Like most people who have been in church for several years, I have heard the popular Bible stories many times. I like to be able to trust the person telling it to be correct in applying it to our lives, but people can mess up. Unfortunately, sometimes people continue in believing the wrong meaning of a Bible passage, and spread that information to others. In The Most Misused Stories in the Bible, Eric J Bargerhuff address some of the most common misapplications of Bible stories.

I was kind of surprised at how some of the stories I grew up with had been twisted, either out of selfish ambitions or through ignorance of context. To quote from the introduction, when we correctly interpret the scriptures by understanding the cultural and literary contexts and approach it without our biases, “we allow God’s Word to master us more than we seek to master it.” Though my understanding of the passages addressed agreed with Bargerhuff’s, I still share in his caution of not trying to direct the Bible instead of letting it direct me.

The book is set up so that it can be used on your own or in a group. I would recommend it for anyone who leads a class or even parents to help with teaching their children. Even if neither of these apply to you, it is still a good book to have. With each story, the wrong interpretation and the one that fits context and meaning is given, along with tips to be better at understanding other Bible passages.

I received a free copy of The Most Misused Stories in the Bible from the publisher, but this did not affect my opinion in any way.