Hard Bible passages are usually hard for one of two reasons, and readers rarely stop to ask which one applies. Sometimes the passage has been read out of order: a verse quoted before its paragraph was read, a story taken as a rule, a promise claimed by someone it was never made to. Other times the passage has been read carefully and still troubles the reader. The first kind of difficulty gives way to six questions asked in sequence, each blocking one familiar way of bending the text:
- Where does the passage begin and end? Asking this stops proof-texting, in which an isolated line is made to say whatever the argument needs.
- What kind of writing is it? This stops readers from treating a proverb as a contract or a prayer as a command.
- Does the story report this or approve it? This stops readers from mistaking a narrative’s silence for God’s endorsement.
- Who was first addressed, and under which covenant? This stops readers from claiming promises, or discarding instruction, that belonged first to someone else.
- What was this law trying to do? This stops readers from treating a limit placed on a harm as a blessing on that harm.
- Where does this sit in the whole story? This stops one passage from being read against the canon it belongs to.
The order matters because most misreadings are not lies. They are shortcuts taken by sincere people. Dr. Leo Percer, who teaches biblical interpretation at the Liberty University School of Divinity, reminds believers of this directly: “just because you have the Holy Spirit, just because you’re a follower of Christ doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to interpret scripture correctly.” He is not trying to shrink anyone’s faith. A believer who assumes sincerity guarantees accuracy has no reason to check the work. And Percer does not let either side off the hook: “Christians are as guilty of this as our critics are.”