#proof texting

[wutbju]

BJU's Answers-in-Genesis Chemist continued on his post:

V. Intellectual Integrity vs. Intellectual Hypocrisy "Study to shew thyself approved unto God… rightly dividing the word of truth." – 2 Timothy 2:15 "Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good." – Romans 12:9 We cannot pick and choose which parts of Scripture to believe. We affirm the Resurrection and the Virgin Birth as historical events. Therefore, we must not dismiss the global Flood or six-day creation as a myth. Consistency and honesty are essential. VI. Intellectual Perseverance vs. Intellectual Laziness "But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age..." – Hebrews 5:14 "Be not weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap..." – Galatians 6:9 Creation science involves wrestling through complex arguments in astronomy, geology, and biology. It's easy to give up or stay shallow. But diligence is required to defend our faith with substance. VII. Confidence in Reason vs. Distrust of Reason and Evidence "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord..." – Isaiah 1:18 "Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer…" – 1 Peter 3:15 We affirm that the Bible is not against reason but the foundation of it. True science and logic are not enemies of Scripture but allies when rightly interpreted. The evidence of design, complexity, and catastrophe all testify to a young, created world. VIII. Fairmindedness vs. Intellectual Unfairness "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." – John 7:24 "He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him." – Proverbs 18:13 We must resist the temptation to misrepresent evolutionists or old-earth creationists. While we reject their conclusions, we treat their persons with respect and avoid building straw men. Conclusion The defense of biblical creation is not merely about facts—it's about the way we think. By cultivating these eight intellectual virtues, the Biblical Young Earth Creationist can become a more faithful steward of truth, more gracious to the skeptic, and more Christlike in all his reasoning. "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh… casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." – 2 Corinthians 10:3–5 *Adapted from The Foundation for Critical Thinking

[queerchristianaffirmations]

When someone tries to enforce laws from Leviticus

[wutbju]

BJU Science Professor, George Matzko, posted this statement recently with this picture. Just note the proof texting (fancy word for cherry-picking from the Bible) and the utter lack of seriousness about Holy Writ.

Eight Essential Intellectual Traits of a Biblical Creationist* Biblical Young Earth Creationists often stand in opposition to the dominant secular scientific worldview. To be both faithful and effective, they must not only handle Scripture rightly but also embody intellectual virtues that reflect the character of Christ and the wisdom of God. These eight traits help cultivate godly thinking and gracious engagement. I. Intellectual Humility vs. Intellectual Arrogance "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children…" – Deut. 29:29 "...Be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble." – 1 Peter 5:5 The YEC recognizes that human knowledge is finite and fallen, but God's Word is perfect. Even as we confidently affirm the plain reading of Genesis, we approach others with humility, knowing we, too, were once blind and that we are not infallible interpreters. II. Intellectual Courage vs. Intellectual Cowardice "Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord..." – 2 Timothy 1:8 "For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words... of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed..." – Mark 8:38 Defending a literal six-day creation in a culture of evolutionary consensus takes boldness. Yet we must not shrink from declaring God's truth in love, even when it's unpopular in academic or social circles. III. Intellectual Empathy vs. Intellectual Narrowmindedness "To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak..." – 1 Corinthians 9:22 "And of some have compassion, making a difference." – Jude 22 Many who reject the truth of creation are sincere but misled. We must remember our journey and be patient with those trapped in a long-age or evolutionary mindset, understanding their assumptions and background. IV. Intellectual Autonomy vs. Intellectual Conformity "Let God be true, but every man a liar…" – Romans 3:4 "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." – 1 Thessalonians 5:21 The YEC must think biblically, not just adopt creationist views, because someone said so. The Bereans were commended for searching the Scriptures, and we must do likewise—even challenging compromised Christian views, such as theistic evolution or old-earth creationism.

[queerchristianaffirmations]

Hi, I'm not trying to be hostile and before I ask my question, let me say that I don't hate homosexuals. Now on to the question: you and other gay christians believe that you can be gay and right with God, right? What do you guys think of Leviticus 18:22, Romans 1:25-27, Mark 10:6-9, and 1 Corinthians 7:2. Again, I'm not hating homosexuals, I'm just asking for the gay Christian thought process towards these verses

Hey friend!

First of all let me warn you for future reference that saying things like “I don’t hate homosexuals” does not negate homophobia (not that you’re necessarily being homophobic in asking a question) but using such phrasing can set some serious alarm bells in queer people’s heads. Next time maybe try phrasing it like “I’m an ally looking for a better understanding of {question}”.

Sidenote: this is a place for all queer people, meaning trans, ace, bi and pan kids too.

Secondly, I can understand the desire to look at every single clobber passage (passage used against the queer community) and hyper analyze translations and exact meanings. I’ve done an entire presentation on this to my Bible study before. At the beginning, it helped me reconcile my identity and my faith. If you really need these explanations, check out hope remains or Matthew Vines. Apologetics and proof texting are baby steps into a much bigger life of peace, joy, empowerment, and love in Jesus Christ. But they can be dangerous.

