Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1126941 in Books
• Published on: 1996
• Format: Import
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Customer Reviews

Excellent Resource for Pastors and Scholars
D. A. Carson is research professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. This book began as a series of lectures sponsored by Western Conservative Baptist Seminary in Portland, OR. Carson also explains that much of what went into the lectures, and so now the book, began as part of his notes given in various classes over the years. This is the second edition of the book, which finds it slightly revised and expanded form the previous edition. Carson divides his book into four chapters that deal with various kinds of fallacies and a fifth chapter that offers some concluding thoughts.

The first chapter deals with word-study fallacies. Here, Carson gives a list of the mistakes related to linguistics studies. All of these fallacies occur when interpreters misunderstand the use of certain words by an author. Some involves reading back into the word the meaning of another word which has the original as its root, though the root did not originally mean what its derivative does. For example, while our word `dynamite' may have the Greek 'dunamous' as its root, Paul certainly was not thinking of blasting powder when he spoke of the 'dunamous' [power] of the gospel. Others involve finding a root to words which simply isn't there. For example, we not should interpret the word `butterfly' based on its apparent root words - `butter' and `fly'!

Chapter two examines grammatical fallacies. These sorts of mistakes many times come from basing arguments on the mood or tense of words when the language is more flexible than the one arguing will allow. For example, the aorist tense is often abused by some who insist that it always means an `once for all action' that occurs in the past. Heikki Räisänen makes this mistake when commenting on Romans 3:27.

Logical fallacies are the focus of the third chapter of this book. Here, Carson attacks the erroneous ways in which one justifies the way he or she may interpret Scripture. These can come in one's inability to recognize distinctions, or perhaps draw distinctions where none exist. Still yet, another fallacy can come when one improperly frames the question he is trying to answer. For example, "When did you stop beating your wife?" is a mis-framed question, for almost any answer will get the innocent man in trouble!

The fourth chapter outlines some presuppositional and historical fallacies that often plague exegetes. Some of these mistakes result when one ignores the Bible's storyline. For example, some today would see the Song of Songs as pornographic literature. Obviously, they have missed the point of the book, in part because they have failed to take the plot-line of the Scripture in mind. Some of the historical fallacies that Carson speaks of involve uncontrolled reconstructions of ancient settings, attempted explanations of an author's motive, and the desire to relate the Bible to other disciplines (e.g. sociology or psychology).

Carson has put together an excellent handbook on mistakes to avoid in interpreting Scripture. And while Carson himself sees this book as only being supplemental reading, I think that it should be required reading for anyone who studies (or practices!) hermeneutics and Scripture interpretation. The only critique I have to offer is the book's brevity. I would love to see Carson do yet another revision of the book, elaborating further on the various fallacies he has outlined along with adding a comparable section on positive elements for interpreting Scripture.

Overall, I found Carson's book to be an excellent read. Granted this is not light reading that one would want to take on vacation with him or her, it is a book that repays serious study and contemplation. On a personal note, I was fortunate enough to meet Carson once. When I did, I told him how much this book sacred me when I read it. He made the comment that he supposed the book was not all that "edifying." After reflecting on the short conversation, I think he was wrong. In fact, the book is very edifying because it teaches the reader that he or she is not interpreting just another book, he is handling the Word of God and great care must be taken. The book is edifying in that it reinforces the value of God's Word.

Well worth the effort to utilize this book
As others have said, this book is short, but Exegetical Fallacies is well worth your effort to learn how to properly exegete scripture. Written in a systematic way, I appreciate the work Carson has done. He is obviously a scholar and makes great points, especially on those texts that preachers massacre to make them say something that they really don't. I appreciated the fact that Carson was not only critical with others' interpretations but some of his own as well. I thought that this was admirable.

My criticism of this book (why it loses a star) is that there are times Carson could have been so much simpler while still saying the same thing. Several times I had to read and then reread his writing, and still I came away confused. No, it wasn't the use of the original languages that gave me problems, but rather just his manner of using awkward works or saying too much without properly expounding. (Could this have been because he was condensing? Probably.) One example is on pages 51ff regarding the use of agapao and phleo in John 21. I understand his point on page 53, but he (at least in my opinion) was most difficult to follow in these pages. (I'm still scratching my head.) While I'm no scholar, I believe that many average and even above average readers could have been serviced better with a clearer presentation in several parts of the book. But still, the book is worth fighting through, so don't let that discourage you.

Good intro to exegesis
Carson designed this work to be a textbook for seminarians and to serve as an introduction for budding exegetes. Anyone with a basic knowledge of the Bible and the biblical languages has probably found himself wincing on Sunday morning as a deacon or Sunday School teacher, or even the pastor, takes a verse out of context or mangles the original intent of the author. Such mistakes are simply inexcusable, for teachers of the Word ought to take utmost care in handling the text. Souls are in the balance. Carson's Exegetical Fallacies, though only 150 pages long, fires a powerful volley in the battle against exegetical imprecision.

Carson covers word-study fallacies, grammatical fallacies, logical fallacies, and presuppositional fallacies, giving examples of each and demonstrating the errors of each.

This book serves its purpose well and is excellent for both trained ministers and laymen. Read it and you will never listen to a sermon in the same way again.