Why is the Bible so confusing / hard to read?

Alison Smith

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I 100% know that there is a God-given reason for the above that we don't understand, but I was wondering if anyone had any insights into the above. Why does the Bible favor dense, complex and poetic language in favor of easier language that would be able to reach more people (including the uneducated)? Furthermore, hermeneutically why are some passage so hard to interpret / seem to have like 5 different interpretations? Is anyone else ever really worried they're not interpreting something correctly (even if I read like 15 different interpretations of certain passages those are ultimately human interpretations and hence I can never be sure)? Thanks!
 

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I 100% know that there is a God-given reason for the above that we don't understand, but I was wondering if anyone had any insights into the above. Why does the Bible favor dense, complex and poetic language in favor of easier language that would be able to reach more people (including the uneducated)? Furthermore, hermeneutically why are some passage so hard to interpret / seem to have like 5 different interpretations? Is anyone else ever really worried they're not interpreting something correctly (even if I read like 15 different interpretations of certain passages those are ultimately human interpretations and hence I can never be sure)? Thanks!
Because it was written in a very different culture. Culture without internet, where people had plenty of time for thinking and where writing and reading was something special. They loved stories, repetitions, symbolism, life wisdom proverbs, mythology etc.

For us, who are used to google to get a quick and short information and do not have time to read stuff around it, its a difficult reading.
 
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Alison Smith

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@solid_core : How were those people sure they interpreted everything correctly though? No matter how carefully one reads it, there are bound to be passages everyone misreads - in that case, are they just screwed?

Also, how would physically blind / illiterate people have learned about the Gospel?
 
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Sabertooth

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  1. Have you been Born Again?
    Jesus said,
    Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot [even] see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3
  2. If you have been, pray before you read your Bible. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you take it in. It may not become clearer right away, but it will over time.
 
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yeshuaslavejeff

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@solid_core : How were those people sure they interpreted everything correctly though? No matter how carefully one reads it, there are bound to be passages everyone misreads - in that case, are they just screwed?

Also, how would physically blind / illiterate people have learned about the Gospel?
The physically blind and illiterate might have a better chance than others.

The Father is well pleased - it is HIS GOOD PLEASURE -
to reveal salvation to little children,

and to hide it from the educated ones.

HE is revealing as He pleases, salvation to little children. No interpretation necessary nor allowed/permitted.
 
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Dave L

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I 100% know that there is a God-given reason for the above that we don't understand, but I was wondering if anyone had any insights into the above. Why does the Bible favor dense, complex and poetic language in favor of easier language that would be able to reach more people (including the uneducated)? Furthermore, hermeneutically why are some passage so hard to interpret / seem to have like 5 different interpretations? Is anyone else ever really worried they're not interpreting something correctly (even if I read like 15 different interpretations of certain passages those are ultimately human interpretations and hence I can never be sure)? Thanks!
I use the Ecumenical Creeds as my main point of understanding scripture. And then fill in the details around them. The creeds have proven true after centuries of people trying to disprove them.
 
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HTacianas

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I 100% know that there is a God-given reason for the above that we don't understand, but I was wondering if anyone had any insights into the above. Why does the Bible favor dense, complex and poetic language in favor of easier language that would be able to reach more people (including the uneducated)? Furthermore, hermeneutically why are some passage so hard to interpret / seem to have like 5 different interpretations? Is anyone else ever really worried they're not interpreting something correctly (even if I read like 15 different interpretations of certain passages those are ultimately human interpretations and hence I can never be sure)? Thanks!

Biblical "interpretation" is only a modern contrivance. While a lot of the old testament prophetic language may need to be interpreted the new testament need not be. It is straightforward and its meaning is known.

The modern notion of "interpretation" only comes about through conflict between the bible and modern traditions.

I can give you some examples from well known websites but I don't know if that would violate the forum rules. Maybe an admin can help us with that.
 
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Alison Smith

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@Dave L : will check those out!
@yeshuaslavejeff : does that imply one technically doesn't need to read the Bible in order to be saved? (obviously not saying I'm going to stop reading the Bible but am just curious). Since ultimately it is up to Christ to give someone a revelation in their thinking / be saved?
@HTacianas : would be interested in those websites if possible. Do you suggest focusing more on the New Testament for actual "rules of Christian living" then versus the Old Testament? If so, what purpose should the Old Testament serve in our biblical study?
@Sabertooth : how can we be 100% sure we've been born again? I think I have but am always unsure. Does being unsure imply you haven't? One reason I'm always unsure is because of Matthew 7:21 ('Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, etc.') so even if one thinks they are they might not. How do you actually tell?
 
