Why do christians maintain it takes a lifetime of study to read the bible when in reality it takes....?

Question

...a couple of weeks?

Answer 1

Maybe they have one of those new Bibles that have apologies and explanations for all of the inconvenient passages. These new Bibles let people argue back with critics without having to think for themselves. Since there's a lot to rationalize, the books get pretty big.

Answer 2

I have never heard anyone say it takes a lifetime to read the Bible, but that the study of the Bible isn't finished for all of someone's lifetime.

Perhaps people believe that since God is infinite, then His Word must be as well. I have heard people say that they are always learning when it comes to the Bible. If you consider that Bible study entails history, geography and linguistics, among other things, you get an idea how complex it is.

We read the Bible with our modern-day perceptions, but the Bible was written in a whole other age (in fact, more than one) and that prompts study as to what it meant in that time. Since the Bible was written in Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic, one has to know these languages (or at least be aware of them) to understand more precisely what it being said. This and a host of other factors (including the fact that the Bible itself is a complex piece of literature, some parts building on and alluding to others) lead many to maintain that learning about the Bible does indeed take a lifetime.

Answer 3

Anyone can read through the bible in a couple of weeks- however there is a difference in reading and comprehending and living the truth of scripture. Since God's Word is living and active, I can read the same passage over and over and if I am open to God , His Spirit can show me things that I have missed. I do not mean I miss reading words, but I miss His meaning. Sometimes one sentence can come alive for me like never before. It has happened over and over again. When I am struggling with something in my life, He knows exactly where to lead me and I may get something entirely different then I ever did before.
The Bible is my life book- it is something that is very special to me and my relationship with God- if you were a Christian, you would understand that there is so much more than words in His Book.

Answer 4

I studied it for five years and really didn't get any more out of it after the fifth year than after the first. Something that you live by should not be that hard to understand. If you read it as it is written, it makes about as much sense as all the studying about "what is meant by this" and "what is meant by that" does. Which isn't much. I will say one thing for it though, at least it has some provable historical facts in it, unlike the Book of Mormon. Wow..is that thing ever a total fraud!

Answer 5

Key word is study there, my friend. You can read it through (if you don't stop to do anything else) in a couple of weeks, but like any other collection of books, digesting is another issue.
I disagree that it takes a lifetime of study to read the bible. I think it takes time and consulting other sources to get a full understanding of it.

Answer 6

I'm a Christian, and I don't maintain it takes a lifetime to read it - I would say that it takes a lifetime to appropriate all of its truth, to make it a part of my life rather than merely a part of something I am familiar with.

This is, I woud venture to say, the sort of contempt that familiarity is purported to breed. If I am familiar with something, I may feel that I have mastered it, when in fact I am only fooling myself.

Tom

Answer 7

to understand the WORD OF GOD, it does take some time but not a lifetime.. some people meant that you can read the WORD all your life and still learn, AND THAT IS TRUE. But you can also repeat this process with other great books as well. I read THE DESIRE OF AGES regularly because it is so inspiring..

Answer 8

Maybe you can read the Bible in 3 weeks,but it takes a lot longer than that to understand the Bible.

Francine

Answer 9

Really? A couple of weeks? You can't read and comprehend the Bible in a couple of weeks.

Answer 10

God's Word is unchanging yet we are!
As new converts we read to understand the way of the cross, repentance, God's free gift of salvation to mankind etc.....the basic tenets of Christianity.
As we mature and desire deeper study we read to understand God's entire plan for mankind and how it came to be and what the outcome will be. As it becomes clearer our hunger for knowledge and understanding is heightened thus we read and reread over and over again to digest the instructions to apply to so many of life's challenges for living in these flesh bodies until we become those old "hoary (gray) heads!
Our God is an awesome God and when we submit to Him in obedience and rest in Him we can be assured we will continually learn awesome truths all of our lives in His Word.