The Politely Skeptical Bereans

As an introduction to this study, please read the 1-minute devotion Good Skeptics - Acts 17. It explains how the noble Bereans carefully examined Paul's teaching with the Old Testament Scripture before accepting his message.

There are two ways to approach Scripture:
↪ Exegesis: Starting with Scripture and molding our beliefs to fit what Scripture accurately teaches.
↪ Eisegesis: Starting with our beliefs and molding Scripture to fit our beliefs. This involves taking things out of context and ignoring texts that disagree with our beliefs.

Some Christians teach that studying the Bible topically is also wrong because topical studies don't use the "inductive method." 

But this is a misunderstanding. Any study is "inductive" if it's based on sound study of the text. Jesus often taught topically, using Old Testament passages in his instructions, commands, and parables about specific subjects. 

If we don't know the "whole counsel" of Scripture on subjects (Acts 20:27), we can miss important points. I discuss this in my Bible study Pieces Parts, showing our need for both topical and book studies to understand Scripture accurately.

I've dedicated a section of Bible Love Notes to what I call Half-truths Many Christians Believe, dealing with some common misconceptions among Christians, most of which are based on eisegesis.

1. Note the distinctions between worldly wisdom and God's wisdom: 

1 Corinthians 1:18-20: "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.' 20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?'" 

1 Corinthians 3:18-20:  "Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, 'He catches the wise in their own craftiness'; 20 and again, 'The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.'"

God's truths are not based on majority opinion. We should not be surprised if hugely popular worldly philosophies contradict Scripture.  

2. I love how relevant Scripture is to problems we face in the world.

Colossians 2:8: "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ." 

Even trusted teachers can make mistakes or hold incorrect views, so we need to test everything. 

3. The Bereans are a great example of "polite skeptics." 

Acts 17:11: "Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." 

They listened to Paul and tested what he said against Old Testament teaching until they were comfortable that his message was from God. That is how we should approach teachings, even when they are presented by trusted teachers. 

copyright 2013, Gail Burton Purath, BiteSizeBibleStudy.com, edited and updated 2020

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