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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 8, 1992                   TAG: 9202100201
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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BIBLICAL QUOTATION TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT

DAVID POOLE'S article, "Police probe animal cruelty by sacrificer," Jan. 21, begins by quoting Ezekiel 39:18. Casual reading of the article would lead one to believe that in this verse, God was telling his people he was going to sacrifice so that they could "eat fat and drink blood until ye be drunken."

Actually, the context declares something far different: Ezekiel 39:17 says, " . . . Call out to every wild bird and all the wild animals. Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrifice I am preparing for you, the great sacrifice on the mountain of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood."

This section of Ezekiel describes God's judgment on those who harm his people. Implying that his verse teaches otherwise is a gross injustice to the text and could lead to misunderstanding the intent of the author.

I understand the restraints of space in your paper, but I wanted to clarify the biblical author's intent. Whenever we take a text out of its context, it can become a pretext. STEVEN C. LEONARD NARROWS

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