Out of Context: How to Avoid Misinterpreting the Bible

by Richard L. Schultz

Although 92% of American households own at least one Bible, their use of the Bible varies significantly. Only 59% of Americans read the Bible at least occasionally, and an even smaller percentage go beyond merely reading the Bible and actually study it. It is no wonder that even those who say they read the Scriptures often don't understand them.Veteran Bible professor Richard L. Schultz believes the misinterpretation and misapplication of biblical texts amounts to a crisis of "interpretive malpractice." In Out of Context he seeks to explain how biblical interpretation goes wrong and how to get it right. He introduces readers to the important concepts of context, word meaning, genre, and the differences between the world of the Bible and our own. Readers who delve into the fascinating world of biblical interpretation found in this book will find their Scripture reading enhanced and be enlightened by Schultz's powerful and ultimately positive message.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Nonfiction, Biblical Studies

162 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2012

About the author

Richard L. Schultz (PhD, Yale University) is the Blanchard Professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College. He is the coauthor of How to Understand Your Bible and is a regular contributor to scholarly journals and theological and biblical reference works.

Reviews

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book. A combination of D.A. Carson's "Exegetical Fallacies" and Robert Stein's "A Basic Guide to Understanding Your Bible", Schultz lays the groundwork with dozens of examples of misuse of the Bible by popular authors. He then explains the general rules and some specific rules for biblical understanding and literary genre. He finally addresses the all-too-common method of proof texting, why it is problematic, and why we are far better off handling the Bible properly.

I am getting two dozen of these and giving them to my students who are trying to teach other students. It is that good. If you imagine you can tell others what the Bible says, start here.

[James Korsmo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richard Schultz, a professor of OT at Wheaton College, takes readers on a journey of learning. The terrain is biblical interpretation. This book, intended for the general reader, is full of very sound advice in how to approach the biblical text. Key to his argument is that misinterpretation is all to common in the church today. After a brief by entertaining introduction based on the Jabez prayer phenomenon, he helps readers appreciate why misinterpretation is dangerous. He then gives a very well-rounded set of instructions for how to pursue a sound interpretation of the text that appreciates its cultural and biblical context, harnessing a broad array of hermeneutical tools in a helpful and friendly way. I think this book does a great service in both laying bare the misuse of Scripture that is too often let pass in the church and in popular Christian literature and at the same time making a case that anyone can handle the Bible in a responsible manner. Schultz's work can help give confidence (and also some important caution) to anyone who desires to treat the Bible with the respect it deserves. This is an important way we can all show the true value of God's Word.

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was not a fun read but I learned a lot.

[Frank Peters · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was useful and interesting. The author shows how common it is for evangelical authors to use scripture to argue for things that it doesn’t say. He walks a tightrope while trying to be gracious, while also confronting people on (hopefully unintentionally) deceitful practices. Examples are made of different types of bad biblical interpretation, such as proof texting. I really respect what the author tried to do as well as how he tried to do it. But, I was still uncomfortable with his approach, eve as I don’t know he could have done better.

[Rostislav Tkachenko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Про горе-тлумачів Святого Письма та методи (не)правильної інтерпретації

Якось ходив, ходив (нудний) професор Старого Заповіту в (дуже біблійні) церкви, слухав, слухав («біблійні») проповіди, спілкувався з церковними (не)розумниками і читав (псевдо)біблійні блоги… І поняв: час документувати ці герменевтичні перли.
Він був настільки в шоці, що написав цілу книжку: «Вирвано з контексту: як уникнути неправильного тлумачення Біблії» (Out of Context: How to Avoid Misinterpreting the Bible).

⛔️ В цій невеличкій книзі професор Вітонського коледжу Ричард Шульц пропонує звернути увагу на те, як деякі християни і, зокрема, «християнські» письменники, політики, спікери, пастори і навіть професійні богослови примудряються геть неадекватно інтерпретувати Святе Письмо.

👊 Автор визнає: «я б’ю по вулику, знаючи, що це засмутить бджіл», але рішуче бере герменевтичну палицю і щиро лупцює горе-тлумачів і їх горе-тлумачення.

🙅‍♂️ Він зосереджується на трьох типах помилок: помилки в розумінні (1) літературного контексту, (2) окремих слів та (3) літературних жанрів Библії.

