The Consequences of Ignoring Context - Schultz.pdf

The importance of context specially while using content from the holy Bible
It is a common practice to use words, phrases and even sentences sometimes being unaware of the meaning it renders. This specifically happens with commonly used language that has chance of meaning the opposite of the intended connotation. As an illustration in the cartoon Shoe a reporter covering one of the big speeches takes note of a statement, “And, in conclusion, I offer a hopeful vision of what lies ahead.” The next day the incidence finds place as a news headline “Lies Ahead” in which the reporter defends his label as “a direct quote.”
The alteration of truth in any circumstance is unethical and undesired. This usage at times may be an act of negligence or insufficient understanding of the original text but variation from the original is always questionable. As we reflect upon the essence of truth and authenticity, the importance of context surfaces. This arises because contextual inappropriateness leads to serious dangers and malpractices. In acceptable terms the practice employing a false context to derive the original essence of the usage is termed as ‘taking the words out of context.’ While context stands for the ‘flow of thought’ in a particular passage, disregarding it leads to gaps in the flow of the message leading to unintended meaning. This can be understood with an example of a sentence puzzle. Every word has to have a meaningful relation with each other to locate the right meaningful answer. In other words the trick is to figure out that meaning can be derived only when the importance of a part in regards to the whole is understood. The desired meaning can be derived only when the words before and after fit in the right context. Similar is the case of a meaningful piece of writing. The sense it makes as a whole defines the contextual meaning. In cases of misinterpretation the act of ignoring the other sentences before and after can result in landing out of context. This very practice can be termed as a dangerous activity harming the credibility of the original text.
    Being out of context in regards to the holy Bible is the specific point of my reflection in this paper. It refers to the act of taking some ‘specific biblical content’ as the literal words of God. This takes place when an individual removes a particular phrase or verse from the meaningful context and tries to retain its original authority and meaning even when it stands out from the literary context. The act of doing so is also called ‘proof texting’ suggesting that such a text that falls out of a context is definitely a pretext for a proof text. In current times it refers to the use of isolated biblical phrases to support...