Why Cite "Book, Chapter, And Verse"?

In the last few years, an increasingly popular sentiment has arisen in the Lord’s church which maintains that the explicit citation of Bible book, chapter, and verse in pulpit proclamation (or in Bible class teaching) is somehow unsophisticated, ineffective, or inappropriate. With this emerging mentality, has come a dramatic reduction in both the amount of scripture incorporated into Bible teaching from the pulpit, and the extent to which subject matter is derived directly from biblical texts.

Many preachers now pad their sermons with appeals to modern “experts” in theology, psychology, and sociology. They pride themselves on staying abreast of the “latest thought” available from the academic community and draw freely from this body of information as source material. We have “set ourselves up” for an extremely dangerous and spiritually destructive circumstance which historically has heralded the decline of God’s spiritual nation (e.g., Deuteronomy 6:6-9; Joshua 1:18; Psalm 1:2; Hosea 4:6). Let us ask and answer this question: "Why should gospel preachers and teachers provide their listeners with direct scriptural citations?"

1) Such a practice helps hearers learn the Bible – An individual’s grasp of the content and structure of the Bible is facilitated by knowing precisely where a particular doctrine, principle, or truth is taught in Scripture. One learns and memorizes passages by reading and meditating for oneself (Acts 17:11; Luke 16:29; 1 Timothy 4:13). If the preacher or teacher does not use and identify Scripture in his presentation, he is at the very least failing to contribute to his hearers’ acquisition of Bible knowledge.

2) Quoting scripture and requiring direct citation minimizes the tendency to make vague allusion to scripture thus failing to take context into consideration – Error is often undetectable when disguised in the garb of a few familiar-sounding words or phrases severed from their original context. Even when inspired writers refrained from giving a specific Old Testament source, they were careful to quote the passage verbatim (Hebrews 2:6; Job 7:17; Hebrews 4:4; Exodus 20:11; Hebrews 5:6; Psalm 110:4). In his confrontation with Satan, our Lord quoted directly from the Old Testament scriptures (Matthew 4:4,7,10; cf. Deuteronomy 8:3; Deuteronomy 6:16; Deuteronomy 6:13; Deuteronomy 10:20). Doctrinal deceptions are constantly being foisted upon the simple and innocent (Romans 16:18) by the denominations and false brethren as they evade decisive and definitive contextual support for their erroneous religious views. Many disagreements and misconceptions would be settled and clarified if individuals did not justify their religious views by saying, “Somewhere in the Bible it says….”

3) Direct Scripture citation impresses upon the hearer that the preacher is not speaking “of himself” (cf., John 7:16; John 8:28; John 14:10), or asserting his own ideas (1 Peter 4:11; 2 Peter 1:20-21), but rather permitting God to speak for Himself – Explicitly telling the audience where the words are found in Scripture emphasizes to them that they are accountable to God – not the preacher. It is God’s words (not the preacher’s) that are “powerful” (Romans 1:16; Hebrews 4:12) and able to "save" them (James 1:21).

4) Finally, giving hearers sufficient information for them to locate a passage is appropriate because Jesus and others did essentially the same thing – Even though chapter and verse divisions were unavailable in apostolic times, faithful speakers gave sufficient indication by which their claims could be verified. Though occasionally a speaker would preface his Biblical quotation with a simple formula such as “It is written” (Matthew 4:4,7,10), he usually included more details which enabled the listener to “zero in” on the specific text.

Study carefully the following passages and notice how the inspired speaker provided clues to the specific source by identifying the Old Testament book, author, or canonical division (e.g., law, Psalms, or prophets – Matthew 3:3; Matthew 12:39; Matthew 13:14; Matthew 15:7; Matthew 24:15; Mark 7:6; Luke 20:42; Luke 24:44; John 1:23; Acts 1:20; Acts 2:16,25; Acts 2:22; Acts 13:33,35,40; Acts 15:15; Acts 28:25).

Christians living today are not addressing Jews who were so familiar with the Old Testament that they needed to be reminded of a passage. We are addressing the denominations and the irreligious – both of whom are woefully ignorant of Scripture – all the more reason to specify our Scriptural source. Why are some reluctant to give "Book, Chapter and Verse?" Perhaps some are threatened because their own knowledge of Scripture is inferior to that of those who are able to do so. Perhaps some have embraced false doctrines which cannot survive the straightforward scrutiny of scripture. Avoiding explicit scriptural citation facilitates religious seduction. Maybe to them, constantly quoting Scripture does not fit well with the modern, “sophisticated,” “educated,” or “smooth” approach. Such “education” is likened to what Paul called “false knowledge” (1 Timothy 6:20). Such “smoothness” sounds like the “smooth things” which Isaiah denounced (Isaiah 30:10).

Dear reader, there will never come a time when culture or historical circumstances will warrant an abandonment of straightforward, Scripture-quoting proclamation of God’s word. Let us not be ashamed of the gospel nor its message (Romans 1:16). Let us present the Scriptures faithfully to lost humanity and do all we can to encourage them to prove and study them as did the noble Bereans (1 Thessalonians 5:21; Acts 17:11).

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets