Scripture Twisting: 20 Ways the Cults Misread the Bible

Front Cover
InterVarsity Press, 2009 M09 20
How often have you encountered some bizarre doctrine only to be stunned to hear a Bible verse quoted to support it? With new religious cults springing up almost daily and old ones growing rapidly, this is more and more common. How are they seemingly able to twist Scripture to mean something orthodox Christians have never believed it to mean in two thousand years? James Sire, author of The Universe Next Door and How to Read Slowly, has isolated twenty separate kinds of reading errors which are characteristically made by cultists as they interpret the Bible. He covers the full range from simple misquotation to complex argumentation which links one slightly eccentric interpretation to another, mixes in a few orthodox readings and ends with a conclusion totally foreign to the biblical world view. Sire also handles twisted translation, overspecification, virtue by association, ignoring the context and other flawed interpretations. A book to help us all become better readers of the Scriptures.
 

Contents

I
9
II
11
III
13
IV
15
V
18
VI
20
VII
21
VIII
23
XXXIV
75
XXXV
76
XXXVI
80
XXXVII
82
XXXVIII
88
XXXIX
89
XL
90
XLI
96

IX
24
X
25
XI
26
XII
28
XIII
30
XIV
31
XVI
32
XVII
34
XVIII
41
XXI
42
XXII
45
XXIII
48
XXIV
49
XXVI
51
XXVII
52
XXVIII
58
XXIX
62
XXX
64
XXXI
66
XXXII
70
XXXIII
74
XLII
99
XLIII
101
XLIV
105
XLVI
107
XLVII
115
XLVIII
118
XLIX
124
L
127
LI
128
LII
130
LIII
133
LIV
143
LV
145
LVII
146
LVIII
149
LIX
155
LX
161
LXII
164
LXIII
LXIV
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About the author (2009)

James W. Sire (PhD, University of Missouri), formerly a senior editor at InterVarsity Press, is an active speaker and writer. He has taught English, philosophy, theology, and short courses at many universities and seminaries. He continues to be a frequent guest lecturer in the United States and Europe. His InterVarsity Press books and Bible studies include The Universe Next Door (a worldviews textbook), Scripture Twisting, Discipleship of the Mind, Chris Chrisman Goes to College, Why Should Anyone Believe Anything at All?, Habits of the Mind: Intellectual Life as a Christian Calling, Naming the Elephant: Worldview as a Concept, Learning to Pray Through the Psalms, Why Good Arguments Often Fail and A Little Primer on Humble Apologetics.

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