Bible Character Studies Are the Worst

Because Bible characters mean nothing apart from the Bible.
On January 20th, Pastor Robert Jeffress preached a sermon comparing President Trump to Nehemiah, mainly because they both wanted to build walls. On January 23rd, self-proclaimed prophet Rick Joyner said "the Jezebel Spirit" was behind the Women's March on Washington because they were seeking "to seduce God’s people into sexual immorality".
Everybody seems to find biblical parallels wherever they can. Even in colloquial Christianity, we often call skeptics "doubting Thomas's" or apostates "Judas's". We find a single point of commonality and sanctify it with biblical truth.
Some people actually profit off of these parallels (how American) making character studies and quizzes for Christians to consume and feel pious. And while I might be one to applaud any attempt to get folks reading their Bibles, encouraging the abuse of reason in the process is not what I had in mind.
Charac…
On January 20th, Pastor Robert Jeffress preached a sermon comparing President Trump to Nehemiah, mainly because they both wanted to build walls. On January 23rd, self-proclaimed prophet Rick Joyner said "the Jezebel Spirit" was behind the Women's March on Washington because they were seeking "to seduce God’s people into sexual immorality".
Everybody seems to find biblical parallels wherever they can. Even in colloquial Christianity, we often call skeptics "doubting Thomas's" or apostates "Judas's". We find a single point of commonality and sanctify it with biblical truth.
Some people actually profit off of these parallels (how American) making character studies and quizzes for Christians to consume and feel pious. And while I might be one to applaud any attempt to get folks reading their Bibles, encouraging the abuse of reason in the process is not what I had in mind.
Charac…