Many people today scoff at proof-texting as either simplistic or manipulative.
Yet proof-texting has a long history in Scripture and theology. All scripture is inspired of God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. We may imagine Timothy s Jewish grandmother Lois and mother Eunice helping the boy trace his first Hebrew letters from the Torah. Set apart by the Holy Spirit, it is also the living tradition of the people of God. We need to sense both its strangeness and its familiarity.