The Most Dangerous Verse In The Bible
Stories
Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit
Series VI, Cycle C
Which verse is the most dangerous? It is this one that says, "All scripture is God-breathed" (2 Timothy 2:16) or "All scripture is inspired," depending on which version or translation you use. To be perfectly honest, perhaps this is not the most dangerous verse, but as one writer says it is the mother of all proof texts. As the bumper sticker has it, "The Bible says it; I believe it; that settles it." After all, this is God's word we are talking about. As to why I call this verse dangerous, stay tuned.
Just what did God's breathing or inspiring entail? Some folks want to say that God dictated the words themselves. The authors of the various books were nothing more than recording secretaries who faithfully reproduced what they had been instructed to put down. That is the position Muslims take regarding the Qu'ran, and that is why they insist that it be studied in Arabic, because translations cannot accurately render the original exactly. Those who claim that this is the way we got our Bible will add that it is only exact in what are called the original "autographs." Subsequent copies and translations are possibly slightly flawed.
Another way of explaining God's breathing is to say that, rather than dictating the very words of scripture, God "inspired" human authors to use their own words to convey eternal truth. This is the position that most reputable Bible scholars hold today. It certainly explains why there are such vast stylistic and literary differences from one book of the Bible to another.
This leads to another "danger" in this verse. If all scripture is God-breathed or inspired, can there be any errors of any kind in it? The traditional response through the centuries was absolutely not. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism is typical; in his journal, he wrote, "If there be any mistakes in the Bible, there may as well be a thousand. If there be one falsehood in that book it did not come from the God of truth."
About 150 years ago, scholars began to question that hard-and-fast position. They began to point out that there are indeed contradictions and factual errors here and there -- minor ones, to be sure, but there nonetheless. As might be expected, traditionalists went ballistic and the result was huge controversy within the church, and major splits in the mainline denominations. Why all the passion? Because "All scripture is God-breathed ... inspired" (2 Timothy 3:16). The Bible says it; I believe it; that settles it. That is dangerous.
There is another danger. People think that scripture -- because it is "God-breathed" or "inspired" -- is somehow magical in the way it can give guidance. "Pastor, can you give me a few verses that will help strengthen my marriage or help me be a better father or to get my daughter to clean up her room?" Have you ever been faced with a difficult decision and gone to the Bible for assistance? Eyes closed, Bible on its spine in your lap, let it fall open, finger points to a place on the page, and voila, God's will for your life is before you. Have you ever tried it?
My sweetie has, back in the days before her sanctification was complete. Christie grew up in Venezuela, but as is often the case with the children of Americans working overseas, when it came time for high school, she came back to the states to a school in New England. She came to dislike it intensely, as much for being separated from her family as anything else. She wanted to come home. She decided to get some divine guidance: Bible on the lap, eyes closed, and the moving finger magically guided. She opened her eyes to see what passage she had been "guided to" and read in astonishment from Jeremiah 38:2: "Thus says the Lord, he who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague. But he who goes forth to the Chaldeans shall live." By the sword? The famine? Gracious! She was on the phone to Caracas that night and within two weeks she was back in South America. After all, "All scripture is inspired...." That is like using the Bible as an Ouija Board!
William Sloane Coffin once bemoaned "Christians use the Bible much as a drunk does a lamppost -- more for support than for illumination."
There is one more danger and that is to do what I have been doing right here. Over and over I have been repeating "All scripture is God-breathed ..." (2 Timothy 3:16) and leaving it at that. I have no reference to what comes before or after. Folks do that with scripture all the time, and the result is that you prove most anything you want by appealing to scripture. "Cain killed his brother Abel" (Genesis 4). "Go and do likewise" (Luke 10). "What you are about to do, do quickly" (John 13). Get the point?
Most people are not quite so ridiculous with their proof texting, but it goes on all the time. Think of any of the major social issues that we face -- abortion, gender equality, sexuality, war. People defend their positions in all of them by appealing to this or that scripture text -- scripture becomes a club with which to bash opponents. But that is generally done without reference to surrounding material, and as we have seen, you can prove virtually anything with scripture depending on the verses you select. And who is to question you? After all, "All scripture is God-breathed...." Well, try to remember this: a text without a context is a pretext. And it is probably dangerous.
So what is the context here? Read it again as the apostle instructs his young son in the faith.
... continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
-- 2 Timothy 3:14-17
Paul has high expectations of Timothy and they are based on the presence of two critical forces in his life -- the witness of the tradition and his own knowledge of scripture. This young man's faith had been nurtured through the guidance of his mother and grandmother, as well as, of course, by Paul himself. While Paul had been his most recent teacher, the apostle acknowledges that it was because Timothy had had the advantage of growing up in a Christian family that he was steeped in the tradition since "infancy."
We come upon our "dangerous" text as Paul declares that all scripture is "God-breathed" or "inspired." But earning this divine pedigree requires something, a purpose. It is "useful" in quite particular ways: "teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16) -- all the tasks of ministry that Timothy will be called upon to deliver that will develop disciples and create the character of the Christian community.
