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1991-06-30
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CUL:Cult Myths that suck you in by James Sire
In debating and discussions with non-Christians such as Mormons or
atheist, I have found many areas of twisting of the Scriptures. In the
book "Scripture Twisting, " James Sire has a chapter devoted to each of
the methods, and I have seen them ALL used from time to time.
1. INACCURATE QUOTATION:
A biblical text is referred to but is either not quoted in the way
the text appears in any standard translation or is wrongly attributed.
Example: The Maharishi Mahesh Yogi says, "Christ said, 'Be still and
know that I am God.'" Whereas this text is found ONLY in Psalms.
2. TWISTED TRANSLATION:
The biblical text is retranslated, not in accordance with sound
Greek scholarship, to fit a preconceived teaching of a cult. Example:
the Jehovah's Witnesses translate John 1:1 as "In [the] beginning the
Word was, and the Word was with God, and the word was a god."
3. BIBLICAL HOOK:
A text of Scripture is quoted primarily as a device to grasp the
attention of readers or listeners and then followed by a teaching which
is so nonbiblical that it would appear far more dubious to most people
had it not been preceded by a reference to Scripture. Example: Mormon
missionaries quote James 1:5 which promises God's wisdom to those who
ask him and, then, follow this by explaining that when Joseph Smith did
this he was given a revelation from which he concluded that God the
Father has a body.
4. IGNORING THE IMMEDIATE CONTEXT:
A text of Scripture is quoted but removed from the surrounding
verses which form the immediate framework for its meaning. Example:
Alan Watts quotes the first half of John 5:39 ("You search the
Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life"),
claiming that Jesus was challenging His listeners' over emphasis of the
Old Testament, but the remainder of the immediate context reads, "and
it is they that bear witness to me; yet you refuse to come to me that
you may have life" (verses 39-40), which shows that Jesus was upholding
the value of the Old Testament as a testimony to Himself.
5. COLLAPSING CONTEXTS:
Two or more verses which have little or nothing to do with each
other are put together as if one were a commentary of the other(s).
Example: The Mormons associate Jeremiah 1:5 with John 1:2, 14 and thus
imply that both verses talk about the premortal existence of all human
beings; Jeremiah 1:5, however, speaks of God's foreknowledge of
Jeremiah (Not his premortal existence) and JOhn 1:2 refers to the
pre-existence of God the Son and not to human beings in general.
6. OVERSPECIFICATION:
A more detailed or specific conclusion than is legitimate is drawn
from a biblical text. Example: The Mormon missionary manual quotes the
parable of the virgins from Matthew 25:1-13 to document the concept
that "mortality is a probationary period during which we prepare to
meet God." But the parable of the virgins could, and most probably
does, mean something far less specific, for example, that human beings
should be prepared at any time to meet God or to witness the Second
Coming of Jesus Christ.
7. WORD PLAY:
A word or phrase from a biblical translation is examined and
interpreted as if the revelation had been given in that language.
Example: mary Bake Eddy says the name Adam consist of two syllables, A
DAM, which means an obstruction, in which case, Adam signifies "the
obstacle which the serpent, sin, would impose between man and his
Creator."
8. THE FIGURATIVE FALLACY:
Either (1) mistaking literal language for figurative language or
(2)mistaking figurative language for literal language. Example of (1):
Mary Baker Eddy interprets EVENING as "mistiness of mortal thought;
weariness of mortal mind; obscured views; peace and rest." Example of
(2): The Mormon theologian james Talmage interprets the prophesy that
"thou shalt be brought down and speak out of the ground" to mean that
God's Word would come to people from the Book of Mormon which was taken
out of the ground at the hill of Cumorah.
9.SPECULATIVE READINGS OF PREDICTIVE PROPHESY:
A predictive prophesy is too readily explained by the occurance of
specific events, despite the fact that equally committed biblical
scholars consider the interpretation highly dubious. Example: The stick
of Judah and the Stick of Joseph in Ezekiel 37:15-23 are interpreted by
the Mormons to mean the Bible and the Book of Mormon.
