Is the Bible Too Difficult To Understand?

When studying contentious texts, many good and sincere Christians are tempted to throw up their hands in the air with frustration. Isn’t the Bible supposed to be simple? Hasn’t the Bible been handed down so we all can read and understand it? The answer is not as straightforward as some people would like. On one hand, the gospel message is very simple. The overall theme of the Bible, God calling His covenant people to Himself, is simple enough.

But to know and apply the Scriptures in their entirety for people in the 21st century takes time and work, especially when we are dealing with difficult passages. And no, contrary to what some claimed in the Middle Ages, understanding the Scriptures shouldn’t just be put in the hands of a few scholars and church leaders. The Scriptures can and should be accessible to anybody in the pew, but it is up to the people in the pew to learn how to study Scripture and at least have the resources and tools to turn to when unlocking difficult issues.

Some people also have a view of Scripture that is incredibly too rigid and simple. They assume that the Bible tells us about every little matter of life in completely black and white terms. It doesn’t, and it never intended to. While the Bible is very black and white on any number of issues, it leaves room for differences and freedom amongst good Christians in plenty of other areas (see for example Romans chapters 14-15). Also, many times well-meaning Christians don’t understand that the Bible has to be interpreted on its own terms, not our own. By that, I mean that there’s sometimes more than meets the eye when we are reading Scripture.

Take for instance the book of Revelation. Many well-meaning Christians think that they are being most faithful to God’s word by interpreting the book “literally.” The problem is that even those who say they interpret Revelation “literally” are not doing so unless they want to argue that Satan really is a giant red dragon (Rev. 12), that Christ really well return to earth with a massive sword sticking out of his mouth (Rev. 19) and that a third of the sun and moon will really be destroyed (along with literal stars being flung down to earth, per Rev. 8:10-12) in the tribulation.

But if these things really happened “literally,” life would cease instantaneously and the rest of Revelation would have no significance. However, that is not the point of these texts. The text is indeed describing literal realities of judgment, but using highly figurative language that was very typical of apocalyptic literature from ancient times to describe it. Apocalyptic literature was popular and well read between 200B.C and 200 A.D. It isn’t particularly popular now. Before we make judgments about what a text means, we have to first know how it was meant to be read and how people back then would have read it. So we in the 21st century have to first understand what the Bible meant to the people it was written to and then decide what it means for today, not the other way around.

Another instance of where there is more than what meets the eye is in Ephesians 5:22-33. Many Christians today use this passage to show women their proper place in society by showing how the Bible proves their version of “Biblical female submission.” More than a few Christian men use this and several other passages to try and basically prove that by the very nature of their being men, they are always to have the final word in everything in and outside of the home. Unfortunately, most of them conveniently ignore the verse immediately preceding this passage which reads “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” It is right after that where we come to the discussion of wives and husbands. Remember, the subheadings in your Bible were not inspired by the Holy Spirit and weren’t included in the Bible until relatively recently. But plenty want to completely ignore vs. 21 and act like it has nothing to do with vs. 22!

Also, what most of them are completely unaware of is that the original Greek text does not have the word “submit” in verse 22. The earliest Greek manuscripts literally read, “wives to your husbands as to the Lord.” Now, what’s meant here is indeed submission, but the word “submit” is borrowed from vs. 21, a grammatical rule standard in Greek grammar called “ellipsis.” This shows that the meaning of verse 22 about wives submitting to their husbands is indeed connected to what is said in verse 21 about us submitting to one another in general. Wives are indeed told to submit to their husbands, but husbands actually have the greater burden placed on them in this passage (it was already assumed without question in that highly patriarchal culture of the first century that wives should submit to their husbands, thus Paul spends more time talking to husbands here telling them some things which weren’t already assumed).

Some argue that while wives are to “submit,” husbands are to only “love,” whatever that’s supposed to mean. This is ignoring the context and ignores the fact that when Paul closes this section he tells husbands to again “love” their wives but now for wives to “respect” their husbands. He doesn’t change his mind in verse 33 and say that wives don’t have to submit after all, instead only “respect” their husbands. Rather, what is going on here is a form of mutual submission and it goes both ways. If true, this contains many powerful implications and applications. They differ, of course, from some of the assumptions of both many Christians as well as secular feminists.

While there’s plenty more that could be said about these passages and others, my overall point is that Bible study and interpretation is not impossible, it just takes a little more thought and critical thinking than we sometimes would assume. The good news is that Scripture study, while sometimes difficult, is at the same time a very exciting journey. God’s inspired Word is still living and active. Also, no matter how old we may be, we can never stop learning or growing in the Lord. Of course, it’s not just enough to know about it. We need to live it and be it. And that’s where the rubber really meets the road for the serious Christian.