Unless Jesus is the central message of Scriptures, many errors abound. The most common is moralizing. Moralizing is reading the Bible not to learn about Jesus but only to learn principles for how to live life as a good person by following the good examples of some people and avoiding the bad examples of others. That kind of approach to the Scriptures is not Christian, because it treats the Bible like any other book with moral lessons that are utterly disconnected from faith in and salvation from Jesus.

— Mark Driscoll, Doctrine, pp47

mor·al·ize (mr-lz, mr-)
v. mor·al·ized, mor·al·iz·ing, mor·al·iz·es
v.intr.
To think about or express moral judgments or reflections.
v.tr.
1. To interpret or explain the moral meaning of.
2. To improve the morals of; reform.
moral·i·zation (–l-zshn) n.
moral·izer n.

The American Heritage? Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

moralize, moralise [mrlaz]
vb
1. (intr) to make moral pronouncements
2. (tr) to interpret or explain in a moral sense
3. (tr) to improve the morals of
moralization , moralisation n
moralizer , moraliser n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Verb 1. moralize – interpret the moral meaning of; “moralize a story”
moralise
rede, interpret – give an interpretation or explanation to
2. moralize – speak as if delivering a sermon; express moral judgements; “This man always sermonizes”
preachify, sermonise, sermonize, moralise
advocate, preach – speak, plead, or argue in favor of; “The doctor advocated a smoking ban in the entire house”
3. moralize – improve the morals of
moralise
reform, regenerate, reclaim, rectify – bring, lead, or force to abandon a wrong or evil course of life, conduct, and adopt a right one; “The Church reformed me”; “reform your conduct”

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