“I never said you stole the money” – An Excellent Explanation of How Easy it is to Misinterpret the Bible

Patrick Madrid is a friend of over 30 years and is one of the brightest Catholic apologists on the planet.

This is his excellent article about how easy it is to misinterpret the Bible. A compelling critique of “sola Scriptura” or “Bible alone”. It is fast-paced, fun and easy to read. Very instructive too.

A tidbit to entice you to read the whole article:

I have found that this same habit often shows up when people read the Bible. A sincere believer sometimes “sees” in Scripture a doctrine the Bible does not actually teach. Two well-known examples are the Protestant principles of sola scriptura, meaning “by Scripture alone,” and sola fide, meaning justification by faith alone. Neither doctrine appears in the Bible, and both are explicitly denied by it.

There is another kind of misunderstanding that is just as common. Sometimes the words are not random at all, but their meaning is unclear because of ambiguity. Consider this familiar sentence:

“Time flies like the wind. Fruit flies like bananas.”

If it is possible to misread a sentence that short and simple, it should not surprise us that people misread complex historical texts.

The Bible is no exception.

Some readers impose ideas onto Scripture that are not actually present, a practice known as eisegesis. Others ignore passages that do not fit their own theories or preferences.

I learned this lesson in a particularly vivid way years ago, after finishing a parish apologetics seminar.

Two men, both Calvinists, approached me and asked if I would give them a chance to show me how wrong my understanding of the Bible was.

The whole article is here:  https://open.substack.com/pub/patrickmadrid/p/i-never-said-you-stole-money