how can one misinterpret?

Question

the bible if it is in fact the true word of god? would it not say and mean the same thing to all?

Answer 1

The bible is not the word of God, it is the words of about 55 men, and it has been changed so often that even if God inspired those words, their original meaning has been corrupted to the point that the document many contains self-contradictory details, as many things that simply are not true. (eg 1 Kings 7 clearly says that pi has a value of exactly 3, do you beleive God's handle on math is that bad?)

Go read the last part of II Chronicles, and the first few verses of Ezra. Is that an editing error? How can that be if God wrote it?

The status of the bible as a truly flawed document tells us nothing about God, just about humans who wrote it.

Answer 2

The bible may be the true word of God, but it has been "spoken" into human languages which are frought with inconsistancies. Even if the very written copy of any passage of scripture was exactly as God intended it, it would become "diluted" through re-tellings and translations.

I am kind of glad that we don't have absolute truth that the Bible has only one interpretation. If someone is willing to put the time and effort into it, reading scripture, mulling over differing translations / views / opinions, and praying over their meaning can be a rewarding and enlightening experience.

Answer 3

Since the question is in English, I'll assume that you're working from a translation of the Bible from the original languages. When a translator works, they intrepret and try to find equivalent words. But due to the quirks of language, translations aren't always exact. Think of the words love and passion. These are technically synonyms, but in modern English they have two very different connotations. If a translator chose to write "I feel passion for you" instead of "I feel love for you", modern readers would intrepret the statement very differently.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that the text of the bible was written so long ago. The meanings of words change over time. Time and translation have obscured their original meanings.

Answer 4

Remember having to figure out theme, symbolism, the moral of the story, and author's purpose in English class? And how some people would find a "wrong" answer, but it'd make so much sense? Kind of like that. Same words, but you get different things out of reading it, depending on who you are and what your life experience is.

And there's the issue of people making it mean what they want it to mean, using it for their own purpose. We do that a lot, the way some people interpret rules, law, and so forth, to twist it around to be what they want it to be, whether or not they're intentionally doing this.

And yes, when translated into different languages, sometimes things are lost, words don't exactly coorelate. Greeks had 4-6 words for "love" and English only has one. Things like that.

Answer 5

If it was, in fact, the true word of God, it could not be misinterpreted. But it's not; it's one of many translations of a translation of a translation with the original meaning lost.

Answer 6

The misconception comes from the fact that the writings of the Bible, and like works, were "inspired" for humans by God (or any other name), not written by any God...just as any person is "inspired" to create for the thought provoking of truths of another, whether it be in paintings, poems, songs, literatures, etc. The idea behind creation & it's artistry is that it indulges the mind to think, to explore, to become...hopefully to the advantage of positive growth of the spirit & it's intention(s). Soooo, just as you may see a picture as "this", the person next to you may see "that"...beauty/interpretation is in the eyes/heart of the beholder...See? It's all good!

Answer 7

its been misinterpreted for years good reason why theres about 50 denominations because if Christians actually did follow the correct interpretation we would be living just as the Muslims do in the middle east since they live by the Quran, if Christians lived by the bible no one would be alive because we would be killed for all the sins we had commited

Answer 8

We human beings are notorious for making a written document say what we WANT it to say. I point to the U.S. Constitution as evidence. No one today believes that the Constitution allows for separate schools and public restrooms for black folks, but in 1898, the Supreme Court declared that it did.

Interpretation is, at its heart, in the eye of the beholder. It is human nature to infuse our own meaning into the text we read and the images we see. It's not difficult to imagine that reasonable people (not to mention the unreasonable) would read a passage and arrive at different understandings of its meaning.

Answer 9

NO!! Languages do not translate out word for word, hence misinterpretation and many versions of scripture.

Answer 10

well of course ppl can misinterpret things.
let me giv u an example which of of the guys misinterpret; if a girl says "i like bananas" a guy thinks differently abt it. just like that if there r verses written in books different will hav the different meaning for them. ppl look at paintings and find different hidden menaings.