Illegitimate Totality Transfer | Theological Word of the Day
Illegitimate Totality Transfer
Date August 1, 2008
In biblical interpretation, this refers to the illegitimate transfer of a word’s total possible meaning, with all its variations and nuances, and forcing them all into a particular context. For example, if one were to do a word study on the Greek word phile, one would find that it could mean “affection, friendship, love, or kiss.” The context must decide. The illegitimate totality transfer occurs when one forces all of these meanings into one passage, without consideration of which nuance best fits the context. This is a common interpretive fallacy.
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