By Alissa Klenk
𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘒𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘛𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘔𝘦 𝘈𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘓𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 2𝘹2 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩
If ever there was a book I could have used in my past, it is R.C. Sproul’s Knowing Scripture. Growing up in a high-control fundamentalist group, the 2×2 church, we were warned not to read anything outside of the Bible itself. Other churches, preachers, and scholars were viewed as false and dangerous to our faith.
However, in my 30s, I started to listen to preachers like Alistair Begg, Joyce Meyer, and Jack Graham via podcast. The only one I still tune into today is Alistair Begg, but I learned a lot from all three of them and have added others to my list of favorites, including Danny Schillero, who took over Begg’s senior pastor role at Parkside Church when he retired, and David Sorn from Renovation Church in MN, Joel Nielsen at Madison Church in Iowa, and I periodically listen to the Bible Project. All of these pastors have brought unique perspectives that have helped me tremendously.
What “outside” influences taught me is that there is so much more to the Bible than I ever got in meetings or in my own reading of the Bible. And it’s no wonder—they have all committed to extensive education about the Bible, the Greek language, culture, and on and on. All things that are imperative to understanding the Bible to the fullest. And I’m sure each of them would also say that they learn from others too—there are so many pieces of education around biblical topics that we really never can stop learning. Plus, if we believe it’s an inspired and living text, this is just the nature of the Bible.
But when you live your life in a vacuum, only relying on what workers have shared in the past, it becomes an echo chamber. People even talk about how “we don’t hear anything new at convention, but it’s still helpful”. You know what’s amazing? I am hearing new things every single day. New perspectives and insights. The Bible is a rich and beautiful text worth exploring, especially in combination with commentary and prayer, of course.
With this lifelong view of the Bible within a single perspective, it’s essential that we are humble as we approach it with a new, open mindset. As Sproul writes in Knowing Scripture:
“Subjectivism not only produces error and distortion, but it breeds arrogance as well. To believe that I believe simply because I believe it or to argue that my opinion is true simply because it is my opinion is the epitome of arrogance. If my views cannot stand the test of objective analysis and verification, humility demands that I abandon them” (Sproul 44).
To clarify, Sproul defines subjectivism as allowing a reader’s own feelings, experiences, preferences, or ideas to determine what a biblical text means rather than seeking the meaning intended by the author. This topic is closely related to exegesis (drawing the meaning out of the text) vs. eisegesis (reading your own ideas into the text).
This is especially interesting because the 2×2 church preaching and testimonies I experienced in the 2×2 church encouraged this kind of subjective and eisegesis reading. When we searched for something to speak about in meetings, we often began by finding a lesson in Scripture that we could compare with our own lives, often not thinking about its context within Scripture and the intended meaning by the writer. We were essentially asking ourselves the question, “What does this say to me?” rather than “What did the author intend to communicate?” We could quickly move from the words on the page to personal application without first considering the historical setting, literary context, surrounding passage, or intended meaning.
And so much is lost when we approach Scripture this way. It becomes a very self-centered approach rather than being a good disciple who wants to learn.
Sproul goes on to write, “Pooling of knowledge is edifying to the church; pooling of ignorance is destructive and can manifest the problem of the blind leading the blind” (45).
At the last convention I attended, I heard false claims regarding Scripture from the Bible from an older male worker—not too old to be senile and not too young to have excuses, especially when he had supposedly given his life to the ministry, which you would think would mean reading and studying the Bible ardently. And this wasn’t the first time nor the last that I have heard of his inaccuracies regarding Scripture.
Jeff Thayer was known to have educated interpretations of Scripture, and I am confident in saying he likely read outside sources. I have even heard he took Bible classes at Moody Institute when he was in the Chicago area field. No wonder he was so interesting to listen to! Our hearts craved sustenance, and when we finally got it—we locked in. This is definitely not an endorsement of the man who was living a double life, but I did appreciate his approach to Scripture.
Sproul continues later in the same chapter, “Not all false prophets speak falsely out of malice; many do so out of ignorance. From the malicious and the ignorant we should flee” (47). And I think this is an exceptional point—not all workers maliciously skewed Scripture or shared a false gospel; many are ignorant and don’t know it. But either way, malicious or ignorant, we should flee from it.
Knowing Scripture dives into many topics regarding approaching Scripture. One statement that stood out to me is, “To interpret the Bible literally is to interpret it as literature”…” Interpretation according to the literal sense will take account of all figures of speech and literary forms found in the text” (54).
As an English major, of course, this resonated with me. I remember when I was in college, one day I was reading my Bible and thought—oh wow, I could interpret this just as I do the literature that I’m reading in my classes. And suddenly things started to click into place.
We need to be able to identify the genre of the piece of Scripture that we are reading—is it a historical account? Poetry? A Sermon? Is the author using hyperbole, personification, symbolism, and so on? This task isn’t necessarily easy, but thankfully we have commentaries from experts who can teach us and help us understand the text’s intended purpose. Let me be clear: I do not mean that the average person cannot read the Bible and be nourished with the help of the Holy Spirit, because we all can be.
