Exegetical Fallacies (D.A. Carson)

Exegesis means interpreting a text- in this case, of interpreting the Bible.  And "a critical interpretation of Scripture is one that had adequate justification- lexical, grammatical, cultural, theological, historical, geographical, or other justification. In other words, critical exegesis . . . provides sound reasons for the choices it makes and the positions it adopts."  In Exegetical Fallacies, Professor D.A. Carson presents a variety of fallacies, the goal being for seminary students (the book's target audience) to "become better practitioners of critical exegesis."  And this is critical: "we are dealing with God's thoughts: we are obligated to take the greatest pains to understand them truly and to explain them clearly."

Interpretation is difficult- after all (and unfortunately), there are a great many differences of opinion to what the Bible actually says- even among Christians who hold it to be the Word of God!  So in this book, Carson steps through four main categories of fallacies: word-study, grammatical, logical, and historical. In each he provides examples of common ways some passages are mishandled. 

This book, though short, is difficult to work through in places.  Carson is clearly a scholar and writes as such. Parts were beyond my abilities, and better suited for the student of Biblical Greek.  But all in all, this work is excellent and highly important. I came away with a better understanding of the difficulties involving translation of the ancient Greek- and it's very easy for novices to be led astray by some of the fallacies discussed here (one takeaway: leave the Greek to the experts). But it's not all about the Greek- the logical/historical fallacies sections apply to everyone, and on the whole, it's important for Christians (and everyone) to better understand how to approach the Bible.  Highly recommended.

Rating: A