Body: | Can Ordinary People Understand The Bible?
Because of the long-standing and widespread teaching that the Bible can be
interpreted only by priests or by other learned men, ordinary people
question if the Bible is for their study and interpretation or if they must
rely on others to tell them the will and the directions of God. Making this
question real and deep are the many and varied interpretations given the
scriptures by the teachers and learned scholars of the denominations. Each
denomination feels its interpretation to be correct and many of them feel
the interpretations of the others are wrong.
To resolve this question, we must appeal to the word of God, the Bible, to
find if clear directions can be obtained from this source. This is a
reasonable thing to do since most of the Bible teachers and scholars who
disagree over the meanings of the scriptures can agree that the Bible is,
truly, the inspired Word of God. They can agree, here, because the Bible
has all of the necessary marks of inspiration: Among several other
important marks of inspiration (or proofs that the Bible comes from God) is
the Bible's claim to being the word of God, and its precise historical and
scientific accuracy. Should you have questions regarding the origin,
inspiration, and authenticity of the Bible, please study from the messages
under Christian Evidences. We especially recommend the message "INSPIRATION
OF THE BIBLE", and "DO WE REALLY HAVE THE BIBLE TODAY?", also "DID THE
BIBLE COME FROM GOD OR MAN?"
So now with the safe assumption that the Bible is truly the Word of God,
let us examine its clear words to see if it is reasonable to believe it to
be understandable by those who read its words. Jesus intended that His word
be clear, He wanted the instructions that his disciples would begin to
deliver soon after his resurrection to lead those hearing them into uniform
understanding and obedience. This intention is clearly stated in Jesus'
prayer as recorded in John 17:20,21. "Neither pray I for these alone, but
for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all
may be one; as thou, Father, are in me, aid I in thee, that they all may be
one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one
in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me."
After the church had been established, this expectation and requirement for
uniform understanding of the doctrine of Christ was voiced by the apostle,
Paul, as he addressed the Christians of the church at Corinth: I
Corinthians "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions
among you." Jesus' prayer and Paul's admonition to the Corinthians are
neatly summed in Ephesians 4:2-6: "With all lowliness and meekness, with
long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one
Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one
faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and
through all, and in you all."
In practice, there were few misunderstandings of God's teachings by the
early Christians; the churches of the first century were united in spirit
and in teaching, just as Jesus had intended.
It is difficult to believe, logically, that just anything goes in the
Christian religion. If wide interpretation of the scriptures were
permitted, or were desirable, God would accept different faiths and
different obedience from different people depending on how the individual
read the scriptures. Thus, we would have to believe, not that man must be
obedient to the will of God, but that God is obedient to the individual's
interpretation. This is a very convenient, but obviously false doctrine,
for God is not a respecter of persons, but accepts those who obey His will.
Study Acts 10:34. Were God's words not clear enough for understanding, God
would be the author of confusion, of religious division, and of strife.
But, God is not the author of confusion. I Cor. 14:33 tells us that God is
the author of peace.
Thus, we can accept the word of God as a document to be uniformly
understood by all of mankind. The Bible is, then, the way of truth. But, is
it for us to read and to study it for ourselves, or must we have someone
else interpret it and teach us its meaning Again, the most logical place to
find the intention and direction of God is in the pages of the Bible. The
letters which are assembled together to form the New Testament were
originally addressed to particular people or groups of the New Testament
people: We need to see if those who originally received these words needed
an interpreter. Typical of many verses in the New Testament are the
following: "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and
Timotheus our brother, to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which
are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, fron God our Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ." Colossians 1:1-2
"Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have
obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and
our Savior Jesus Christ.? 2 Peter 1:1 "And when this epistle is read among
you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that
you likewise read the epistle from Laodicea." Colossians 4:16 "I charge you
by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren." I
Thessalonians 5:27 "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the
words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein:
the time is at hand." Revelations 1:3 These scriptures show us that the
bulk of the New Testament writings were written to the membership of the
church and that it has intended that the writings be read b,,, or be read
to those people. The divine instruction is "read", "hear", "read to", etc.
Thus, the scriptures themselves tell us that we are to read them ourselves
- an interpreter is unnecessary. Thus, we see that it is God's will and
desire that His word be studied and understood by each individual who would
believe and become obedient to that will. This is the way that it was in
the early days of the church, and nothing has been changed since that time.
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