Scripture Engagement

Why is it wrong to proof-text when making an argument?  Proof-texting is when someone simply quotes a verse from the Bible, out of context, to make a point. This can be in a book, a conversation, an essay, or a sermon, to give some examples. I just did a quick read of some other blogs on this topic, and none of them wowed me, so I thought I'd write my own. Then I had an even better idea: why not get you to tell me why proof-texting is problematic? In other words, I want to crowd-source the problem, and get lots of input. Since it is my suggestion, and I already did some research, let me get the ball rolling. Proof-texting is problematic because: It ignores the original context of the verse. There are actually two types of context: The literary context of the verse, that is, the verse is situated in a passage (that might be making an entirely different point) of Scripture that has a certain genre. For instance, the book of Acts is narrative, which means it is descriptive of what hap...

Many people will be surprised to discover that the Bible contains curses, and that some of these are by God! Why would God do such a thing?  In most cases a curse is the removal of a blessing. God blesses us and says, 'But there are conditions to you keeping this blessing! If you disobey me in these things, and break those conditions, then I will remove the blessing (i.e. you will be cursed).' For example, in Gen 4 God warns Cain not to sin, but he goes ahead and sins anyway, by killing his own brother Abel. After that Cain is cursed 'away from the ground' i.e. he won't be able to farm the soil as an agriculturalist any more. That soil has soaked up Abel's blood. He doesn't deserve to live the life of a farmer. He is condemned to a life of travelling about in the land of 'wandering'. "10 The Lord said, ‘What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which...