Giving a Piece of My Mind About the Stupidity of BAD HERMENEUTICS
"Preachers, please preach expositorily!" is one of the most common cries that I hear from those who use and/or listen to expository preaching. We have the study of Scriptural interpretation called hermeneutics. When I listened to this short lecture by Dr. John F. MacArthur, I really want to say that I missed a lot of lectures all because I spent time believing MacArthur added works to salvation. But the more I listened to him, the more I realize that he was only emphasizing the difference between true converts from false converts.
One of the worst examples of out of context preaching is this sermon called "Pisseth Against the Wall" by Steven Anderson. I admit that I really criticize the Roman Catholic institution or any pseudo-Christian cult for taking Scriptures out of context because that's what they do to maintain their power. If they did proper interpretation then people would know Peter wasn't the first Pope or that Jesus is the eternal Son of God, not just a man as deists want to claim it to be. It's disappointing to think that supposed "Baptist" preachers have been taking verses straight out of context. Taking the verses in context, I really don't want to continue listening to such sermons. Scriptures taken out of their context can drive anybody who takes time to understand the Bible dizzy. I even wanted to puke after Anderson himself started his sermon to massacre homosexuals. While homosexuality is condemned by the Scriptures, Christians must view them as the mission field and not targets to eradicate.
You may notice the number of faulty interpretations. Worse, the pastors even took the constructive criticism by MacArthur as a compliment when it wasn't. I agree with what MacArthur says: I don't see the Rapture of the Church in John 11. It's committing the fallacy of making a categorical mistake. The Rapture of the Church cannot be found in John 11 no matter how much you try to look for it!
I believe that bad hermeneutics happen because people are too lazy to study. 2 Timothy 2:15 says this about the Word of God:
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth.
Most people just want it quick and easy so they don't bother to study the Scriptures for themselves. That's one good reason why a lot of misinterpretation of the Scripture happens in a massive scale. When a pastor doesn't study then the whole flock gets the wrong feedback. No good teacher ever discusses a lesson without studying it! When I first started reading the Bible for myself as a Christian, I realized that it really takes a lot of study. I had to get some textbook guides to help understand the Bible or its events. Even a year or two wasn't enough until I realized I was missing some verses. I had to keep reading the Bible over and over again to understand it more.
What's even dumber is that many of these out of context preachers might be using the King James Bible, the most complete and accurate translation ever done by Calvinist scholars. As a person who still sticks to King James Only theology (but I don't force it down on others), I'm even more alarmed that while I reject all other translations due to missing verses and words that the out of context preaching happened with a person who were KJV Only preachers. All the while, one can see that some who also quote from other modern translations were still taking Scriptures into context in spite of having missing verses and words!
This is also a reminder to Christians who are studying the Bible. Before they go around and start pointing out the misquoting of Scriptures done by cultists, why don't they make sure that they're not involved in any bad hermeneutics? Otherwise, they're just going to make one illogical argument after the other just like cultists. Then again, I've seen a lot of people who choose to stick to their bad hermeutics because sin is like a comfortable bed or getting high on narcotics. The longer you stay in it the harder it is for you to get out of it!