Why are we too stupid to understand the Bible? It’s not hard.
There have recently been several questions phrased very close to this one. I recently answered another question on Quora (also on my blog) that is very close in content and scope to this one. But this one brings a slightly different facet to the discussion.
Your assumption that the Bible is too hard or too easy to understand is interesting. From your point of view, you think the Bible is an easy book to interpret and apply. In one sense, this is true. The Bible can be understood in its claims even my children.
But the thing I love about the Bible is that the deeper you dig, you keep on thinking. It seems to not have an and deep study. Over and over more and more people write about the Bible and talk about it. The Bible is easy to understand, but it is also a book you will study for the rest of your life.
There is always more to learn about the Bible. So it is a simple book, but it is also complex in its scope and historicity. The Bible makes claims to be true to reality and history. It has people commonly agreed existed in human history. People like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, all of the kings in Israelite history, and many other historical people confirmed by outside sources.
All of these things can be studied in more depth. So on one hand, the Bible is a simple book that presents a simple message for anybody to understand. But it is also a complex book written by 40 different authors throughout 1600 years of human history.
It is rich with different cultures and people groups. It contains historical countries and nations, and is accurate in its description of everything it presents. We are not “too stupid” to understand the Bible.
Throughout church history many have claimed this very thing, that the Bible must be interpreted by people who are qualified to understand its message. Unfortunately, parts of the church have used language barriers and tried to keep people from reading it and studying it themselves.
It seems that for whatever reasons people have two block others from reading the Bible for themselves the Bible still comes through with its message. So it’s not hard to understand the Bible. But it is harder to interpret the Bible in its historical context.
It’s not easy to understand all of the different cultures and nations the Bible talks about and reaches. At the same time that its message is simplistic enough for anyone to understand, we must not think that we can easily interpret the Bible.
It is a very challenging book. Because of the subject matter and the ties to human history, the claims that God intervenes in human history and has sent his Messiah, his Anointed One, to the earth so that he can save those who will believe in his son Jesus are serious claims that must be listened to and responded to by everyone who reads the Bible.
Let each of us make sure to personally listen and evaluate the claims found in its pages. Although it does all of these other things, the Bible is a book of faith. It is written so that those who read it may seriously consider its claims of faith.
