eisegesis
Definition
Eisegesis (from Greek εἰσηγέομαι, “to lead in”) is the hermeneutical practice of reading one’s own meaning into a text rather than drawing out the meaning that is there (exegesis). It is the reverse movement of correct scriptural interpretation: the reader proceeds not from text to meaning, but from his already-formed interpretation to the text — thereby forcing a confirmation of what he already believed.
In theological method, eisegesis is considered a fundamental error. The text becomes an instrument of confirmation rather than a normative source of knowledge. Within the apokatastasis.wiki corpus, Bullinger is the only author who employs the term explicitly, as a methodological self-warning within his numerological-hermeneutical project. His concern carries particular weight: every powerful method — such as the numerical symbolism he develops — carries the specific risk of eisegesis the moment enthusiasm overrides accuracy.
Author Variants
E.W. Bullinger
Bullinger formulates in the Preface of Number in Scripture an explicit methodological self-warning:
“Whoever values the importance of a particular principle will be tempted to see it where it does not exist, and if it is not there, to force it in, sometimes despite the original text.” (Number in Scripture, Preface)
This self-critical note is remarkable in a work that presents numerical patterns as evidence for divine inspiration. Bullinger thereby acknowledges that enthusiastic application of his own method can lead to eisegesis. His corrective is strict adherence to the revealed source: the exegete may only work with what is revealed (Deut. 29:29). To speculate about what God has chosen not to reveal is “the sin of presumption.”
The positive hermeneutical principle reads: every word of God’s Book stands in its proper place; “the lock may be in one place, and the key may be hidden elsewhere in a seemingly unimportant word or phrase.” Searching for the key is legitimate; reading in what is not there is a methodical sin.
Bullinger illustrates correct exegesis — the direct opposite of eisegesis — with connections that the original text itself indicates: the relation between Gen. 11-12 and Acts 7:4, or between Isa. 52:4 and Acts 7:18. Exegesis uncovers connections that truly are there; eisegesis constructs connections that are not.