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yeshuaslavejeff

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does that imply one technically doesn't need to read the Bible in order to be saved? (obviously not saying I'm going to stop reading the Bible but am just curious). Since ultimately it is up to Christ to give someone a revelation in their thinking / be saved?
< shrugs >

Many disciples in the first century , in ACTS, never had a Bible , not even a portion of TORAH, to read.

Never oppose TORAH though. Never willingly sin.
 
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I 100% know that there is a God-given reason for the above that we don't understand, but I was wondering if anyone had any insights into the above. Why does the Bible favor dense, complex and poetic language in favor of easier language that would be able to reach more people (including the uneducated)? Furthermore, hermeneutically why are some passage so hard to interpret / seem to have like 5 different interpretations? Is anyone else ever really worried they're not interpreting something correctly (even if I read like 15 different interpretations of certain passages those are ultimately human interpretations and hence I can never be sure)? Thanks!
Christians should read a gospel first, with just a listening attitude, to get the new things they need to hear right now, for where that are at individually, right now. Each meaning for each individual depending on their own needed learning, today.

For these, instead of analysis or commentaries, listening.
 
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2PhiloVoid

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I 100% know that there is a God-given reason for the above that we don't understand, but I was wondering if anyone had any insights into the above. Why does the Bible favor dense, complex and poetic language in favor of easier language that would be able to reach more people (including the uneducated)? Furthermore, hermeneutically why are some passage so hard to interpret / seem to have like 5 different interpretations? Is anyone else ever really worried they're not interpreting something correctly (even if I read like 15 different interpretations of certain passages those are ultimately human interpretations and hence I can never be sure)? Thanks!

It favors this because.........God wants to sort out those who really care to follow Him from those persons who, despite their offering of lip service, really don't. This is a lot of the reason the Biblical language is ensconced in parable, metaphor, hyperbole and poetry, and we see this if and when we peruse the entire Bible and find various Epistemic Indices that point in this direction, strewn about within its pages.
 
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Maria Billingsley

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I 100% know that there is a God-given reason for the above that we don't understand, but I was wondering if anyone had any insights into the above. Why does the Bible favor dense, complex and poetic language in favor of easier language that would be able to reach more people (including the uneducated)? Furthermore, hermeneutically why are some passage so hard to interpret / seem to have like 5 different interpretations? Is anyone else ever really worried they're not interpreting something correctly (even if I read like 15 different interpretations of certain passages those are ultimately human interpretations and hence I can never be sure)? Thanks!
I believe the only way to really understand scripture is through His Holy Spirit. There is only one TRUTH.
God is not the author of confusion. Confusion comes through the work of man made interpretations. This is what you have been relying on. Close the books of all those opinions. Ask the Lord to fill you with His Holy Spirit so that He is the one who opens your heart, soul and mind to His TRUTH.
Be blessed
 
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OldWiseGuy

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The bible explains itself. Sometimes the answer to a dilemma in one narrative is explained in another. "Here a little, there a little, precept upon precept", etc.
 
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BBAS 64

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Biblical "interpretation" is only a modern contrivance. While a lot of the old testament prophetic language may need to be interpreted the new testament need not be. It is straightforward and its meaning is known.

The modern notion of "interpretation" only comes about through conflict between the bible and modern traditions.

I can give you some examples from well known websites but I don't know if that would violate the forum rules. Maybe an admin can help us with that.


Good Day, HTacianas

Not so sure I agree that this is modern...