"All scripture is God-breathed ... inspired ..." And we believe it. Practically every American home has a copy of the Bible. Be careful with it. Serious Bible study is more than memorizing an index that tells where to look up certain proof-texts that we can then apply like Band-Aids™ to life's wounds or a scalpel for societal surgery. It is a lifelong task of becoming familiar with the whole Bible, learning the great themes that run through the many books in this sacred library, and finding our own place in its compelling narrative. It is only when we have undertaken this sort of wide-ranging study that we can be said truly to be "thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:17).
Just what did God's breathing or inspiring entail? Some folks want to say that God dictated the words themselves. The authors of the various books were nothing more than recording secretaries who faithfully reproduced what they had been instructed to put down. That is the position Muslims take regarding the Qu'ran, and that is why they insist that it be studied in Arabic, because translations cannot accurately render the original exactly. Those who claim that this is the way we got our Bible will add that it is only exact in what are called the original "autographs." Subsequent copies and translations are possibly slightly flawed.
Another way of explaining God's breathing is to say that, rather than dictating the very words of scripture, God "inspired" human authors to use their own words to convey eternal truth. This is the position that most reputable Bible scholars hold today. It certainly explains why there are such vast stylistic and literary differences from one book of the Bible to another.
This leads to another "danger" in this verse. If all scripture is God-breathed or inspired, can there be any errors of any kind in it? The traditional response through the centuries was absolutely not. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism is typical; in his journal, he wrote, "If there be any mistakes in the Bible, there may as well be a thousand. If there be one falsehood in that book it did not come from the God of truth."
About 150 years ago, scholars began to question that hard-and-fast position. They began to point out that there are indeed contradictions and factual errors here and there -- minor ones, to be sure, but there nonetheless. As might be expected, traditionalists went ballistic and the result was huge controversy within the church, and major splits in the mainline denominations. Why all the passion? Because "All scripture is God-breathed ... inspired" (2 Timothy 3:16). The Bible says it; I believe it; that settles it. That is dangerous.
There is another danger. People think that scripture -- because it is "God-breathed" or "inspired" -- is somehow magical in the way it can give guidance. "Pastor, can you give me a few verses that will help strengthen my marriage or help me be a better father or to get my daughter to clean up her room?" Have you ever been faced with a difficult decision and gone to the Bible for assistance? Eyes closed, Bible on its spine in your lap, let it fall open, finger points to a place on the page, and voila, God's will for your life is before you. Have you ever tried it?
My sweetie has, back in the days before her sanctification was complete. Christie grew up in Venezuela, but as is often the case with the children of Americans working overseas, when it came time for high school, she came back to the states to a school in New England. She came to dislike it intensely, as much for being separated from her family as anything else. She wanted to come home. She decided to get some divine guidance: Bible on the lap, eyes closed, and the moving finger magically guided. She opened her eyes to see what passage she had been "guided to" and read in astonishment from Jeremiah 38:2: "Thus says the Lord, he who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague. But he who goes forth to the Chaldeans shall live." By the sword? The famine? Gracious! She was on the phone to Caracas that night and within two weeks she was back in South America. After all, "All scripture is inspired...." That is like using the Bible as an Ouija Board!
William Sloane Coffin once bemoaned "Christians use the Bible much as a drunk does a lamppost -- more for support than for illumination."
There is one more danger and that is to do what I have been doing right here. Over and over I have been repeating "All scripture is God-breathed ..." (2 Timothy 3:16) and leaving it at that. I have no reference to what comes before or after. Folks do that with scripture all the time, and the result is that you prove most anything you want by appealing to scripture. "Cain killed his brother Abel" (Genesis 4). "Go and do likewise" (Luke 10). "What you are about to do, do quickly" (John 13). Get the point?
Most people are not quite so ridiculous with their proof texting, but it goes on all the time. Think of any of the major social issues that we face -- abortion, gender equality, sexuality, war. People defend their positions in all of them by appealing to this or that scripture text -- scripture becomes a club with which to bash opponents. But that is generally done without reference to surrounding material, and as we have seen, you can prove virtually anything with scripture depending on the verses you select. And who is to question you? After all, "All scripture is God-breathed...." Well, try to remember this: a text without a context is a pretext. And it is probably dangerous.
So what is the context here? Read it again as the apostle instructs his young son in the faith.
... continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
-- 2 Timothy 3:14-17
Paul has high expectations of Timothy and they are based on the presence of two critical forces in his life -- the witness of the tradition and his own knowledge of scripture. This young man's faith had been nurtured through the guidance of his mother and grandmother, as well as, of course, by Paul himself. While Paul had been his most recent teacher, the apostle acknowledges that it was because Timothy had had the advantage of growing up in a Christian family that he was steeped in the tradition since "infancy."
We come upon our "dangerous" text as Paul declares that all scripture is "God-breathed" or "inspired." But earning this divine pedigree requires something, a purpose. It is "useful" in quite particular ways: "teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16) -- all the tasks of ministry that Timothy will be called upon to deliver that will develop disciples and create the character of the Christian community.
"All scripture is God-breathed ... inspired ..." And we believe it. Practically every American home has a copy of the Bible. Be careful with it. Serious Bible study is more than memorizing an index that tells where to look up certain proof-texts that we can then apply like Band-Aids™ to life's wounds or a scalpel for societal surgery. It is a lifelong task of becoming familiar with the whole Bible, learning the great themes that run through the many books in this sacred library, and finding our own place in its compelling narrative. It is only when we have undertaken this sort of wide-ranging study that we can be said truly to be "thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:17).
