Myths and Mything Links

For years, people have repeated the claim that caffeine dehydrates you. The reasoning seems straightforward: caffeine is a diuretic, so coffee or tea must leave you drier than before. This myth has become common knowledge, even though research tells a different story.

Caffeine does have a mild diuretic effect, particularly in those unaccustomed to it. However, in healthy adults who consume it regularly, the body develops tolerance to this effect. The fluid intake from caffeinated beverages contributes to overall hydration just like water does. Studies consistently show that moderate consumption (approximately 400 milligrams of caffeine daily, equivalent to four cups of brewed coffee) produces no meaningful dehydration. Coffee and tea hydrate more than they dehydrate. (and to be fair, if this dehydration myth were true, I should be a shriveled, dead husk.)

What makes this myth persist despite scientific correction? It sounds plausible and provides a tidy explanation. Once a community accepts something as fact, repetition transforms it into seemingly settled science. Belief becomes conventional wisdom without proper scrutiny.

Understanding the Bible faces a similar vulnerability. Quick claims lifted from isolated verses or stitched together from scattered passages can sound compelling. When individual verses are used to confirm preexisting beliefs, and others fill in perceived gaps, the result feels airtight. Over time, these interpretive patterns harden into convictions that are repeated until they carry the weight of doctrine. What may have begun as speculation or oversimplification becomes accepted theological truth.

This atomistic approach to Scripture (treating it as a collection of detached statements for proof-texting) fundamentally misunderstands the biblical text. Hidden codes, secret patterns, or verses isolated from their contexts become tools for what we might call conspiratorial interpretation. The grand narrative of Scripture (God’s story unfolding through creation, covenant, incarnation, redemption, and new creation) disappears.

Faithful biblical interpretation requires understanding Scripture as a unified story rather than a puzzle box of disconnected pieces. No passage should be read apart from its literary, historical, and theological context. God’s redemptive work unfolds coherently through promises to Abraham, covenant with Israel, exile and restoration, Christ’s incarnation and resurrection, the church’s mission, and the hope of new creation.

We need to be reminded that theology shapes a community’s life, not merely abstract principles. The gospel is not a riddle to decode but a reality to inhabit. Similarly, the New Testament represents the climax of Israel’s story (the announcement that God’s kingdom has arrived in Jesus and launched God’s new creation project). Only when we read Scripture as story does it yield its fullest meaning.

This narrative approach doesn’t diminish individual passages but illuminates them within their proper context. Rather than mining verses for isolated truths, we discover how each part contributes to the whole. We find ourselves not above the text, extracting principles, but within God’s ongoing story, discerning our role in its continuation.

If we willingly correct misconceptions about caffeine, how much more should we address flawed approaches to Scripture? The caffeine myth persists because it sounds reasonable and has been repeated frequently. Theological myths follow similar patterns but carry far greater consequences. Reducing Scripture to proof-texts or conspiracy theories trades richness for artificial simplicity.

What the church needs today is patient, faithful narrative theology (not another system of isolated verses or secret patterns). This requires reading Scripture as the story it is: God’s redemptive work in history, reaching its climax in Christ, and continuing through the Spirit-empowered community called to embody God’s kingdom until Christ’s return.

Just as good science corrects popular myths through careful research and patient explanation, good theology corrects interpretive errors through faithful attention to the text in its fullness. Both endeavors serve truth, but only one shapes souls and communities for eternity.

 ~PW 🌮🛶

References

• Antonio, J., Stout, J. R., Cribb, P. J., & Kreider, R. B. (2024). Common questions and misconceptions about caffeine supplementation: What does the scientific evidence really show? Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 21(1), 69–79. https://doi.org/10.1080/15502783.2024.2323919
• Hauerwas, S., & Jones, L. G., eds. (1997). Why Narrative? Readings in Narrative Theology. Wipf and Stock Publishers.
• Wright, N. T., & Bird, M. F. (2019). The New Testament in Its World: An Introduction to the History, Literature, and Theology of the First Christians. Zondervan Academic; SPCK.