💫 Так, на горіхи отримує Брюс Уилкінсон і його бестселер «Молитва Йавіса», тому що перетворює окрему старозаповітню оповідь і окремі вірші на чарівну мантру, яку застосовують направо і наліво, бо вона «гарантовано» змінює духовне життя на краще.

🔫 Критиці піддаються всі, хто пхає і вчитує в біблійний текст те, чого там нема:
– хтось вважає, що коли Бог говорить «Приходьте і порозмовляємо (розсудимось)» (Ісаї 1:18), Він закликає до дискусії і готовий міняти Свою точку зору;
– інші цитують обітниці конкретно Моїсею або Давиду і закликають кожного християнина «прийняти» їх як обітниці для них;
– хтось радо вірить, що твердження «Усе можу в Тому, Хто мене зміцнює» (Филип’ян 4:13) можна застосувати до абсолютно всього: підйому на Еверест, здачі екзамену з алгебри або успішного побачення;
– і т.д., і т.п.

💣 Ретельно і прискіпливо Шульц розбиває вщент улюблений підхід багатьох вірян: цитувати золоті та срібні «вірші» Біблії, вірячи, що вони обстоюють чи обіцяють універсальні «благословіння».

🔎 Він на багатьох прикладах показує, що часто-густо біблійний текст каже не зовсім те, що хочеться «авторитетним спікерам», і радить його тлумачити максимально акуратно, з увагою до контексту і повагою до авторського задуму.

🆎 Врешті-решт окремі слова мають сенс тільки в контексті речень, а окремі вірші транслюють певні істини тільки в контексті інших віршів конкретної библійної книги, написаної в конкретному жанрі.

☑️ По суті, книга Шульца протиставляє виривання з контексту читанню «в контексті». І це дуже простий, але напрочуд корисний урок.

Висновок: книга невелика і неглибока, але легка за стилем і практична. Вона звертає увагу на деякі (все ще) актуальні проблеми та (стисло) пропонує альтернативні підходи.

[Paul Bruggink · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richard Schultz’s goal for this book is to promote reading the Bible with understanding and appropriate application.

In the first six chapters, he presents and discusses specific examples of different types of biblical misinterpretation and misapplication, usually to make or reinforce a point that the author wants to make. Richard Schultz then shows how one can interpret biblical texts more accurately and apply them more appropriately.

Then in the seventh and summary chapter (What’s So Bad about “Textjacking”?), he makes a final plea for taking the divine and human authors’ original intentions more seriously when handling Scripture.

He then raises and discusses five possible objections to his approach: (1) that he is being judgmental, (2) that he is suggesting that only professional biblical scholars are able to interpret the Bible correctly, (3) that he is denying the role of the Holy Spirit in illuminating interpreters, (4) that he is ignoring the fact that there are competing interpretations of a given text, and (5) that he is more concerned with correct interpretation than with edifying the church of Jesus Christ.

He argues that the problem cannot just be ignored because: (1) misinterpretation is a bad hermeneutical habit that should be stopped before it gets worse, (2) Christians instinctively want to use the Bible to ground their views in Scripture when Scripture is actually silent on many current issues, (3) Christians often derive the right doctrines or ethical principles from the wrong texts, (4) misinterpretation results in invoking biblical authority to support their own ideas, and (5) misinterpretation promotes a faulty view of how God speaks to the church today through his words.

Richard Schultz finishes with seven tips for preventing textjacking: (1) care about understanding, (2) catch nuance, (3) clarify context, (4) check terms, (5) consider genre, (6) consult experts, and (7) correlate application.

His book includes a short list of things to think about and suggested books for further study at the end of each of the seven chapters.

I highly recommend this very readable book for anyone interested in the problems of biblical interpretation and application.

[David Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Wonderful things in the Bible I see, most of them put there by you or by me!" Walter Kaiser

Out of Context by Richard L. Schultz is mandatory reading for every Christian who desires to read the Bible for all its worth (which reminds me - reading Fee and Stuart's "How to Read the Bible for all its worth" is also worth the effort).

Schultz's agenda is crystal clear, namely, to help Christians to read the Bible well. And to read the Bible well means to be sure that you take into consideration the principles of good hermeneutics. Without basic hermeneutical tools, you end up with books like "The Prayer of Jabez", "Left Behind", and well, anything written by John Eldridge. This actually is one of the strengths of the book. Schultz is never mean-spirited, but at the same time has no qualms in pointing out many (many) examples of poor biblical interpretation by mainstream evangelical writers. While his examples are rather funny, I found myself caught between wanting to laugh and wanting to cry.

