I picked up The Most Misused Verses in the Bible by Eric J. Bargerhuff when I was at Masters one summer and read most of it on the trip home. It’s an easy read with sound teaching and I enjoyed it. It’s subtitled “Surprising Ways God’s Word is Misunderstood” although I didn’t find many surprises in it. Most of the verses I’d heard misused (and some I have misused myself in the past), although there were a couple unexpected verses.
Bargerhuff looks at 17 different verses (or passages) that are misused. I am not going to go through them all, although I will list the references for you here:
- “Judge Not” – Matthew 7:1
- “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you” – Jeremiah 29:11-13
- “Where two or three are gathered” – Matthew 18:20
- “Ask for anything in My name” – John 14:13-14
- “All things work together for good” – Romans 8:28
- “If My people who are called by My name” – 2 Chronicles 7:14
- “Jesus as the firstborn of all creation” – Colossians 1:15
- “Money is the root of all evil” – 1 Timothy 6:10
- “No more than you can handle” – 1 Corinthians 10:13
- “Train up a child” – Proverbs 22:6
- “I can do all things through Christ” – Philippians 4:13
- “An eye for an eye” – Exodus 21:23-25
- “Prayer offered in faith” – James 5:15
- “Repent and be baptized” – Acts 2:38
- “Guard your heart” – Proverbs 4:23
- “Where there is no vision” – Proverbs 29:18
- “Lifting up the name of Jesus” – John 12:32
Just some notes about it.
First, I had never heard Proverbs 4:23 misused. It seems that it’s used by people to keep from getting close to others. I also did not know that John 12:32 (which is about Jesus being lifted up on the cross) was the basis for lifting up the name of Jesus. Those were the ones that surprised me.
Second, Bargerhuff is absolutely correct in his emphasis on context. So many of these verses wouldn’t be misused if people refrained from pulling them from the Bible and ignoring their immediate context.
Overall: I think this is an excellent book and a very useful reference tool. It doesn’t hurt to double check your own favourite verses as well.
~ Miss Dorothy
