Posted on 02/02/2015 4:37:58 AM PST by metmom
THAT MANY PERSONS FIND THE BIBLE HARD to understand will not be denied by those acquainted with the facts. Testimony to the difficulties encountered in Bible reading is too full and too widespread to be dismissed lightly.
In human experience there is usually a complex of causes rather than but one cause for everything, and so it is with the difficulty we run into with the Bible. To the question, Why is the Bible hard to understand? No snap answer can be given; the pert answer is sure to be the wrong one. The problem is multiple instead of singular, and for this reason the effort to find a single solution to it will be disappointing.
In spite of this I venture to give a short answer to the question, and while it is not the whole answer it is a major one and probably contains within itself most of the answers to what must be an involved and highly complex question. I believe that we find the Bible difficult because we try to read it as we would read any other book, and it is not the same as any other book.
The Bible is not addressed to just anybody. Its message is directed to a chosen few. Whether these few are chosen by God in a sovereign act of election or are chosen because they meet certain qualifying conditions I leave to each one to decide as he may, knowing full well that his decision will be determined by his basic beliefs about such matters as predestination, free will, the eternal decrees and other related doctrines. But whatever may have taken place in eternity, it is obvious what happens in time: Some believe and some do not; some are morally receptive and some are not; some have spiritual capacity and some have not. It is to those who do and are and have that the Bible is addressed. Those who do not and are not and have not will read it in vain.
Right here I expect some readers to enter strenuous objections, and for reasons not hard to find. Christianity today is man-centered, not God-centered. God is made to wait patiently, even respectfully, on the whims of men. The image of God currently popular is that of a distracted Father, struggling in heartbroken desperation to get people to accept a Saviour of whom they feel no need and in whom they have very little interest. To persuade these self-sufficient souls to respond to His generous offers God will do almost anything, even using salesmanship methods and talking down to them in the chummiest way imaginable. This view of things is, of course, a kind of religious romanticism which, while it often uses flattering and sometimes embarrassing terms in praise of God, manages nevertheless to make man the star of the show.
The notion that the Bible is addressed to everybody has wrought confusion within and without the church. The effort to apply the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount to the unregenerate nations of the world is one example of this. Courts of law and the military powers of the earth are urged to follow the teachings of Christ, an obviously impossible thing for them to do. To quote the words of Christ as guides for policemen, judges and generals is to misunderstand those words completely and to reveal a total lack of understanding of the purposes of divine revelation. The gracious words of Christ are for the sons and daughters of grace, not for the Gentile nations whose chosen symbols are the lion, the eagle, the dragon and the bear.
Not only does God address His words of truth to those who are able to receive them, He actually conceals their meaning from those who are not. The preacher uses stories to make truth clear; our Lord often used them to obscure it. The parables of Christ were the exact opposite of the modern "illustration," which is meant to give light; the parables were "dark sayings" and Christ asserted that He sometimes used them so that His disciples could understand and His enemies could not. (See Matthew 13:10-17.) As the pillar of fire gave light to Israel but was cloud and darkness to the Egyptians, so our Lord's words shine in the hearts of His people but leave the self-confident unbeliever in the obscurity of moral night.
The saving power of the Word is reserved for those for whom it is intended. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him. The impenitent heart will find the Bible but a skeleton of facts without flesh or life or breath. Shakespeare may be enjoyed without penitence; we may understand Plato without believing a word he says; but penitence and humility along with faith and obedience are necessary to a right understanding of the Scriptures.
In natural matters faith follows evidence and is impossible without it, but in the realm of the spirit faith precedes understanding; it does not follow it. The natural man must know in order to believe; the spiritual man must believe in order to know. The faith that saves is not a conclusion drawn from evidence; it is a moral thing, a thing of the spirit, a supernatural infusion of confidence in Jesus Christ, a very gift of God.
The faith that saves reposes in the Person of Christ; it leads at once to a committal of the total being to Christ, an act impossible to the natural man. To believe rightly is as much a miracle as was the coming forth of dead Lazarus at the command of Christ.
