Exegetical

Fallacies

Second Edition

D. A. Carson

© 1996 by D. A. Carson

Published by Baker Academic

a division of Baker Book House Company

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.bakeracademic.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Carson, D. A.

Exegetical Fallacies / D. A. Carson.—2nd Ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 0-8010-2086-7

1. Bible—Criticism, interpretation, etc. 2. Errors. I. Title.

BS540.C36 1996

220.6 p.01—dc20 96-4156

W. Gordon Brown

In Memoriam

Contents

List of Abbreviations

Preface to the Second Edition

Preface

Introduction

1. Word–Study Fallacies

2. Grammatical Fallacies

3. Logical Fallacies

4. Presuppositional and Historical Fallacies

5. Concluding Reflections

Index of Subjects

Index of Authors

List of Abbreviations

Bauer W. Bauer, A Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament, trans. F. W. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich (1957); rev. ed., trans. F. W. Gingrich and F. W. Danker (1979)

Bib Biblica

BS Bibliotheca Sacra

CanJTh Canadian Journal of Theology

CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly

CT Christianity Today

JBL Journal of Biblical Literature

JETS Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society

JTS Journal of Theological Studies

LSJ H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, Greek–English Lexicon (9th ed., 1940)

LXX Septuagint

kjv King James Version

neb New English Bible

niv New International Version

NovTest Novum Testamentum

NTS New Testament Studies

RestQ Restoration Quarterly

SJT Scottish Journal of Theology

TB Tyndale Bulletin

TSF Bull TSF Bulletin

WTJ Westminster Theological Journal

Preface to the Second Edition

The surprising success of this book suggests that there is an encouraging number of preachers and teachers of Scripture who want to correct common errors in exegesis. I am grateful to God if this book has been a help.

Many readers have written to share with me their own lists of amusing fallacies. A few of their suggestions have found their way into the pages of this second edition. Three or four reviewers or letter writers strenuously objected to this or that example. I have tried to take their complaints to heart. In a couple of instances I have revised the section; in two or three instances I merely dropped the material or substituted better examples, not always because I thought I was wrong on the issue, but simply because in this book I am not trying to score points on particular subjects so much as give indisputable examples of exegetical fallacies. But most of the material in the first edition has been retained here. Occasionally I have dropped material not because I have changed my mind as to the exegesis, but because I would defend my position a little differently today.

By contrast, ...