prooftext
Etymology
From proof + text.
prooftext means A decontextualized quotation from a document (often, but not always, a book of the Bible) to establish a proposition rhetorically through an appeal to authority. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why this word is great
PROOFTEXT — [Noun, Verb] A decontextualized quotation, often from a sacred scripture, cited to rhetorically establish a proposition through a fallacious appeal to authority; also, the act of using such quotations. From proof (meaning 'evidence' or 'test') + text (meaning 'written words'), a term whose promise of textual foundation is a mirage. Unlike 'exegesis', which labors to understand a text in its full context, or a neutral 'citation', which merely points to a source, to prooftext is to perform a kind of literary taxidermy, mounting a phrase in a posture it never held in life. It is the snipped commandment wielded to condemn, the stray verse plucked to prophesy, the fragment of philosophy brandished to end a conversation—a quiet violence done to a shared story, betraying an anxious faith that the unadorned argument is not enough.
noun
- A decontextualized quotation from a document (often, but not always, a book of the Bible) to establish a proposition rhetorically through an appeal to authority.
verb
- To use decontextualized quotations from a document (often, but not always, a book of the Bible) to establish a proposition rhetorically through an appeal to authority.