The Bible is a supernatural book and can be understood only by supernatural aid.
Tozer ping
Previous threads
Man: The Dwelling Place of God - Chapter 1
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/3242797/posts
The Call of Christ - Chapter 2
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/3244492/posts
What We Think of Ourselves is Important - Chapter 3
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/3246397/posts
The Once-born and the Twice-born - Chapter 4
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3247452/posts
On the Origin and Nature of Things - Chapter 5
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3250352/posts
This was pretty hard to read, too.
Is this one of those thread that most are not supposed to reply to? If so, I apologize (again).
Not at all. It’s not a caucus thread. I won’t post caucus threads.
These threads are open to all for comment, so feel free.
Tozer stuff is not light reading but there’s a lot of good material in it.
I find that I helps to take it in small bites and think it over.
Okay, in that case, what version of the Bible are you suggesting to read? I have tried several versions but they all are written in old “English” and difficult to understand today.
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I like the ESV - the English Standard Version.
Here’s a link to an online Bible site and it’s already set to the ESV.
http://legacy.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ESV
You can check out different versions to see which one you like the best. At the top there’s a drop down menu that gives you ever selection you could imagine for versions.
I like the ESV because its written at an adult level in modern English and seems to be a very accurate translation. I find it easy to read but not written down to an 8th grade level, if you get what I mean.
Your link goes to a strange page but that’s okay. Seems that most things are online now and the Bible is one of them. Thanks, and actually will try to find one that I can read...
Lots and lots of words in very long sentences, but never seeming to get to the point.
Its the Bible laid out by book and chapter.
Just click on the number and it will take you to that chapter of the book that its after.
I’d say in a nutshell, that the Bible is hard to understand because it’s a spiritual book that is spiritually understood, and the man without the Spirit of God, cannot understand it.
Of the gospels, I like Luke.
Many people start at John.
In the OT, I like Genesis because it’s more a historical narrative, and of course, the Psalms and Proverbs.
Oh okay. I saw the “No Results Found” and thought it was an error page. Thanks...
For Torah, “The Pentateuch and Haftorahs”, JH Hertz, Ed.
English and Hebrew texts together with commentary. Also, a good reference of translational sources including the King James.
Dear Deagle,
May I suggest the New International Version” of the Bible (NIV). It is written in 20th Century English and flows very nicely. I would also suggest you start in the New testament with the Gospel of Luke, a Greek Physician who was very compassionate and human in his tender details.
The Gospel of Mark is the oldest of the four, and was written for a Roman audience. So it’s action-packed, and “Just the facts”. It is also the shortest Gospel, and a therefore, another good place to begin.
Matthew was written to the Jews, so it begins with the Genealogy of Jesus, to establish His family line. It’s OK to skip over that for now and go to the next chapter. Matthew has most of the action of Mark, but with the Sermon on the Mount, it dives into the Sayings of Jesus.
John focuses on Theology, but in my opinion, is the most poetic and “deep” of the Four Gospels.
The Book of Acts, written by Luke, reads like a Adventure Story. It chronicles the history of the Early Church.
Another translation I have just gotten into is the NLT (New Living Translation) with its latest update in 2007, published by Tyndale House. It is scholastically sound, and was worded to be read aloud, so it “flows” even better. I am enjoying this new translation and am reading it like a novel!
Since the King James was done in 1611, it is going to read like the era, with a lot of archaic words and expressions that might mean something else today. The Psalms are particularly beautiful though, as they have a cadence reminiscent of the sonnets and language of Shakespeare’s century.
The NIV is available on line at Bible gateway, but I love the feel of the book in my hands, the texture of the pages, the smell of the leather, and the rustle of the paper.
best wishes for your journey!
A wonderful translation is the Revised English Bible. It is a British translation that seems to be grossly overlooked in America. It uses contemporary language without sounding breezy or colloquial and avoids theological slants found in other translations such as the NIV.
Hey, thanks. I do have sight problems so have to read online and enlarged text but thank you for you suggestions. I will do the online reading because I can expand the text.
I am Christian, not Jewish but thank all who have suggested other readings.
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