Bible Blog: Is the Bible Simple?

Reading the Bible is simple, isn’t it? “The Bible says it, I believe it.” It’s a simple as that, isn’t it? Of course, if it is that simple, then why are there so many interpretations of the Bible? And not just small disagreements, but perspectives that are completely opposite of each other? The founders of the Christian Church movement believed that the Bible is accessible to each and every Christian, not just pastors or scholars—and I agree whole-heartedly. But just because the Bible is accessible to everyone does not mean that the Bible is simple. In fact, I believe that many of the theological problems we get into come from the fact that we assume the Bible is simple and easy to read. In reality, there are several obstacles that we have to hurdle in order to understand the Bible:

1. Language: Quick: can you recite Genesis 1:1? If you started with “For God so loved the world…” then you’re… wrong! Well, in a way. That’s an English translation of John 3:16. The actual test of John 3:16 is in the box to the right. Did you know that the words translated as “eternal life” actually mean “life of the age?” To John, the important thing about the life Jesus brings is that it is a new kind, the kind of life from the future age. But you can’t see that in (most) English translations. Whenever you read a Bible, you are reading just one of 60+ English translations of what the Bible says. 
2. Genre: The Bible is not just one book; it is an entire library of books from different times, written by different people, in different styles, for different reasons. It contains history, law, poetry, philosophy, music, novels, biographies, letters, apocalypses, and prophecy—each of which need to be read differently from each other. If you try to pull statements of fact out of poetry, you’re going to badly misread the text. If you try to read apocalypse the same way you read history, you will totally miss the point.  And people do make that mistake—all the time. 
3. Context: The Bible was written between two and four thousand years ago, on different continents, in a different hemisphere, in vastly different cultures. The people who wrote the Bible thought in different ways than we do, and they had different questions than we did. If you assume that they think the way you do, you will miss the point. The first Reformers made this mistake. They assumed that the 1st-century Jews acted just like the 15th-century Catholics, so when Paul talks about “works of the law,” he must be talking about earning your way to Heaven with good deeds. But the Jews weren’t worried about “getting into Heaven” by doing “good deeds.” They were thinking about being part of God’s nation through initiation rituals like circumcision. Paul wasn’t talking about works righteousness. He’s arguing against the idea that you have to be Jew to be a Christian. 

There are several other obstacles that we face when we read the Bible, but my point is this: the Bible should never be taken lightly. The Bible is accessible to every person, no matter their background or education, and the essentials of the Gospel are clear. But when we start turning the Bible into doctrines, like “The Bible says that tattoos are wrong” (It doesn’t; there’s a context issue) or “The Bible says homosexuality is wrong” (it does, undeniably) we need to be very careful and make sure that we are doing our homework. Like my Seminary advisor once said, “The Bible is as sharp as a double-edged sword. Use it like a scalpel, not a switchblade.”