0723 | Exegetical Fallacies | D. A. Carson
Context: Finally got back into flying online while reading this.
Anyone whose job it is to interpret texts should be aware of the pitfalls of doing so. In this brief book, the scholar who went on to pen his masterly commentary on John sets out those pitfalls in quite often fairly technical detail.
While the layperson can read this, it’s obviously written for the scholar. It’s essential reading in any Bible college course where interpreting the Bible plays a part and, as such, has been a staple on courses in the 20 years or so since it was written.
Carson tackles fallacies in the following key areas: words, grammar, logic, presuppositions and history. In each, he exemplifies errors from a wide variety of sources who he references specifically. It’s good to see he doesn’t shy away from pointing out the errors of his peers where he sees them, and this was clearly a motivation for the book in the first place.
Unfortunately, the text is somewhat dry and, in the latter stages, a tad inaccessible for the likes of the man in the pew. As such, I wouldn’t really recommend reading it unless you are responsible for teaching other people the Bible. Even then, unless that is actually in your job description, you might want to find something that is an easier read.
