Bible understanding?

Question

Why would God write a book, especially a book so important that our eternal salvation depends upon our proper understanding of it, and deliberately obscure the message so it can’t be easily understood?

Some people say you have to take the bible literally and some say symbolic. So why would God make his instruction manual for life with so many ways to interpret it? Seems to me God would want every one to understand it easily and straightforward without having to search for different meanings for what everything means

I have read the whole bible and I do understand parts of the bible. I have been a Christian for the past 4 years. I have just always wandered why the bible takes so much deciphering to understand. There is a couple people that have said you have to ask God to explain it or you have to be a Christian. My question is it should be easy for all to understand by just picking it up and reading, Christian or not

I have read the whole bible and I do understand parts of the bible. I have been a Christian for the past 4 years. I have just always wandered why the bible takes so much deciphering to understand. There is a couple people that have said you have to ask God to explain it or you have to be a Christian. My question is it should be easy for all to understand by just picking it up and reading, Christian or not

I have read the whole bible and I do understand parts of the bible. I have been a Christian for the past 4 years. I have just always wandered why the bible takes so much deciphering to understand. There is a couple people that have said you have to ask God to explain it or you have to be a Christian. My question is it should be easy for all to understand by just picking it up and reading, Christian or not

Answer 1

That may be hard to understand and you have a point. The point would hold water if God had made it. Truth is, God , Allah or Jesus did not have any writing in it. Those are inspired accounts and interpretations. Some are messages transcribed by men who were followers of prophets and messengers and wrote about them many many years after the fact. If I told you a story and you forwarded it. In a week the story may come back different. All one person needs to do is misunderstand a word or meaning. Much was not written but passed by word of mouth like a sacred secret not to be written. We can only go by what we were given by our fore fathers. If that is not good enough to live your life by then don't buy into it or wait for your own Divine revelation.
Faith is just that. Belief and concepts you make real in your reality. I try to sort it all out and look through to see the forest for the trees.
Rev. TomCat

Answer 2

This is one reason why I reject Christianity and other religions that are text-based. A literal understanding is clearly impossible to believe when confronted with legitimate scientific evidence against it. An interpretive understanding introduces subjective thought, dependent greatly upon the interpreter, who has been influenced by culture, upbringing, religion, etc.

And those who say it's not for everyone, or that the Holy Spirit has to guide you... I have a couple questions.

1.) If it's not for everyone, what good is it? I thought God loved everyone.
2.) At what point can you know that this "Holy Spirit" has guided you, especially when others with conflicting understanding say that they, too, have been guided by it?
3.) What is the point of a book that only helps those who already believe in it? Non-believers should be able to approach it and come to some kind of understanding. A Christian already believes in the Bible.

If God exists, I really doubt that it would care so much about what we do in our own little limited physical realm. If God...

Well, I have a lot of "if God" statements I could make, but they aren't relevant here.

Answer 3

I think the answer to your question is in the question. God writes the book. But it is man that is arguing how it should be read. I once wrote a poem in High school,for a class, and let someone else get up to read it as if it was theirs. There became a discussion about all of its meaning. In the mean time I said nothing while those who did not write it debated it. God does not try to make it difficult for us . We try to make it difficult by wanting to put our desires and meanings into the words. If you had a roadmap and several people reading it to you ,one saying maybe it is symbolic east, and another saying maybe when they made the map east meant northwest, and another who said" who needs a map we will just drive til we get there," and yet another who just said "well east it says east "we turn which will you choose? It isn't the map or the map makers fault it is the people who are confusing things.