Basil of Caesarea (Ad 329-379): Liberated from the error of
pagan tradition through the benevolence and loving kindness
of the good God, with the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
by the operation of the Holy Spirit, I was reared from the very
beginning by Christian parents. From them I learned even in
babyhood the Holy Scriptures which led me to a knowledge of
the truth. When I grew to manhood, I traveled about frequently
and, in the natural course of things, I engaged in a great many
worldly affairs. Here I observed that the most harmonious
relations existed among those trained in the pursuit of each of
the arts and sciences; while in the Church of God alone, for
which Christ died and upon which He poured out in
abundance the Holy Spirit, I noticed that many disagree
violently with one another and also in their understanding of
the Holy Scriptures.
Most alarming of all is the fact that I found
the very leaders of the Church themselves at such variance
with one another in thought and opinion
, showing so much
opposition to the commands of our Lord Jesus Christ, and so
mercilessly rendering asunder the Church of God and cruelly
confounding His flock that, in our day, with the rise of the
Anomoeans, there is fulfilled in them as never before the
prophecy, ‘Of your own selves shall men arise speaking
perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.’
Witnessing such disorders as these and perplexed as to what
the cause and source of such evil might be, I at first was in a
state, as it were, of thick darkness and, as if on a balance, I
veered now this way, now that—attracted now to one man,
now to another, under the influence of protracted association
with these persons, and then thrust in the other direction, as I
bethought myself of the validity of the Holy Scriptures. After a
long time spent in this state of indecision and while I was still
busily searching for the cause I have mentioned, there came to
my mind the Book of Judges which tells how each man did
what was right in his own eyes and gives the reason for this in
the words” ‘In those days there was no king in Israel.’ With
these words in my mind, then, I applied also to the present
circumstances that explanation which, incredible and
frightening as it may be, is quite truly pertinent when it is
understood; for never before has there arisen such discord
and quarreling as now among the the members of the Church
in consequence of their turning away from the one, great, and
true God, only King of the universe. Each man, indeed,
abandons the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ and arrogates
to himself authority in dealing with certain questions, making
his own private rules, and preferring to exercise leadership in
opposition to the Lord to being led by the Lord.
Reflecting
upon this and aghast at the magnitude of the impiety, I
pursued my investigation further and became convinced that
the aforesaid cause was no less the true source also of secular
difficulties. I noticed that as long as the common obedience of
the others to some one leader was maintained, all was
discipline and harmony in the whole group; but that division
and discord and a rivalry of leaders besides proceeded from a
lack of leadership. Moreover, I once had observed how even a
swarm of bees, in accordance with a law of nature, lives under
military discipline and obeys its own king with orderly
precision. Many such instances have I witnessed and many
others I have heard of, and persons who make profession of
such matters know many more still, so that they can vouch for
the truth of what I have said. Now, if good order with its
attendant harmony is characteristic of those who look to one
source of authority and are subject to one king, then universal
disorder and disharmony are a sign that leadership is wanting.
By the same token, if we discover in our midst such a lack of
accord as I have mentioned, both with regard to one another
and with respect to the Lord’s commands, it would be an
indictment either of our rejection of the true king, according
to the Scriptural saying: ‘only that he who now holdeth, do
hold, until he be taken out of the way,’ or of denial of Him
according to the Psalmist: ‘The fool hath said in his heart:
There is no God.’ And as a kind of token or proof of this, there
follow the words: ‘They are corrupt and are become
abominable in their ways.’ Fathers of the Church, Vol. 9,
Preface on the Judgment of God (New York: Fathers of the
Church, Inc., 1950), pp. 37-39.


In Him,

Bill
 
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solid_core

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@solid_core : How were those people sure they interpreted everything correctly though? No matter how carefully one reads it, there are bound to be passages everyone misreads - in that case, are they just screwed?

Also, how would physically blind / illiterate people have learned about the Gospel?

I do not think that "to interpret everything correctly" was their goal or mindset.
 
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OldWiseGuy

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Good Day, HTacianas

Not so sure I agree that this is modern...

