Where does the argument come from?
Think of a forty-minute sermon about giving money. The preacher reads lines from seven books of the Bible. He reads every line correctly. Most people go home and say, “That was a very biblical sermon. He read from the Bible the whole time.”
Now ask a different question. Each verse came as one short line. Something had to join the lines into one message. That joining is not in any of the verses. It came from the preacher.
So this page asks: when a sermon has a lot of Bible in it, does that show that the Bible is in control?
Each new verse adds one piece of the Bible. It also adds one new join, and the preacher makes the joins.
A sermon on one paragraph is easy to check. You read that paragraph. A sermon made from twenty short pieces must be checked twenty times, in twenty places. Nobody does that.
This does not mean that the preacher is dishonest.
Verse numbers came from a printer
No Bible writer wrote a “verse”. They wrote letters, stories and songs. The text ran on without numbers.
- Chapters were added about the year 1200.
- Verse numbers in the New Testament were added in 1551 by a printer in Paris.
- The first English Bible with verse numbers was printed in 1560.
- In 1611 the King James Bible went one step more. It printed every verse as a new paragraph. For the next 270 years, the usual English Bible looked like a numbered list.
When a letter is printed as normal text, you read one message. When the same letter is printed as a numbered list, you read separate sentences. This is only a choice about printing. But it slowly taught English-speaking people how to look at the Bible.
Something to notice
For 800 years people have made tools to find a word in the Bible. First there were books that list every word and where it is. Later there were computer searches, and now there are phone apps.
Every tool made it easier to find a word. Not one tool made it easier to read a paragraph.
“The Bible explains the Bible”
People often say, “The Bible explains the Bible.” They use this rule like this: “This verse is not clear. That verse has the same word. So that verse explains this one.”
Here is the old rule in full. English and Scottish church teachers wrote it in 1646.
The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself: and therefore, when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture (which is not manifold, but one), it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly.
Westminster Confession of Faith, 1646
In simple words: The Bible itself is the sure rule for explaining the Bible. Sometimes the meaning of a passage is not clear. Each passage has one meaning, not many. Then we must look at other passages that say it more clearly.
People leave out two things when they use this rule.
- A passage has one meaning, not many.
- The passage that helps must be clearer. We go from a clear passage to an unclear one. We do not go from one unclear line to another.
So the rule is a limit on the preacher. It is not a permission.
Two facts that change the picture
The men who wrote that rule did not want verse lists in their own document. They gave it to the English Parliament in 1646 with no Bible references. Parliament ordered them to add references. They did it, but they did not want to.
Jewish teachers long ago joined passages by shared words, and they had a rule for it. A teacher could join two passages that have the same word. But an old Jewish book of teaching says: “one may not expound a verbal analogy on one’s own”. In simple words: you may not invent a link yourself. You may only use a link that your teachers gave you. Modern preaching kept the method and threw away the rule.
Try it with a letter from a president
Here is one sentence from a public letter. Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, wrote it on 22 August 1862. The country was at war with itself. It is one of the most famous sentences in American history.
If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that.
Abraham Lincoln, letter of 22 August 1862
In simple words: I want to save the country. If I could do it and free no slaves, I would. If I could do it by freeing all the slaves, I would. If I could do it by freeing some, I would do that too.
Alone, this sentence sounds like a man who does not care about slaves. Now put three things back.
- The sentence before it. Lincoln says that his first aim in the war is to save the country. So the famous sentence is about his aim as President.
- The end of the letter. Lincoln writes about his “personal wish that all men every where could be free”. So he himself separates his duty from his own wish.
- What was happening. One month before, Lincoln had already read to his ministers a paper that would free the slaves. One month after the letter, he made it public.
Nobody changed Lincoln’s words. But the paragraph, the ending and the situation were taken away. The same three things are taken away from a Bible verse when it is preached as one sentence alone.
We would not accept this with a president’s letter. So why is it fine with a letter from Paul?
Five famous verses with the paragraph put back
Here are five verses that people often use alone. Read each one with the lines around it.
1. “All things work together for good”
We know that all things work together for good for those who love God
Romans 8:28 · World English Bible
How people use it: “Everything will go well for me.”
With the paragraph: The next verse says what the “good” is. God wants his people “to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29). That means: to become like Jesus. And a few lines later Paul lists hunger, danger and death (Romans 8:35). So the promise is real. But the “good” is to become like Christ, not to have an easy life.
2. “I can do all things”
I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13 · World English Bible
How people use it: “With God’s help I can reach any goal.”
With the paragraph: Paul is in prison. One verse before, he says: “I have learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry” (Philippians 4:12). So “all things” means this: I can live with much and I can live with little. The verse is about being content.
3. “The windows of heaven”
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse… and test me now in this… if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing
Malachi 3:10 · World English Bible
Tithe
A tithe is one tenth of what a person earns or grows. In the Old Testament, the people of Israel gave it to God’s house.
How people use it: “Give money, and God will give you back much more.”
With the paragraph: God is speaking to the whole nation of Israel about food for the temple. The next verse says what the blessing is. God will stop the insects that eat the crops (Malachi 3:11). So the blessing is rain and good harvests for a farming nation.
4. “A hedge of protection”
Haven’t you made a hedge around him, and around his house, and around all that he has, on every side?
Job 1:10 · World English Bible
How people use it: “God puts a wall of safety around his people.”
With the paragraph: Satan says these words. He is accusing Job. He means: “Job only loves you because you keep him safe.” And in the next verses the wall comes down. God lets Satan take what Job has (Job 1:12). So this line is not a promise of safety. It means the opposite.