10. SAYING BUT NOT CITING:
A writer says that the Bible says such and such but does not cite
the specific text (which often indicates that there may be no such text
at all). Example: A common phrase "God helps those who help themselves"
is not found in the Bible.
11. SELECTIVE CITING:
To substantiate a given argument, only a limited number of text is
quoted: the total teaching of Scripture on that subject would lead to a
conclusion different from that of the writer. Example: The Jehovah's
Witnesses critique the traditional Christian notion of the Trinity
without considering the full text which scholars use to substantiate
the concept.
12. INADEQUATE EVIDENCE:
A hasty generalization is drawn from too little evidence. Example:
The Jehovah's Witnesses teach that blood transfusion is nonbiblical,
but the biblical data that they cite fails either to speak directly to
the issue or to adequately substantiate their teaching.
13. CONFUSED DEFINITION:
A biblical term is misunderstood in such a way that an essential
biblical doctrine is distorted or rejected. Example: one of Edgar
Cayce's followers confuses the eastern doctrine of reincarnation with
the biblical doctrine of being born again.
14. IGNORING ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATIONS:
A specific interpretation given to a biblical text or set of text
which could well be, and often have been, interpreted in quite a
different fashion, but these alternatives are not considered. Example:
Erich von Daniken asks why in Genesis 1:26 God speaks in the plural
("us"), suggesting that this is an oblique reference to God's being one
of many astronauts and failing to consider alternative explanations
that either God was speaking as "Heaven's king accompanied by His
heavenly host" or that the plural prefigures the doctrine of the
Trinity expressed more explicitly in the New Testament.
15. THE OBVIOUS FALLACY:
Words like OBVIOUSLY, UNDOUBTEDLY, CERTAINLY, ALL REASONABLE PEOPLE
HOLD THAT and so forth are substituted for logical reasons. Example:
Erich von daniken says, "Undoubtedly the Ark [of the Covenent] was
electrically charged!"
16. VIRTUE BY ASSOCIATION:
Either (1) a cult writer associates his or her teaching with those
of figures accepted as authoritative by traditional Christians; (2)
cult writings are likened to the Bible; or (3) cult literature imitates
the form of the Bible writing such that it sounds like the Bible.
Example of (1): Rick Chapman list 21 gurus, including Jesus Christ, St.
Francis and St. Theresa, that "you can't go wrong with." Example of
(2): Juan Mascaro in his introduction to the Upanishads cites the New
Testament, the Gospels, Ecclesiastes and the Psalms, from which he
quotes passages supposedly paralleling the Upanishads. Example of (3):
The Mormon DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS 93 interweave phrases from the Gospel
of John and maintains a superficial similarity to the Gospel such that
it seems to be like the Bible.
17. ESOTERIC INTERPRETATION:
Under the assumption that the Bible contains hidden, esoteric,
meaning which is open only to those who are initiated into its secrets,
the interpreter declares the significance of biblical passages without
giving much, if any, explanation for his or her interpretation.
Example: Mary Baker Eddy gives the meaning of the first phrase in the
Lord's Prayer, "Our Father which art in heaven, " as "Our Father-Mother
God, all harmonious."
18. SUPPLEMENTING BIBLICAL AUTHORITY:
New revelation from post biblical prophets either replaces or is
added to the Bible as authority. Example: The Mormons supplement the
Bible with the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl
of Great Price.
19. REJECTING BIBLICAL AUTHORITY:
Either the Bible as a whole or texts from the Bible are examined and
rejected because they do not square with other authorities - such as
reason or revelation = do not appear to agree with them. Example:Archie
Matson holds that the Bible contains contradictions and that Jesus
himself rejected the authority of the Old Testament when he contrasted
His own views with it on the Sermon on the Mount.
20. WORLD-VIEW CONFUSION:
Scriptural statements, stories, commands or symbols which have a
particular meaning or set of meanings when taken within the
intellectual and broadly cultural framework of the Bible itself are
lifted out of that context, placed within the frame of reference of
another system and thus given a meaning that markedly differs from
their intended meaning. Example: The Maharishi Mahesh Yogi interprets
"Be still, and know that I am God" as meaning that each person should
meditate and come to the realization that he is essentially Godhood
itself.