Invariably, every unbeliever and those encapsulated in a false world religion will do something very similar. They will claim to have read the Bible, but are reading INTO the Bible something called presuppositions. By this they are asking God to believe in them, rather than believing in God. They tell God “either You submit to what I think You are, or get lost, You are not my God”.

Are there certain non-negotiable conditions in your mind that must be met first by God in order for God to be your God? That these certain pre-conditions or characteristics need to be entertained by God, or you could not believe in Him. That He must FIRST submit and comply to your worldview, how one is saved or sent to hell, or when He can save a person and how, and all of His truth must also comply or it must be discarded.

If so, you are in fact reading the Bible the wrong way!

A presupposition is a pre-disposition that you believe and will trump everything else including what God has said in the Bible. For example, you dream up this view of who God is, what He can do or cannot do in order for you to believe He is God and thus read the Bible this way. Or you prop up your world religion and what THEY have taught, and whatever that doctrine is presupposes what God has taught, it trumps any truth God might have told.

This is the WRONG WAY to read the Bible, by those presuppositions. Because it will led to confusion, ignoring vast stretches of biblical truth and perverting the rest so that it meets your presupposing ideology. I have had people show me a verse and try to say it meant something so vastly different than what the plain words are, not even close to what the verse said or in its context with the rest of the passage or chapter or systematic context.

It is quite easy to spot importing of a presupposed doctrine. Usually this is done by cherry picking a verse which will have NO tie, no other support for that doctrine by that one verse. And sometimes as we see Roman Catholics do with James 2 verses for example, what they are cherry picking and claiming a doctrine is will directly contradict Jesus or other biblical writers.

If you are reading the Bible the wrong way, you will also ignore biblical truths which will condemn your lifestyle. Certain sins are spoken of, so you will purposely ignore vast parts of the Bible and just read whatever complies or doesn’t talk about those sins. I have seen some try to license homosexuality this way, or they’ll try to claim it isn’t a sin because Jesus never mentioned “homosexuality”, whereas He did. Jesus is God, so presupposing that His existence began in Bethlehem is a way to ignore the actual truth. Or when the attempt is made to separate Him from the Holy Spirit, and that Romans 1 wasn’t of His office or 1 Cor 6:10 for example.

Now the RIGHT way to read the Bible is an outward approach! You read it as God is speaking to you, not you speaking to Him. You read it as God teaches you His truth, you don’t tell God what His truth is. You read it as an edict from the King, not an edict from the people. You see God as the sovereign One, not your church or worldview as sovereign or equal. You read it as inerrant, not as in error, because it came from God. You SUBMIT to its teaching, you don’t ask the teaching in the Bible to first submit to your worldview or belief.

If you don’t read the Bible the RIGHT WAY? You will always get God wrong, His teachings wrong, and it will culminate errors in your doctrines. You will be engaged in many arguments with those who are reading the Bible the right way, and spend most of your time defending your useless presuppositions.

Lastly, ask yourself, if you can’t read the Bible without your worldview taking priority, do you actually believe in God? Or do you want God to believe in you.