Sproul introduces some concepts that made me smile a little as I read them. For example, he approaches the topic of seeing Jesus as a model and example when he writes:
“If we try to model our lives precisely according to Jesus’ example, we may get into trouble on several accounts. First, our tasks as obedient children to God are not exactly the same as Jesus’ mission. I was not sent into this world to save humans from their sins…Jesus lived under a different period of redemptive history than I do…A problem with emulating the life of Jesus is in making the subtle move from what is permissible to what is obligatory” (79-80).
Perhaps this is where the ministry goes wrong. I have heard workers say that Jesus was the very first worker or that he came to earth to establish the 2×2 ministry. I now see this as a profound Christological category error. Jesus was not merely the prototype for a particular form of ministry. His mission was unique: He came as the Son of God to accomplish redemption.
The 2×2 church ministry is often put into the place of Jesus, with workers portrayed as sacrificing their lives for the sake of souls. But they were never commanded to replicate the particular circumstances of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Christians, in general, are certainly called to imitate Christ in character, obedience, love, and self-sacrifice, but that is very different from treating the details of his itinerant ministry as requirements for a legitimate ministry today.
And that’s sad to consider for those who have put their faith and trust into this ministry with honesty, only to find they have been deceived.
This same idea of whether something is descriptive or prescriptive is also discussed in relation to the account when Jesus sends out the 12 apostles. Sproul writes: “To illustrate the problem, let’s see what happens when we hold that everything in Scripture is principle and nothing merely a reflection of local custom…Jesus says, ‘Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes; and greet no one on the way’ (Luke 10:4). If we make this text a transcultural principle, then it is time for all evangelists to start preaching in their bare feet! Obviously, the point of this text is not to set down a perennial requirement of barefooted evangelism” (120). I would also argue that the point of this text is not to set down a perennial requirement for going without money, a bag, homes, or marriage as the 2×2 ministry does.
Isn’t it interesting that the 2×2 church is adamant that its ministry goes 2×2, and is founded upon this concept that they are without homes, without possessions and money—at least for appearances’ sake, as we know this isn’t true, hence the iPhones, high-quality clothing, Apple Watches, and plenty of cash—but they ignore the part in the same verse that says they shouldn’t wear shoes.
And in parallel missionary commissions, they were instructed to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons—things I, for one, have never seen a worker do. Why does the 2×2 church take some things literally from the Bible, and other things they deem not necessary? All within the same Biblical account of Jesus sending the 12. And this is exactly what Sproul is writing about in this book—interpreting the Bible requires consistency.
Sproul dives into the ways incorrect interpretations of Scripture can lead to legalism or antinomianism, the latter being the belief that Christians are released by grace from the obligation to observe God’s moral law. As he writes, “Letter and spirit are inseparably related. The legalists destroy the spirit and the antinomian destroys the letter” (102).
In other words, both errors distort Scripture, but in opposite directions. Legalism can take several forms: adding human rules to God’s law, treating obedience to the law as a means of justification, or emphasizing external conformity while missing the law’s true intent.
As Sproul writes, “We do not have the right to legislate the consciences of Christians where God has left them free. It cannot be applied in an absolutistic way where Scripture is silent. The principle applies where we have biblical mandates whose nature remains uncertain (as to custom and principle) after all the arduous labor of exegesis has been exhausted” (126).
There is nowhere within the 2×2 church that this idea is more clearly shown than for the standards of appearance for women. Scripture nowhere establishes the particular 2×2 appearance code that women must never cut their hair, must wear skirts rather than pants, and must abstain entirely from makeup and jewelry. By elevating these interpretations and traditions to the status of biblical law, the 2×2 church takes away freedoms Scripture itself does not clearly prohibit, while potentially missing the principles the passages were intended to teach.
I could continue on with so many lessons of this book and comparisons with the 2×2 church, but I would encourage you to read this book for yourself. But I do want to leave you with one last statement from the book, which I found interesting in light of the 2×2 church’s use of the King James Version Bible (KJV):
“But one fact concerning the King James Version cannot and must not be ignored: it is simply less accurate in its representation of the original writings of Scripture than most modern translations. There is a crucial historical reason for this. The Greek text from which the KJV was translated (the Textus Receptus) is clearly inferior to more modern reconstructed Greek texts. Many textual errors found in the KJV have been eliminated by more recent translations. Manuscript discoveries since the sixteenth century have greatly enriched our knowledge of the original texts” (133).
Sometimes holding on to something because it’s what we’re comfortable with isn’t always the best choice. If we want accuracy and purity in our spiritual lives, sometimes we need to find the humility to admit we’ve been wrong and choose differently.
We can cling so desperately to our beliefs because they used to be right for us, before we knew better, but we are only limiting the work of the Holy Spirit within our lives when we do so. There is so much more to discover and learn; we don’t have to be stuck in an echo chamber or a tiny little box with no chance of growth.
Just as there is a beauty and depth within Scripture with the addition of outside resources and education, things that increase our understanding, there is also beauty and depth outside of a system that seeks to control and confine you to fit within its man-made assumptions—when the real truth is that there is freedom in Christ.
Work Cited
Sproul, R. C. Knowing Scripture. InterVarsity Press, 2009.
Posted: August 11, 2026
https://alissaklenk.substack.com/p/the-bible-says-sobut-does-it