The Pugnacious Irishman Rich is at it again!
Here’s the challenge:
“People twist the Bible all the time to make it say whatever they want.”
Ever heard that one? Have you ever been the one who said that? Perhaps you just finished giving your view on homosexual behavior. In the process, you cite a Bible verse or two, and the person you are conversing with responds with the above. Where to go from there?
Now, I don’t like to use the Bible with people who don’t accept its authority, unless I’m ready to argue for the reliability of the verses I want to use using the historical criteria for surfacing reliable passages. (Early, Multiply attested, Enemy-attested, Embarassing to the author, etc.)
But I think Rich is talking about people who are asking you what the Bible teaches.
He continues:
Really, most of the time, that one liner is merely a dismissal of your case. You give a verse, explain the context, and give an argument for its meaning, and someone merely dismisses it with a “ah, people twist the Bible all the time.” You’ve made a specific case, and somehow, just by making the general observation that people twist the Bible, your whole case is defeated. Really? No, not really.
Click through to see his response, with a sample conversation to illustrate. This one was new to me!
WINTERY KNIGHT 
This concept is merely a twist on the old, brain dead, ‘debating’ tactic of: “there are good arguments on both sides” when the person you’ve crushed has nothing left to defend his indefensible position.
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That would be another example, and Christians need to get used to saying “Show me your arguments” in response to these hand-waving moves.
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He is right, but still wrong. People TRY to twist it to say whatever they want. However, it doesn’t mean that the Bible says/means what they try to say it is.
And this is not unique to the Bible. Contracts are disputed in court in this country daily. The constitution is constantly twisted to try to make it say things it doesn’t.
Just because people try and twist scripture doesn’t make it right to read it anyway you want. Remember, the Bible says:
Ephesians 4:4-6 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
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Thanks for this, WK, it was needed. Today I watched an interview of Jennifer Knapp, a Christian Pop artist well known in the evangelical community, coming out as a lesbian on Larry King Live ( see here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xDWc7SvBOA&feature=player_embedded).
I found her justifications (yes they were justifications) to be weak and unpersuasive. This post deals successfully with almost all of what she said.
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