Dr Paul Allen

I once had a friend, who had great interest in the Bible but no training in the biblical languages. Her strength as a Bible student came from one obvious and one hidden source. The  obvious  source was her daily practice of Scripture reading, that beneficial spiritual discipline most Christians at least acknowledge—if only by experiencing a vague (or sharp!) sense of guilt that they’re not doing it. Well, she did it. The  hidden  source of her strength as a Bible student was that she knew Spanish and frequently read her Spanish Bible, both in church services and in personal devotions. Simply put: She made comparing translations of Scripture a regular part of her Bible study. I’m not sure she saw this as a strength, because she was always coming to me perplexed—and sometimes a little irked—about 1) why her English and Spanish translations sometimes differed, and 2) why she so frequently heard preachers say, “What the Greek says here is . . .” and then go ...

The danger of erroneous interpretation of Scripture is not new in our day. The Apostle Paul instructed a young Timothy, "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15). There is a right way and a wrong way to handle the Word of God. Unfortunately, our era continues to be littered with those who may find themselves ashamed because they have mishandled the Word of Truth. Take, for example, Mark 16:17–18: And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poisons, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover. Although the authenticity of this passage is debated, some have taken these words and used them to justify the practice of literally handling deadly snakes in the midst of the congregation ...