5. “That you may prosper and be healthy”
Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be healthy, even as your soul prospers.
3 John 2 · World English Bible
How people use it: “God wants every believer to be healthy and rich.”
With the paragraph: This is the opening of a short letter to a man named Gaius. The writer greets his friend and wishes him well. People began letters like this, as we write “I hope you are well”. It is a kind wish. It is not a promise to all Christians.
One verse means the opposite. Two are about something else. One is true, but smaller. And Romans 8:28 is true, with a different “good”. Reading the whole paragraph does not destroy the promises. It shows their real size.
The most used passage about giving
Many talks about giving use these words of Paul:
He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully… God loves a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9:6–7 · World English Bible
In simple words: The farmer who plants many seeds will get a big harvest. God loves a person who gives gladly.
Now read chapters 8 and 9 from start to end. Six things appear that the two verses alone do not show.
- It is about one special gift for poor Christians in Jerusalem. The money goes from some churches to another church. It is not money for the church that collects it.
- Paul does not order it. He says: “I speak not by way of commandment” (2 Corinthians 8:8). And people should give “not grudgingly or under compulsion” (2 Corinthians 9:7). That means: not unhappily, and not because someone forces them.
- People should give from what they have. A gift is good “according to what you have, not according to what you don’t have” (2 Corinthians 8:12). This is the clearest line in the New Testament against giving more than you can.
- The aim is that the churches become equal. One church helps now. Later the other church may help it (2 Corinthians 8:14).
- God does give back. And Paul says why: so that “you… may abound to every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8). God gives to you so that you can do more good for others.
- Paul never speaks of the tithe here. He never uses Malachi. And this is the longest passage about Christian giving in the New Testament.
A fact against this page
The words “God loves a cheerful giver” are from the Old Testament book of Proverbs. But Paul takes them from the old Greek translation, which has an extra line. And Paul changes one word. Then he uses the line for a new situation.
So Paul himself does what this page warns about. This is a fair point. The answer is in Part 7.
What is still true, and what is not
Not everything falls down when we read the whole paragraph.
These teachings are still true. One whole passage can show each of them.
- Christians should tell others about Jesus (Matthew 28, Acts, Romans 10).
- Christians should give gladly, and give as they are able (2 Corinthians 8 and 9).
- God has a purpose in suffering (Romans 8).
- We can be content with much and with little (Philippians 4).
- There is a real fight against evil (Ephesians 6:10-20).
These teachings do not stand in the way they are often preached.
- Giving is a way to get more money back.
- Malachi’s promise is about my own money.
- The “hedge of protection” is a promise of safety.
- 3 John 2 promises health and money.
- Jeremiah 29:11 is a promise about my own future. The verse before it says the people must wait seventy years (Jeremiah 29:10).
The first group needs no chain of verses. One passage is enough for each. The second group needs short pieces from many books, joined by the preacher.
So here is a test that anyone can use. Can the teaching be shown from one whole passage? If not, ask what is holding it together.
The best arguments against this page
Three of these are simply right, and the full page says so.
- Christian teaching must collect passages. No single paragraph gives the whole teaching about the Trinity. Putting passages together is a normal part of studying the Bible.
- Proverbs and Psalms are made to be used alone. A proverb is a short wise saying. It is made to travel.
- Preaching through a book, verse after verse, can also go wrong. It is not always more faithful.
- The apostles do the same thing. Matthew takes a line about Israel leaving Egypt and uses it for the child Jesus. Paul takes a law about an ox and uses it for church workers.
- Nobody can measure this. A preacher with a hundred verses may just know his Bible better than the person who complains.
The fourth argument is the serious one. Here is the answer. When Matthew joins the old line to Jesus, he says openly that he is doing it. It is the message of his whole book. Paul also tells his readers what he is doing and why. And the church accepts these writers as apostles. A preacher who copies the method does not have that.
The fifth argument is right. This page cannot defeat it. So the honest message is not “sermons with many verses are less biblical”. The honest message is: “Here are the verses. Here are the paragraphs. Check them yourself.”
Four small changes
Nothing here says, “Stop using other verses.” Four small changes are enough.
- Say who made the link. “Paul joins these two” and “I want to put these two together” are different. Say which it is.
- Know the paragraph. Before you use a verse, be able to say in one sentence what the paragraph around it is about.
- Read one passage in full. Read the whole paragraph aloud. It takes ninety seconds.
- Do not count verses as proof. A very large number of verses in one sermon is a reason to ask a question. How many of the links are in the Bible itself?
This is my opinion. Joining many verses in a chain is usually not dishonest. It is a habit that comes from our tools: verse numbers, word lists and search boxes. But it has one danger. It makes the speaker’s message sound like the Bible’s message. And the people listening cannot easily see the difference.
Every person who uses a verse should be able to say what the paragraph around it is doing. And the people in a church have the right to ask. Asking is not disloyal.
Check it yourself
- Read these passages from start to end: Malachi 1 to 4, 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, Jeremiah 29, Philippians 4, Romans 8, Job 1 and 2, and 3 John.
- Take the last sermon you heard. Write down every Bible reference. Read the paragraph around each one.
- For each link between two verses, ask: did a Bible writer make this link, or did the preacher make it?
The Bible words on this page come from the World English Bible. It is a modern translation, and anyone may copy it. The quick version and the full dossier use the King James Version, which is older and harder to read. The words are different, but the meaning is the same.
Want to read more?
The quick version says the same things in ordinary English and adds short exercises. The full dossier gives all the evidence and names every source.
Read the quick version → Read the full dossier →