text and how it has been interpreted by Bible translations has so molded his thinking that he is not willing to examine the scripture and would rather charge all who do not interpret Scripture like he does with "Scripture twisting." My friends, this is a sad day for Christian who are not willing to really examine the Scriptures at their deepest level. Not that I am trying to turn Bible study into something deeply theological (although, that seems to be where serious Bible tends to lead), but I am saying, that one be willing to examine texts at the grammatical level. After all, that is one level, if not the most common level, where Scripture twisting does in fact take place.
One more thing was quite disturbing. After he was done accusing me of scripture twisting, I politely asked him to grant me the "true interpretation" of the text. After all, if he can say that I am twisting the Scriptures, then he must have a standard to compare my interpretation with. However, he was not willing to provide the "true interpretation" of the text. When he didn't want to do that, I pressed further and asked him how his charged of Scripture twisting was warranted if he couldn't even quote or support any "true interpretation" of the text. All he could offer was negative exegesis - "the text doesn't mean that..." "the text can't mean that..." but never any reasons. Simply a flat out rejection of the grammatical construction and syntax of text after text that I provided.
Certainly interesting experiences. I hope that Christians of all theological backgrounds will always be willing to examine the SCripture and see if the things that are spoken of by another are true. I hope that a flat out accusation of "scripture twisting" will not be resorted when one knows that they cannot support their beliefs from Scripture. The burden of proof lies upon the one affirming a proposition. If one is going to charge someone with Scripture twisting, they should be able and willing to provide proof for the charge. As Calvinist, I hope that we also will not flat out charge other with "scripture twisting" without being informed about the text ourselves and its proper meaning.
posted by prchdaword at 7:57 PM
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