It has been affirmed on numerous occasions by various denominational preachers that it is impossible for men to understand the Bible alike. Such a claim is nothing more than an attempt to place the blame on God for the seeming inability of men to come to a unified consensus on what the Bible teaches in matters of doctrine. If such a claim is true, certainly there must be reasonable explanation for the accusation. Before exploring the possible reasons for man’s inability to understand the Bible alike, it might be good to explore some of the words in the title of this article. First, there is the word “understand.” Merriam-Webster online tells us the word means “to grasp the meaning of.” With that meaning fixed, it is impossible for two people to understand something differently. We can misunderstand something dozens, if not thousands, of different ways. But if we understand something, it is impossible to draw two different and often contradictory meanings to the same words. To claim such strikes at the very essence of communication. Next, there is the word “alike”: in the same manner, form, or degree” (Merriam-Webster.com) It seems clear, therefore, that to combine the two words “understand” and “alike” is redundant, for if two people understand something, their conclusion will be “alike.” When a person claims that it is not possible for men to understand the Bible alike, they are in essence implying that men cannot understand the Bible. But such flies in the very face of the Scriptures. Listen to the words of Paul: “How that by revelation was made known unto me the mystery, as I wrote before in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye can perceive my understanding in the mystery of Christ” (Eph. 3:3-4). Consider the following salient points that come out of these two verses.
First, Paul had a flawless understanding of the mystery of Christ. It is flawless because it came by divine revelation. Second, Paul wrote his divinely inspired, flawless understanding of that mystery in words. Words are symbols by which a thought is conveyed. Third, when someone reads the very words that Paul wrote, assuming there is no bias in his heart, he will perceive the apostle’s understanding.
If it is the case that it is impossible for man to understand the Bible alike, then the fault lies in only one of two areas. Either God made man incapable of understanding the Bible, or God gave a book to men that is incapable of being understood. Either position thrusts one upon a two-horned dilemma from which there is no escape.
Why then do men not understand the Bible? Any attempt to exhaust all the reasons for this monumental blunder is beyond the scope of this week’s “Tom’s Pen.” Prejudice? Ignorance of the whole of God’s word? Disrespect for the divinely inspired book itself? Pick which one you want. The bottom line was expressed by our Lord as He quoted from the prophet Isaiah:
Therefore speak I to them in parables; because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And unto them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand; And seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, And their ears are dull of hearing, And their eyes they have closed; Lest haply they should perceive with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And should turn again, And I should heal them (Matt. 13:13-15).
You see my friend, the problem is not in the inability of God to provide us with a book that can be understood. Nor did He make us incapable of understanding. The problem lies in the heart of man who chooses not to listen to the Word of God. Therein is the reason why men do not understand the Bible (alike).
