Writers can point us to rare verses that appear to prove a false doctrine. While this may be extreme, it shows we can manipulate the Bible to support false doctrine. We search the Scriptures to find what we are looking for, then ignore or misinterpret everything else. Since we can show many different beliefs in the Bible by placing undue emphasis on few verses, we cannot accept every view that has a few texts. Several denominations and cults appear to support all their beliefs with Scripture.
Many people only study the doctrines of their own church and accept it without serious examination.
We know they cannot all be correct, since some church doctrines contradict other church doctrines. This is also the case with proponents of eternal torment, universalism, or conditionalism. All three groups can show Bible verses that seem to support their doctrine, yet only one can be correct. If we only examine the passages of one view, we will never know if it is correct. Our purpose is to determine which belief is the best interpretation of the entire Bible.