Bible interpretation...?

Question

Why do so many christians interpret the bible differently? Couldn't a perfect god write an easy to understand book without all the confusion?

For example: A childs math book reads: 2+2=4. Then it shows 2 apples with a "+" beside 2 more apples with an "=" then it shows 4 apples together.

Any idiot, using any language known to man can understand this basic concept. Why is it that "man-made" books and instructions are so clear and "god's word" which is suppossed to be written by A PERFECT GOD is hard to read, hard to understand and its followers are divided into multiple different religions with completely different interpretations.

Southern babtists go for a litteral translation and believe you can't just accept j.c. to get to heaven but you have to follow the "narrow path", unlike catholics who believe you can get drunk and cheat on your wife as long as you go to confession.

***IMPORTANT*** Please spare me the fact that they all believe jesus is the son of god. They DON'T all agree that simply accepting J.C. will get you to heaven.

Hey Will: Why don't you want that? Then every christian would know what they had to do. Muslims follow a clear set of rules and they are far more unified than christians.

NewCatholic: But I thought your god was an "all knowing" god. Are you telling me that he didn't know our language would change and compensate for it? Wouldn't that have been impressive, if god wrote the bible in modern english before modern english was even invented? Then I would be a believer too.

Answer 1

It seems to me, the simplest explanation is that no gods were involved in writing it.

Answer 2

The Bible itself answers your ? . Hebrews 4; 12 says that the word of God is alive and exerts power and is sharper than any two-edged sword and pierces even he dividing of soul and spirit, and of joints and their marrow , and is able to discern thoughts and intentions of the heart. The Bible then actually reads us and lets itself be interpreted the way we want it to read. Countless verses in Proverbs compare it to digging for treasure and searching with a humble heart, so it does require effort and patience. The apostle Paul summed it up best in 1 Corinthians 2; 14 and 15 " but a physical man does not receive the things of the spirit of God , for they foolishness to him, and he can't get to know them cause they r examined spiritually. However the spiritual man examines indeed all things. it's actually important to read the whole chapter to put it into context and that's the point of the Bible ; to read a section and meditate on it and see how it relates to the other parts. It's like a jigsaw puzzle, at first it's confusing and your not sure of what your looking at, but as it gets more completed, it's easier to see the big picture.

Answer 3

No matter how thin you slice it there will always be two sides.
For that reason God interprets His own Word.

Christian leaders and followers without the Spirit and mind of Christ are basically mental converts; adding their two cents to something that needs no interpretation. In addition the devil blinds the minds of unbelievers and confusion reigns.

St. Paul, by the Holy Spirit, said preaching the cross of Christ is foolishness to them that perish. If you are one of those who find the blood atonement of Jesus without meaning, or complete nonsense, it follows that you are one of those who will perish.
This does not take any interpretation and is every bit as clear as 2+2=4.

God's fairness, justice and perfection; and other people's business, are always an issue for those who think God should see things their way.

Answer 4

The Bible says that God's word is like a two-edged sword. It cuts away all the improper motives, the mild curiousity and other things which get in the way and only allows those who truly love God and eachother to find the truth. Alot of imposters want to pretend they know the Bible and understand it but when you actually can discuss it and look up scriptures, most of them haven't a clue. I am sure that is why God wrote it the way he did.

Answer 5

It was written 2000 years ago.

Have you read ANY book that is 2000 years old?

If you read a book that is 40 years old it is hard to read because of the minor changes of language and meaning over time.

Think about it.

Would God write like we do today 2000 years ago?

That is why he used so many parables, they are understandable for all time and in all languages.

I think they did a darn good job!

Peace!

Answer 6

Have you ever hear of the reformation movement or Martin Luther? As traditions and politics becgan to take prominience in thew Holy Roman Catholic Church, a strong movement back to basics of christianity came about. That is the reason for the differences of which you speak.
Ever tried to get the same information on the age of a rock through carbon dating?

They may be millions of years apart.

Answer 7

The basic facts in the bible are agreed upon.

What causes division is in the detail.

You know that you can read a human American Law and it will be interpreted 50 different ways by 50 different lawyers and judges. We are human and we interpret things differently because we have separate minds.

But in the end we separate minds are still interpreting one perfect mind. The fault lies within us, not GOD.

Answer 8

Its basically whether or not the person who recieved Christ into their heart truely ment it or not. The Holy Spirit gives us the desire to follow after Christ and not do things like cheat on a spouse regardless of the religion. We can only know that by the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22). Of course, we are all human and fall short of the Glory of God and will always continue to sin. However, by recognizing our faults and confessing them through prayer everyday, we challenge ourselves to deal with them and not to fall back into them again.

Answer 9

Well the bible does have more interpretations than one! Man has to make other books simple, because man is simple! God is complex, so it stands to reason His Word would be as well!

Answer 10

This will be an ongoing question for you I expect. However hard you delve into getting an "answer" to the specific question you asked you won't get one, but I think asking those sorts of questions highlights so many interesting things about "human nature" that it is worth persuing.

Answer 11

some issues are spelled out so needless to say that they do no longer seem to be open for negotiation. there is not any longer something contained in the Bible that enables one to contemplate whether Jesus Christ develop into born of a virgin beginning, because of the fact it truly is it seems that reported. it is not open for communicate. There are different issues in Scripture that are no longer so it seems that spelled out. There are issues that would in easy terms be searched out by potential of painstaking learn, prayer and the illumination of the Holy Spirit. As in any field of learn, you're continuously going to have the recommended and the ill-recommended; the clever and the silly; the mature and the immature. Paul tells us that expertise puffs up (with satisfaction), yet love builds up. The Scripture provides each actual believer the superb to be certain for themselves how they are going to understand and obey the observe of God: " yet you have been anointed by potential of the Holy One, and you all have expertise. I write to you, no longer given which you do no longer comprehend the certainty, yet given which you comprehend it, and because no lie is of the certainty........ however the anointing which you gained from him abides in you, and you haven't any longer have been given any desire that every person would desire to coach you. yet as his anointing teaches you approximately each little thing, and is actual, and isn't any lie—in basic terms because it has taught you, abide in him. " I John 2:20-21,27 Now we are additionally informed God has appointed instructors and others to deliver us into adulthood: " And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and instructors, to equip the saints for the artwork of ministry, for build up the physique of Christ, until eventually all of us attain to the team spirit of the religion and of the understanding of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the degree of the stature of the fullness of Christ," Ephesians 4:11-13 If twenty instructors are telling you that the observe of God is asserting some thing, and you're optimistic it truly is asserting some thing else; except God has given you very good reason to adhere to what He has shown you, an unwillingness to undergo others could quite possibly be an illustration of obstinacy. enable the stunning attention be this: we will all be made take place earlier the Judgment Seat of Christ, and judged in accordance to our works, whether or no longer they be good or whether or no longer they be valueless.