by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
Some may misuse a text, and if that text is not carefully examined, it becomes a “proof-text” that sounds, on the surface, to support the user’s point, and that is not good because they have used the Bible to legitimize a point not made or implied by that particular text. So, we must be careful about this kind of “proof-texting.” That is “handling the word of God deceitfully<\/em>” (II Corinthians 4:2). The devil had this kind of “proof-text” when he misused scripture in his testing of Jesus to throw Himself down and see if the angels would protect Him from injury (Matthew 4:6). Jesus did not cave to this misuse of scriptures. One text cannot be used to contradict another clear textual principle; otherwise, it is a pretext for deception.<\/p>\n However, there is another way we can use texts as proof, and we should ensure that we are doing it. Proof-texting is good when your motive is to provide legitimate texts as proof of a point you need to make from God’s word. An example of this needed kind of “proof-texting” is seen in Romans 3:10-18. The point being made is that Jews and Greeks are “all under sin,<\/em>” and the proof of that point is a string of verses lined up together as proof. Paul uses Psalms 14:1-3; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Psalms 5:9; 140:3; 10:7; Isaiah 59:7-8; and Psalms 36:7. There was no attempt to tell where these verses were found, and no attempt to give context to each scripture, yet they all serve as proof-texts to legitimize his charge that all are under sin. Did he do wrong? No! Nor do we do wrong when we do something similar. We need to prove what we are saying is true to the scriptures, and people need to be able to go to the texts we use and see if we misused them (Acts 17:11).<\/p>\n There is a danger of misusing a scripture, but there is a greater danger of not using a scripture to prove what you say is true to the word of God. So, prove what you say with scriptures (II Timothy 3:16-17), and ensure you use the Scriptures correctly by checking the context and whether that scripture says or implies the point you are making. Be leery of those who rarely use Scriptures to prove their point is true. Check behind those who give Scriptures to check out the context and usage. That is what good students of the Bible do!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Terry Wane Benton Some may misuse a text, and if that text is not carefully examined, it becomes a “proof-text” that sounds, on the surface, to support the user’s point, and that is not good because they have used the Bible to legitimize a point not made or implied by that particular text. So,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[78,913],"class_list":["post-67663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-authority","tag-bible-study"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":43854,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/proof-texting\/","url_meta":{"origin":67663,"position":0},"title":"Proof-Texting","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer In light of the way Paul sometimes quoted Scripture, even using isolated verses together in order to establish a point (e.g., Romans 3:10-18), can someone actually show from Scripture that what is typically called \"proof-texting\" is always bad? Don't get me wrong. I believe in context. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5727,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/scriptural-silence-and-the-burden-of-proof\/","url_meta":{"origin":67663,"position":1},"title":"Scriptural Silence and the Burden of Proof","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford In my life, I\u2019ve had training in logic from two main sources: the church and my secular education. The further I progressed, the more I realized that the same principles were taught in both settings. I used the same canons of logic in formal debate and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19624,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/couldnt-jesus-use-of-lord-for-yhwh-be-due-to-later-tampering-of-the-text\/","url_meta":{"origin":67663,"position":2},"title":"Couldn’t Jesus’ use of Lord for YHWH be due to later tampering of the text?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 25, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In \"Why is YHWH translated LORD?\" you said: Some, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses, object to using LORD in place of YHWH. However, they are ignoring God's own translation of His name. For example, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:5 in Matthew 22:37, \"Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69028,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/proof-the-book-of-mormon-is-not-true\/","url_meta":{"origin":67663,"position":3},"title":"Proof the Book of Mormon Is Not True","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Author Unknown The Book of Mormon contradicts the Bible and was a work of fiction written by Joseph Smith in the 1800s, who copied much of it from the King James Version, trying to make it look like an ancient manuscript. Here is proof that the Book of Mormon isn't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25220,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/present-your-case\/","url_meta":{"origin":67663,"position":4},"title":"Present Your Case","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 4, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Thessalonians 5:21-22 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Apostle Paul challenges Christians everywhere to prove all things - I Thessalonians 5:21-22 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jude 3 tells us to contend earnestly for the faith \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I Peter 3:15 tells us to be ready to give an answer to every question \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Greek\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21399,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-jesus-omniscient\/","url_meta":{"origin":67663,"position":5},"title":"Was Jesus omniscient?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 29, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question that I hope you can answer for me.\u00a0 Last night I heard a man preach that Jesus was not omniscient while on earth. I asked him after the sermon to explain passages like John 16:30 where the disciples state that Jesus knew everything.\u00a0 He said\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67663\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}