Teaching Series 1 - About the Bible

Part 4: Context and Prooftext

n eye for an eye, that 's giving us permission to get revenge."
"John 3:16. That's all anyone has to know about God"
"Let women keep silent in the churches.  See, Paul says so."
"God helps those who help themselves."

One of the universal issues that we encounter today is the misuse of the Bible to make a particular point.  This method of debate is known as "prooftexting," pulling together a series of  verses or half-verses to win an argument.  The problem is that since the Bible was written with the words and phrases in the order that we find them, it is dangerous to rearrange that order to suit our individual needs.  This is not to say that we cannot meditate on single phrases or thoughts from the Bible, but it is to say that we do not do the Bible justice when we shout phrases at one another in an argument, or write down lists of verses in an attempt to connect them for a single purpose. 

The first successful use of God's words to win a fight can be found in the Book of Genesis, chapter 3.  The serpent confuses the woman regarding the meaning of the warning from God about death and the tree in the middle of the garden.

"An eye for an eye." is found in the 19th chapter of the Book of Deuteronomy and is part of a list of laws regarding testimony.   Specifically, this list is designed to assure that no one shall be accused unjustly, that all accusations will be investigated completely, and that the punishment does not exceed the crime.  In those days, a petty crime for which the victim sought justice would result in the victim's family exacting that justice by punishing as many members of the perpetrator's family as could be found.  As you can well imagine, this kind of thing got out of hand pretty quickly, leading to blood feuds that could go on for generations.  The purpose of these laws was to limit the amount of punishment, not to require at least that amount of punishment.  When we hear of the modern day Moslem nations that apply this kind of law to the extent that a thief will have his hands chopped off, we think of this as barbaric.  Think about how much worse if would be if everyone in an extended family had to pay for the crime of one person.
John 3:16.  This verse is seen being held up on posters in large crowds and has become a standard of Christian evangelism.  The idea is that if you know the words in this verse, then you are part of the "in" crowd, and if you don't know these words, someone who does can engage you in conversation about the Good News.  These are the words:

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."

"Let the women keep silent in the churches."   The cultural context of the First Century when Paul was writing held no place for women in any form of power, but more than that, Paul is writing to the church at Corinth about the loose moral behavior of the entire congregation.  Some of those who spoke out against Paul were women who did not want to lose their influence in Corinthian society; women who were not loving members of families but were instead engaged in sexual cultic activity in the worship of "local" gods.  If Paul had meant for this to be a universal prohibition against the work of women in the Church, the account of the first convert in Europe (Acts 16) would have been about the first male convert in Europe, not Lydia, a wealthy merchant of purple fabrics.  Indeed, in 1 Corinthians 11, Paul accepts praying and prophesying in church so long as their heads are covered, and in Acts 2 and 21 refer to women prophets as appropriate.