Proof texting (using bible verses out of context to prove your point, bickering over meanings) can be used to justify awful and entirely ungodly things. As I’m sure you know, it was used on a widespread scale to justify slavery in America. Even today it’s used to justify sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and all sorts of other awful things. If I’m not doing a good job explaining this, here and here are some words from Fr. Shay that do a better job.

So how do I know that God loves me? Because I have a relationship with him. Because I pray to him and I hear him when I worship and I feel him when I serve and he is encouraging me and smiling upon me and he loves me just the way I am. He calls me to this community, to be his hands and feet in healing the pain here. I know God loves me because when I read the Bible—which is a collection of words written by people whom God was breathing through, but were still growing followers living in a different time period— I see over and over and over again that God stands with the marginalized. He stands with the people oppressed and hurting. He stands with us.

So what I think of those verses are that they’re probably mistranslated, but either way, they were written by people still growing in faith, and they were written in a different time, and not every verse in a Bible full of oddities and contradictions has to directly affect my faith. I have freedom in Christ- and that means freedom to love the way he made me- no matter what other people and their interpretations of scripture have to say about it.

Feel free to come to me if you have more questions! God loves you a lot and so do I, so I’ll be praying for you in your quest for answers. Have a great day!

[locustheologicus]

Disney has a 'strong case' against DeSantis over his 'retaliatory campaign,' First Amendment experts say | CNN Business

Disney just cast Ron DeSantis as the villain in a story of good versus evil.

“Where the laws of reality apply.”

This phrase jumped out and caught my attention in the above article. Many of us Americans, who recognize the liberal ideals that is the basis for our national identity, need to remember that in a world of far-right pundits and their politics of fear, hate, and division, the Constitution and the Rule of Law still applies. There is a functioning rule of law that does not serve political opinions but the constitution itself. Yes, judges can interpret the constitution through a conservative or liberal lens but in the end it must be the Constitution that is defended and interpreted and not the self-serving vision of a few.

I wrote a post where I commented on two styles of interpretation that exists for the Constitution as it does for the Gospel. Conservatives apply what they call the originalist form of constitutional interpretation, like conservative scripture scholars it attempts to follow a narrow literal interpretation. Proof texting is often used in this literal method and I comment further on this in another post. Moderate interpretivists is what the other school of thought is sometimes called (sometimes called progressive originalism) which, according to the Congressional Research Service, "allow contemporary understandings and the framers’ general or abstract intent to enter the constitutional calculus." This type of interpretation believed that the written text is a living and dynamic document. The principles of the text are allowed to adapt to modern situations and issues that the initial founders did not consider. It also recognizes that culture evolves as well and these principles may have to be reviewed in light of our changing times. It should be noted and theologically recognized that Jesus himself rails against the conservative literalism of his day which is captured in the hypocritical way that the Pharisees interpret the law.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity. [But] these you should have done, without neglecting the others. Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!" Mt. 23: 23-24

Jesus and Paul raise the importance of recognizing the spirit of law over the letter of law and we who interpret the contemporary law of the land should not loose sight of that. The Church has codified this tradition and interpretation in its own Canon Laws. Our own Canon 27 tells us, "Custom is the best interpreter of laws."

The recent settlement that Fox News had over their defamation trial and the ensuing departure of Tucker Carlson demonstrates to us that the rule of law still applies. The right seems to feel that they can redefine and attack popular movements with no repercussions. Fox news is very much focused on changing the political narrative in order to defend its' conservative agenda and delegitimize social justice movements and liberalism in general. This is what is being faced in Florida as DeSantis attempts to raise his ultra-conservative credentials.

We should not forget that both our Christian origins and our own American founding gave force to the premise that the spirit of the law is what matter and that was meant to evolve as our nation evolves. This means that we can debate the issues that surface legitimately from both perspective (as the Apostles do during the Jerusalem Council of 51AD). But we must be sure to interpret the law so that the law can serve the developing needs of America as Thomas Jefferson suggested.

[triadic]

And he had a couple of Bibles in need of customized repair, and those were an easy fifty dollars apiece—just brace the page against a piece of plywood in a frame and scorch out the verses the customers found intolerable, with a wood-burning stylus; a plain old razor wouldn't have the authority that hot iron did. And then of course drench the defaced book in holy water to validate the edited text. Matthew 19:5-6 and Mark 10:7-12 were bits he was often asked to burn out, since they condemned remarriage after divorce, but he also got a lot of requests to lose Matthew 25:41 through 46, with Jesus's promise of Hell to stingy people. And he offered a special deal to eradicate all thirty or so mentions of adultery. Some of these customized Bibles ended up after a few years with hardly any weight besides the binding.

Tim Powers, “The Bible Repairman“ (2006)