The Bible
What About The Bible Makes it So Confusing and Difficult to Understand?
What is it About The Bible that’s different than most other books? Quite a lot, but let’s start here. Instead of having 10 or 20 Chapters, organized and written by one author, the Bible is actually 66 different books, written by different authors, and grouped together into one volume.
Most regular books are organized either chronologically, where one event follows the other, in the order in which the events actually occurred, so the reader can follow the story. Or, they are organized by subject matter, whereby each chapter contains all the information about a particular subject. The Bible does neither.
With few exceptions, each book in the Bible presents its information, without connection to the other books, making it difficult to get a clear understanding of the order in which events occurred. Plus, information on any given subject, may be scattered throughout many books, in no particular order.
Further complicating things, is the fact that the different authors had different styles and different ways of describing the same thing. Also, many of the books were written hundreds of years apart, further adding to the disconnect. Just read something written 500 years ago, Shakespeare for example. Over time, people say things differently.
With regard to subject matter, if the Bible had to be classified in to one category, it would likely be a history book. The Bible documents the interactions between God and Man. And it spans the timeframe between the creation of the Universe, and the life of the Apostles of Jesus Christ.
With this extraordinarily wide timeframe, you can imagine the number of events covered, the number of people involved, the number of places, dates, and things discussed. Combine that with no Table of Contents and no complete Index. Then add, no chronological order and no grouping of subject matter.
Now then, sit down, relax, and curl up with the Good Book, for an easy afternoon of reading. I don’t think so.
If that’s not enough, the Bible is filled with customs and practices that have long since vanished from the Earth. So no one alive is truly familiar with them.
And oh, did I mention the supernatural? Certainly none of us totally understand, or can relate to that?
Finally, all of the books in the Bible were written in foreign languages, and had to be translated into English. Surely you’re familiar with the expression “lost in the translation”.
Well, that pretty well sums up why the Bible is confusing and difficult to understand. But!
So Why Then, Even Bother To Read The Bible?
But, by any standard, the Bible is the most amazing book ever written. Yes, it’s a tough read. And yes, it will take a good deal of time and effort to get to the point where you really understand most of it. But wow, is it worth it. Imagine, getting to know God. His thoughts, His feelings, His emotions, His frustrations. And imagine, learning the how’s and why’s of success and failure. Really understanding human nature. Finding out what happens after you die. Finding out why you die in the first place. And answers to a thousand other questions that cannot be found anywhere else.
All that and more, is right there in this one book, ready to be discovered by anyone who will take it.
But, Is The Bible Real? Is The Bible True?
Alright, the Bible is complicated. However, the factors that make the Bible difficult to understand; lend a great deal of credence to the authenticity and accuracy of the information contained within it.
When a single author writes a book, especially on a controversial subject; who knows whether his information is accurate, true and trustworthy. But when dozens of authors write separate books, spaced out over a thousand years, all in agreement, confirming the same facts, the credibility of the information is very high.
The likelihood of all these authors from different generations, being involved in some great conspiracy, to fool mankind is pretty slim.
Beyond that, many of the books in the Bible contain Prophecy, whereby God tells His Prophet, something that will occur in the future, sometimes hundreds of years in the future. The Prophet records the event in his writings, and through historical documents, we find that the event occurred, years later, just as God said it would.
Many of these events are very specific, sometimes God even tells us precisely when they will occur. These events are such, that no Man could predict; further strengthening the credibility of the Bible.
Many people have spent countless hours trying to refute and discredit the Bible, unsuccessfully. Science changes its conclusions frequently, whenever it finds its previous discoveries were miscalculated. But the Bible and all of its information has remained unchanged for 2,000 years.