Answer 4

The Key to understanding the bible is to see that even though its a book in black and white.. with geneologies and history and prophesies, parables, instruction, correction, teachings, inspiration, letters, etc..at heart ..the bible is God breathed. There is an unseen entity of the bible that is substantiated ONLY in the realm of faith. And this faith is not positive thinking or brain washing or human effort at all.. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. On our own we have no faith to see or understand and lay hold of what is in the bible.. but opening up our hearts to the Lord.. and praying that we be saved.. regenerated in our spirit, then the word which is Spirit and Life and God breathed can be touched by us... the mysteries hidden will be lain hold of. Even in christian circles we can approach the bible in a very outward way.. for knowledge.. but in the pages contains the very heart of God. But my friend.. a regenerated spirit and praying that God will grant to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowlege of Him is crucial.
Ever saw those pictures where you look at it and its just a pattern but if u stare at it enough..the image underneath comes in view... and you say "YES i SEE IT.. its a car or its a scenery.. or this or that" others may pass you by and say.. " another loonitic" but you KNOW what you have seen... Until they behold the picture themselves and look beyond the patterns to see the real image behind.. it will remain as something hidden and obscure.
Our regenerated spirit is the access and entrance to apprehending the true message in the Bible.

May the Lord keep granting us all a seeking spirit and heart.

Answer 5

You fail to understand because you are missing a key element. That is faith. Trues Christians are called believers for a reason. Before you can even begin to understand the complexities of the bible, you must first have faith in God. that leads to belief that Jesus really did die for the sins of all and trusting in Him will lead to salvation. At the point the Holy Spirit enters you and unravels the mysteries of the bible.

So ... do not begin with a reading of the bible. Begin with the one who inspired its writing first. Otherwise the truth will continue to be hidden from you as it is with all these foolish people who mock God and His word.

You cannot mock God. Their time will come. And it will be too late.

Answer 6

They have to say things like it is secretive and you need the Holy spirit in order to understand it because if you take it for it says what it means and means what it says, then it is impossible to get the many different doctrines in there.

When I was a Christian I believed it said what it meant and meant what it said and when it said to be baptized and that baptism was the avenue God chose to put one in Christs and that is how we clothed ourselves with Christ and was buried with Christ, many people from opposing faiths would get mad when I pointed these things out.

These people are very agressive and fell you must think their way or face hell, so I had to carrya bible around to defend my faith and it was only when I opened the bible and forced them to read it as it says and not to add to or take away from and this gets old.

At least with Wicca, I can merely say all spiritual paths lead to Diety and do not have to carry a book around and have to debate scripture.BB

Answer 7

Do you honestly believe that if it was written with directness that that would have made any difference?

People will look for a "loophole" and tear it apart trying to find it, lol, such is the nature of the worldly man and woman and child...

God knows us better...so He had a book written where we would have to go to HIM for the "hidden" truths so we are NOT mislead by False Prophets and False Teachers.

While it is each individual churches responsibility to teach their members the Truth, it is each individual within the church organization and within God's children to GO TO THE SOURCE THEMSELVES!

God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

Only they have the key to what you are looking for.... and we are the ones whom must ASK for the key.

Peace be with you :)

Answer 8

Yes, you would think God would have provided a reliable, infallible source of interpretation, so that Christians could believe in unity. You would think He would have done something like found a Church, and tell that Church, "whatsoever you bind upon earth is bound in heaven", or "the Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth", or something like that. If He did something like that, His Church would remain unified in belief, unified in scriptural interpretation, unified in teaching, and unified in worship - exactly the way the Catholic Church did for more than a thousand years after Christ. Exactly the way the Catholic Church still is today.

The doctrinal chaos of Protestantism - which of course means scriptural chaos since that's the only place they try to find doctrinal truth - cannot be the will of God, since it is the stated will of God "that they all may be ONE". All of the chaos you describe is the direct result of the manmade, unbiblical tradition of sola scriptura. the Church Christ founded is "the foundation of truth". We know this because the Bible tells us so. You cannot remove the foundation from a structure and still expect that structure to stand.

Answer 9

Like any good piece of literature, it is understood on different levels by different people.

This does mean that everyone in the world will have a slightly different take on it, according to their own life and their understanding. But all honest believers would benefit from its teachings in their own way, and non-believers are able to dismiss it. In a sort of way, every person is reading a slightly different Bible because we are all different; I think that is how it is meant to be.

Answer 10

God has given you a mind to think and He wants you to use it. The more you read the Bible the more you'll find out what is meant to be symbolic and what is to be taken literal.

Start reading the New Testament and ask God to give you wisdom to understand it and He will help you if you truly are seeking.