Out of Context is a quick read, but it packs a powerful punch. What's more, it offers a clarion call to all Christians to read the Bible well - taking basic things into consideration such as context, pericopes, word meanings, genre, and culture & historical settings.

Great read.

Book has been provided courtesy of Graf-Martin Communications and Baker Books in exchange for an honest review.

[Jeff Bjorgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great resource to put alongside books such as Fee's "How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth" and McKnight's "The Blue Parakeet." This book provides many examples of how Scripture is misinterpreted in Christian literature, and explains the pitfalls that many of us fall into when reading Scripture.

Schultz admits that it is easier to show misuse than proper use, and it would have been helpful if he could have placed a bit more emphasis on practical steps towards finding success in exegeting a text. I also found myself taken aback by 6 chapters of critique, only to be relieved by a chapter on how he's aware of the criticism of looking like a bully. Perhaps the book could have put that chapter first rather than last, to set a better tone.

But that's a minor critique, and I would recommend it, particularly due to its accessibility; it's not a difficult read, and his recommended "further resources to read" is gold.

Thoughtful quote:

"As Christians, we do not need to demonstrate that our practices, programs, and preferences are biblical in order for them to be valid and useful, as long as they are not clearly unbiblical. It is better to allow them to remain abiblical (that is, not addressed by Scripture) than to heavy-handedly force some text to somehow support them." (p, 137)

(Book has been provided courtesy of Graf-Martin Communications and BakerBooks in exchange for an honest review)

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

The correct interpretation of a biblical text is an important topic that has gotten all too little attention in Christian literature. In this short primer in the field, Richard L. Shultz traverses through many of the types of errors that are made together with examples from popular Christian writers. He is not rejecting the authors based on their errors, he is just nipping and tucking a bit in a few of their stretches when it comes to biblical interpretation. I happen to have read a lot of the authors that are mentioned, and most of their interpretations are made in good will even though they are applying their view to the Bible and forcing out a biblical defense on it. It does not make their view necessarily wrong, it is just wrong to try to find a biblical defense for it when there is no good example in the Bible. It is good to be skeptical and know when a writer is not doing his or her homework and given the text its scholarly due. There are one of a few objective correct ways of reading a text, and there are many wrong subjective ways. It does not make all subjective readings wrong though, which Schultz readily acknowledge, but it's important to be able to identify where errors are made. Reading this will make me more aware, both when reading Chrisitan writers but also when writing and thinking about myself. A good place to begin.

[Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pitfalls in applying scripture to real-time situations:
1. Insufficiently analogous situations
2. Anachronism
3. Psychologizing
4. Unwarranted generalization
5. Privatizing corporate contexts
6. Spiritualizing

We must be content to acknowledge that the Bible as an ancient book is simply not interested in many of the issues that are the hot topics in society and the church today.

When biblical authority is invoked in connection with an obviously misinterpreted or misapplied passage, the authority of none other than the divine author is potentially being abused.

We should not expect God to speak effectively to the church today through snippets of decontextualized Bible verses that are strung together like beads on a necklace.

[Chuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Schultz makes a compelling case for careful interpretation by showcasing mistakes made by well-known authors and speakers. He offers good suggestions to aid in correct interpretation. Unfortunately, there are places where the explanation is too thin. Too much is assumed about his own interpretations (not that they are wrong--only that the evidence is lacking). Still a helpful read for those interested in seeing some blatant examples of misinterpretation.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very useful book to read that covers i) mistakes that popular writers have made when interpreting the Bible and ii) how to avoid making these same mistakes. This book made me wince at times as some of the examples reminded me of mistakes I've made in the past in interpreting and applying the Bible.

[Paulwp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book for those who are looking for a second step on reading your Bible properly. Start with Living by the Book by Howard Hendricks, and then pick up this one on avoiding typical pitfalls. Highly recommend.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humorous, well written, engaging, and makes some great points about biblical interpretation. He points to several examples of how people have abused the text, and manipulated certain groups of people for both personal and financial gain. Very good!

[Gregory Strong · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an excellent read. Schultz trenchantly discusses good and poor ways to read the Bible. His aim throughout is to foster careful habits of reading that we may grow truly in faith, hope, and love. I recommend this book to anyone who desires faith seeking understanding.

[DChip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read. Helpful.

Could have been structured a little better. Hard to know sometimes where quotes end and the authors analysis begins. (3)