Blog #53 - Exegesis & Eisegesis

The reality is, there are no imperfections in the Bible. It is perfect.

When you find yourself in a position where you are defending your faith to a non believer, it is almost a guarantee that they'll bring up what they consider to be contradictions in the scripture.

They often believe that this is a perfect example of why you shouldn't believe the Bible and therefore can't believe in Christianity and they'd be right. The only problem is, they're wrong.

It isn't said enough so, I will take the time to say this very clearly. The sixty-six books of the Bible are perfect. They are the flawless word of God and you will never find a single flaw in them, but you may need to dig deeper, humble yourself and let go of your biases before you will fully understand certain verses.

If a pastor goes to an credited seminary they most likely learned of exegesis and eisegesis. Exegesis is to be used in reading and studying scripture. Eisegesis is to be avoided at all costs.

Exegesis is the critical reading and understanding of scripture including it's context and how it is applied within the event or lesson it is being discussed. This is the key to understanding each verse as it was intended and the context it was used in.

Eisegesis, on the other hand is why there is so much confusion. It is why there appears to be verses in the Bible that contradict other verses. Eisegesis is the interpreting a text by reading one's own ideas in the text and shaping it to fill your preconceived notions.

We are all guilty of this. We'll quote scripture in a situation because it brings us peace or to excuse away a behavior, despite it having nothing to do with what we are applying it to. This is what causes confusion.

It is also necessary to truly study the Bible. If there is confusion about a verse, go look up the original text and see if the translation is causing some confusion. There are many words from the ancient script that we just didn't have an exact translation for but can be easily understood with a little digging.

The reality is, there are no imperfections in the Bible. It is perfect. The imperfections are within the people who are reading it. Non of us understand everything perfectly and sometimes it can be confusing but the deeper you dig the more sure you'll be that the Bible is the flawless, awe-inspiring book you will ever have the pleasure of reading. It answers all questions, it softens all hearts, it perfectly fills in the blanks of human history and it points you to the source of eternal life.

It's all there for taking.