Why do Christians think that those who aren't Christian know nothing of the Bible?

Question

Just a question, but in another answer someone said (paraphrased) that if you aren't a Christian, you don't know half of what the Bible says.

I'm sorry, but in my years on this Earth, I daresay that I've spent a great deal of my time studying the Bible, much of it trying to be the sort of Christian that preachers were telling me I should be.

I've listened to Hank Hanegraff, Jim Dobson, R. C. Sproul and many others. I accumulated a fair library of Christian materials (which, unlike many, I read). I've read through and studied various versions and translations of the Bible. I worked through many issues before deciding that Christianity wasn't for me. (Not that I reject the teachings of Christ, but certainly the church).

I spent 25 years in Christian music ministry, taught Sunday School, Vacation Bible School and worked retreats.

How can someone think that just because I'm not a Christian, I don't understand the Bible?

Answer 1

I actually posted a question a couple of months ago about this and asked how many non-christians had read the bible from cover to cover. The best answer was given to a christian who was floored at the amount of "non-believers" who had studied the bible. Made him re-think his own commitment.
I found that answer very refreshing.

I've had a very similar experience to yours. I was a very devout christian for over 20 years.. an ordained minister, and had not only read the bible cover to cover over 50 times, but had also taught bible classes to several different age groups.

I don't know why they believe that if we'd just READ the bible, we'd convert. That's simply not how things work.

Answer 2

I don't doubt that a non-Christian can know a lot of facts about the Bible. I had been in several churches for about 11 yrs. before I became a Christian and I knew all the Bible Stories and songs but I had a limited understanding of what I'd learned. I had committed a lot of scripture to memory as a child in Bible School but the meaning of it didn't sink in because it was just verses that I memorized. Since you have read so much of the Bible you must know that the Holy Spirit interprets the word to the reader. In our own understanding we can not fully understand God's word. Spiritual things are spiritually disserned. Without the Holy Spirit(who lives in the heart of the believer) it is impossible to understand the scriptures. I'm not saying this because it is what I think, it is what the Bible says. I am so sorry that you were so close to the Kingdom but never came on in. I hope that God has not quit calling you because with all your knowlege you could be such a blessing to many people. I guess you must have looked at the Bible like a story book if you never believed what it said. From beginning to the end it was all about God's love for you and me and how He cared enough to send His Son to be the perfect sacrifice for us so that we could have eternal life.

Answer 3

What they probably mean is that you don't "understand" the Bible, because you don't see with the "eyes of faith". I think this is primarily a development of literalism. Fundamentalists see difficult and contradictory passages in the Bible and loyally assume that God is being momentarily allegorical or otherwise departing from normal form. They assume that everyone else reads the same way but without being able to smooth out the doctrinal bumps. (Critics do have a tendency to throw up some rather trivial issues, although usually the ones fundamentalists most vigorously defend.)

Other Christians resolve the contradictions by pursuing a more consistently metaphorical meaning. But there is some "risk" in interpreting the Bible too alegorically. You might just interpret yourself right out of belief. (This doesn't mean you can't be a "Christian", just one with very unorthodox theology. I'm thinking of John Shelby Spong for example.) The more timid Christians tend to shy away from that scary cliff, loyally assuming that the interpretation they've been given is the right one and stop asking questions. People who disagree with them, ironically, don't "truly" know the Bible.

Answer 4

Perhaps you spent too much time listening to how preachers thought that you should live your life, and too little time talking to God.
There are people that have been in church for 40 years or longer that are meaner than a junkyard dog, so all the time spent in and around churches means nothing, if you do not have a close personal relationship with God. We must worship Him and talk to Him in the Spirit. Many people assume just because they get active in a church, they are fulfilling God's will in their life.

First, if you are not saved, I mean truly born again in the spirit, THAT is the only calling from God for your life. He don't want you to sing in the choir, or teach a Sunday School class, He wants you to be born again.

Once you become born again, His ONLY will for you in your life is to seek to be filled with the Holy Ghost. He don't want you to be a missionary, or an usher, He wants you to be filled with the Holy Ghost. That is the only thing He wants of you. Jesus did not even want His apostles to spread the gospel until they had been filled with the Holy Ghost, and endued with power. Only then were they able to go forth and truly be a witness for Jesus Christ.

If you had this kind of relationship with Jesus Christ, you would still be a Christian, and a powerful witness for God through Jesus. You would have witnessed miracles at work, and been further strengthened in your faith.

Only when you have the filling of the Holy Spirit in you can you fully understand the Word of God, as it is the Holy Ghost that reveals the mysteries of God and God's Word to us.

Love in Christ, and may the peace of God find you.

Answer 5

You've hit upon one of life's mysteries. Most of the active Christians with whom I'm personally acquainted have very little knowledge of what is in the bible -- and nil understanding of any historical significance, translation variations, etc. connected to biblical writings. Sure, there are some atheists and agnostics who know very little about what's in the bible, but as a rule non Christians seem to know much more about the Christian bible than Christians do. This isn't so evident when you're communicating online, but get a Christian in an in person, one-on-one discussion and they don't know how to discuss the bible, as a rule, or answer any serious questions about it. It's sad, really.

Thanks for a great question.

Edit: Come on, you diehards. This idea that "God" mysteriously grants you a magical power to see through the discrepancies, contradictions and muddled confusions of the bible falls apart in the light of reason."God" would never 'author' a book that requires the reader to shut down his brain and more or less lobotomize himself in order to believe.

Answer 6

Funny how the second poster proved the first poster right.

It has been my experience that many Christians - not all, but many - believe that if you know anything of the Bible you will OBVIOUSLY recognize it as the truth, which they did. They can't reconcile that some of us can be very well versed in the Bible and Biblical and Christian teachings and not believe it is true. Since THEY believe it is true, it MUST be true. Which can, of course, be said of any other religious text, or even an ancient, well-documented and highly written about system of mythology.
)O(

Answer 7

Ignorance.

I consider myself to be a Spiritual Christian and might even say the same about -some- other Christians (that they don't know half of what the Bible says)...

However, to me, it has nothing to do with knowing what the Bible says, but rather what the lessons mean.

Don't listen to ignorant people, for you already KNOW that you are on your own correct path. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise! Listen to the Truth within you, and you will find what you are looking for.

As the scripture states:
"If any one imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know” (1 Cor 8:2)

Answer 8

evidence that Christians who do no longer examine the Bible for themselves won't understand each and every little thing this is in it. we are to be like the Bereans--who searched the Scriptures to make beneficial that each and every little thing that the Apostle Paul taught them became authentic. regrettably, many Christians forget the Bible.

Answer 9

Well, one thing I know is that only the Holy Spirit has the power to give us the understanding to know the Word of God. If a non- believer reads the Bible he is reading it in the flesh.
If a Christian reads the Bible he is reading it in the Spirit. God does not dwell in the hearts of the un-believer, so how could they read God's word in the Spirit of His Truth? He will read it with the mind of the flesh, lacking faith, so the words will not have the same meaning as to the one that is reading it with the spirit in the mind of Christ.

Answer 10

I feel the same kind of irritation when I hear christians say that. I was a christian for alot of years, and for me, losing my faith wasn't easy ... it was a struggle. I've read the bible from cover to cover, in three different translations ... and christians still tell me that I can't possibly know anything about it, because the holy spirit is required for proper understanding. Just because we don't put our blind faith in it doesn't mean that we don't understand the message -- and because we don't put our blind faith in it, we probably understand the *true* message alot better.