CULT 012

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.

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