Article by Cameron Spink

 

Sometimes I come across a book online that I just buy on the spot. The other week there was a sale on at bookdepository.com and I was able to pick a couple books up cheap. One book that I knew very little about was titled The Most Misused Verses in the Bible. This is written by Eric J. Bargerhuff, an author I'd never seen before but as the book was a good price I thought I'd give it a try.

 

I'd classify this book as a very easy theology book to read. It is large print and less than 170 pages and it the topics are split into categories that make this book a good resource to turn to if you are discussing any verses this book discusses. The book's heading gives away exactly what the author, Bargerhuff, elaborates in the book. He wishes to show some key examples of how Christians can wrongly apply and use Bible verses in a way that is out of context and ignoring the original author's intent.

 

Some of these verses are:

 

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged." Matthew 7:1

 

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13

 

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them." Matthew 18:20

 

"If there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise." Exodus 21:23-25

 

Bargerhuff contends that there are times when Christians use these verses and take them out of context. For instance, the Jeremiah 29 verse in context is rarely used appropriately today. Eric has hit this nail on the head. In the Church there is a desire to use verses without looking at them contextually. This is a great wake-up call encouraging Christians to look more closely at the verses they use.

 

The key strength of this book is that it is written for the layman. It can be picked up by anyone and browsed through at leisure. Unfortunately, this also is the key weakness to the book. When I want to learn about verses in context this book provides only a small overview and does not abound in references. For a book of this ilk it would be preferable to reference how one came to the conclusion about the mistranslation in context. In many ways this book is commonsensical, most Christians should understand that verses require historical context. Yet, after reading this book I am left wanting more solid ground than Bargerhuff has packed into this book. So, great book to start from but I am sure there are more comprehensive books out there on this topic.