Quoting has very limited purposes. It is being misused in Christianity resulting in a corruption of meaning. Something similar happens in all intellectual activity, but Christianity is in a category of its own for several reasons: The subject matter is more basic, Christ is the reference, and a single written source takes precedence over all other sources.

What one observes is that each person who quotes Scripture gets a different interpretation aligned upon his own beliefs and errors. Supposedly, quoters cannot be wrong, because they are referring to the infallible source. Yet each person shapes the result differently. How can everyone get different results when quoting the same source?

Words are not sources of realities; they can only contact realities which already exist in minds. Similarly, words cannot put realities into minds; they can only contact realities which are already in minds. For this reason, Scriptures, or Christ's teaching, cannot be the most basic source of reality. The most basic source of reality must be the knowledge that people acquire through the lessons of life and study.

Since words cannot be sources of reality, it is easy to give words whatever meaning one wants. Christ went to great lengths to align his words upon examples, parables and lessons of life in an attempt to stabilize a clear meaning. People can only get the correct meaning out of his words (or any words) by looking at the intended meaning in terms of the lessons of life which they are aligned upon. But improper quoting is not extracting an intended meaning; it is contriving a meaning.

Extracting a meaning from words is a much different process that quoting. It is creating a logic which reflects upon lessons of life and knowledge which the reader can use as the primary source of reality. Words then direct thoughts along certain lines which enhance knowledge.

The difference is that the correct use of words is to enhance knowledge in an extremely limited way which is secondary to other sources of knowledge. The incorrect use of words—through quoting—is an attempt to use words as primary source. Words are too vague and arbitrary to be used as primary source for knowledge. Therefore, when words are being used as primary source, they are being shaped around motives rather than reflecting upon objective realities.

The proper use of quotes is to show how developed realities relate to a reference. But the developed realities must be given a meaning in themselves. Then a lot less quoting must be done than rationalizers do.

There is a tendency for people to get this concept backwards and assume that the persons who do the most quoting are adhering to the highest standards; and those who explain are operating at a lower standard. Explaining through reason is not a lower standard than quoting; it is the correct standard. Christ went to great lengths to explain and did very little quoting. You might think that he was different, being a source and having less material to quote. But the communication process is the same for him as everyone else. His explaining is an example of proper communication.

People should study Christ's method of communicating and use it as a model. He used the obvious lessons of life combined with explanations to enhance knowledge.