Basil of Caesarea (Ad 329-379): Liberated from the error of
pagan tradition through the benevolence and loving kindness
of the good God, with the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
by the operation of the Holy Spirit, I was reared from the very
beginning by Christian parents. From them I learned even in
babyhood the Holy Scriptures which led me to a knowledge of
the truth. When I grew to manhood, I traveled about frequently
and, in the natural course of things, I engaged in a great many
worldly affairs. Here I observed that the most harmonious
relations existed among those trained in the pursuit of each of
the arts and sciences; while in the Church of God alone, for
which Christ died and upon which He poured out in
abundance the Holy Spirit, I noticed that many disagree
violently with one another and also in their understanding of
the Holy Scriptures.
Most alarming of all is the fact that I found
the very leaders of the Church themselves at such variance
with one another in thought and opinion
, showing so much
opposition to the commands of our Lord Jesus Christ, and so
mercilessly rendering asunder the Church of God and cruelly
confounding His flock that, in our day, with the rise of the
Anomoeans, there is fulfilled in them as never before the
prophecy, ‘Of your own selves shall men arise speaking
perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.’
Witnessing such disorders as these and perplexed as to what
the cause and source of such evil might be, I at first was in a
state, as it were, of thick darkness and, as if on a balance, I
veered now this way, now that—attracted now to one man,
now to another, under the influence of protracted association
with these persons, and then thrust in the other direction, as I
bethought myself of the validity of the Holy Scriptures. After a
long time spent in this state of indecision and while I was still
busily searching for the cause I have mentioned, there came to
my mind the Book of Judges which tells how each man did
what was right in his own eyes and gives the reason for this in
the words” ‘In those days there was no king in Israel.’ With
these words in my mind, then, I applied also to the present
circumstances that explanation which, incredible and
frightening as it may be, is quite truly pertinent when it is
understood; for never before has there arisen such discord
and quarreling as now among the the members of the Church
in consequence of their turning away from the one, great, and
true God, only King of the universe. Each man, indeed,
abandons the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ and arrogates
to himself authority in dealing with certain questions, making
his own private rules, and preferring to exercise leadership in
opposition to the Lord to being led by the Lord.
Reflecting
upon this and aghast at the magnitude of the impiety, I
pursued my investigation further and became convinced that
the aforesaid cause was no less the true source also of secular
difficulties. I noticed that as long as the common obedience of
the others to some one leader was maintained, all was
discipline and harmony in the whole group; but that division
and discord and a rivalry of leaders besides proceeded from a
lack of leadership. Moreover, I once had observed how even a
swarm of bees, in accordance with a law of nature, lives under
military discipline and obeys its own king with orderly
precision. Many such instances have I witnessed and many
others I have heard of, and persons who make profession of
such matters know many more still, so that they can vouch for
the truth of what I have said. Now, if good order with its
attendant harmony is characteristic of those who look to one
source of authority and are subject to one king, then universal
disorder and disharmony are a sign that leadership is wanting.
By the same token, if we discover in our midst such a lack of
accord as I have mentioned, both with regard to one another
and with respect to the Lord’s commands, it would be an
indictment either of our rejection of the true king, according
to the Scriptural saying: ‘only that he who now holdeth, do
hold, until he be taken out of the way,’ or of denial of Him
according to the Psalmist: ‘The fool hath said in his heart:
There is no God.’ And as a kind of token or proof of this, there
follow the words: ‘They are corrupt and are become
abominable in their ways.’ Fathers of the Church, Vol. 9,
Preface on the Judgment of God (New York: Fathers of the
Church, Inc., 1950), pp. 37-39.


In Him,

Bill

It seems that the tares were sown as thickly as the wheat. :eek:
 
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HTacianas

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@Dave L : will check those out!
@yeshuaslavejeff : does that imply one technically doesn't need to read the Bible in order to be saved? (obviously not saying I'm going to stop reading the Bible but am just curious). Since ultimately it is up to Christ to give someone a revelation in their thinking / be saved?
@HTacianas : would be interested in those websites if possible. Do you suggest focusing more on the New Testament for actual "rules of Christian living" then versus the Old Testament? If so, what purpose should the Old Testament serve in our biblical study?
@Sabertooth : how can we be 100% sure we've been born again? I think I have but am always unsure. Does being unsure imply you haven't? One reason I'm always unsure is because of Matthew 7:21 ('Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, etc.') so even if one thinks they are they might not. How do you actually tell?

The new testament is the "bible" for Christians. Nearly all of the parts of the old testament necessary for a Christian are quoted in the new testament.

Paul said the law is good because through the law we know what sin is. While Christians live according to the two great commandments, the old testament law gives specific examples of applying those two commandments.
 
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2PhiloVoid

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I 100% know that there is a God-given reason for the above that we don't understand, but I was wondering if anyone had any insights into the above. Why does the Bible favor dense, complex and poetic language in favor of easier language that would be able to reach more people (including the uneducated)? Furthermore, hermeneutically why are some passage so hard to interpret / seem to have like 5 different interpretations? Is anyone else ever really worried they're not interpreting something correctly (even if I read like 15 different interpretations of certain passages those are ultimately human interpretations and hence I can never be sure)? Thanks!

One more thing, Alison. Keep in mind that there are some general ideas within the bible, particularly within the New Testament, that are generally understood and agreed upon by most Trinitarian Christians. It's not really as if all and every syllable in the bible is open to an infinite array of interpretations. Some things in the Bible are somewhat clear, things said like "Love your neighbor." No one really has qualms with understanding what loving one's neighbor should 'mean,' nor do they try to make it mean something other than what it was intended to mean.

However, prophecies and statements having to do with Eschatology have been wrapped up in mystery and metaphorical language and are something that God has intended to be obscured somewhat so that none of us has the Final Word on what and how God will work everything out in His Sovereign Grace and Lordship. No, the Lord Himself intends to have the Last Word on the meaning of His Word.
 
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I believe the only way to really understand scripture is through His Holy Spirit. There is only one TRUTH.
God is not the author of confusion. Confusion comes through the work of man made interpretations. This is what you have been relying on. Close the books of all those opinions. Ask the Lord to fill you with His Holy Spirit so that He is the one who opens your heart, soul and mind to His TRUTH.
Be blessed


Good Day, Maria

Then why do you suppose he gave the Church teachers Eph 4?

In Him,

Bill
 
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