FIVE REASONS WHY PEOPLE MISINTERPRET & MISUNDERSTAND THE BIBLE
a. The Problem of Ignorance
Peter speaks of this problem in his second epistle where, with special reference to the writings of Paul, he says, "in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction" (2 Pet. 3:15-16). Instead of "unlearned," Weymouth has "ill-taught," and the American Standard Version has "ignorant." Evidently this particular ignorance is somehow connected with teaching, or the lack of it. And it is a fact that large and important areas of the Word of God are comparatively unknown to many people because they are either given no place in the pulpit or wrongly taught. As a result, other parts of Scripture are wrested or "tortured" to the destruction of men's souls.
But ignorance may also be something deliberate, a path upon which men set their feet with willful intent. Peter describes certain scoffers of the last days as men who "willingly are ignorant" of things they should have known. And it is a matter of significant interest that the object of this deliberate ignorance is eschatological in nature, having to do with the question of the promise of the Lord's second coming (cf. 2 Pet. 3:1-5). Furthermore, the revelation to which these "scoffers" deliberately shut their eyes is found for the most part in the Old Testament (2 Pet. 3:5, 6, 10). The remedy for such ignorance, of course, is to receive and read the whole Word of God with an open mind under the guidance of the Spirit of God.
b. The Problem of Unbelief
It is possible for men to know and yet to draw back in unbelief. This is true even of the saved, who may believe one part of the Word of God and at the same time hesitate at another part which is just as clear. There is an instructive case of this recorded in Luke 24. Following His death and resurrection, our Lord met two disciples on their way to Emmaus, who in the face of His death and burial were wondering whether or not their hopes in Him as the Messiah-Redeemer of Israel were well founded. In reply, Christ goes straight to the heart of the problem: "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken" (Luke 24:25, italics supplied). The context shows clearly that these disciples believed in the Old Testament prophecies concerning the glory of Messiah, but had not accepted literally what the same prophets had said about His suffering and death. As a result these men were actually wavering in their belief in Jesus as the Messiah. It is never safe to reject anything in the Scriptures, no matter how unlikely it may seem to mere human reason. And any scheme of interpretation which empties any part of Scripture of its normal meaning is essentially a form of unbelief and can lead to disastrous results all along the line. For example, the Unitarian and Arian views of our Lord accept the Biblical testimony regarding His true humanity, but "interpret" away the testimony concerning His true Deity. The only safe attitude is to accept the totality of Scripture on all its various subjects, whether on the Person of Christ or His Kingdom, and to accept it all at its normal or face value.
c. The Problem of Limited Discernment
This seems to have been a handicap under which the Corinthian church was laboring; for to them Paul wrote, "I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able" (1 Cor. 3:2). The cause of this limitation was found in their lack of spiritual growth. They were yet "babes in Christ" (1 Cor. 3:1), and had to be treated accordingly. Paul even calls them "carnal" (1 Cor. 3:3), for there is a certain carnality of childhood. The child's mind is unable to judge correctly as to the comparative value or importance of things, being susceptible to attraction by things which are near and can be seen rather than by the things less spectacular and far off. Still further, the evidence of spiritual childishness among the Corinthian believers was their dependence on, and partisanship for, individual human leaders: "one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos" (1 Cor. 3:4). Both were great men, but at their best they were only "ministers by whom ye believed" (1 Cor. 3:5). And no mere man, not even the Apostle Paul, has ever been made the divine channel of all divine truth. Therefore, for any believer to feed on the Pauline Scriptures alone, or the Four Gospels alone, or to lean wholly upon any one human teacher of the Scriptures, or to restrict the total significance of a Biblical doctrine to the measure of a one-sided selection of texts, indicates spiritual immaturity and the limited discernment which always attends it. The remedy, of course, is to "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Pet. 3:18). And since the Scriptures testify concerning Him, there will be spiritual growth as we read, study, and feed upon the whole Word of God.
d. The Problem of Spiritual Blindness
This is the condition of the whole unsaved world, so that we cannot expect anything but confusion in the ideas of unregenerate men regarding the essential truths of Scripture, no matter how great their scholarship. This blindness has a threefold aspect: First, it is something inherent in the sinful nature of fallen men: "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God . . . neither can he know them" (1 Cor. 2:14). Second, it is manifested and deepened by the personal sins of the unsaved: "He that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes" (1 John 2:11). Third, it is also induced by the work of Satan who as "the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not" (2 Cor. 4:4). In this verse it is worthy of notice that the particular object of Satan's venomous hatred is "the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (ASV). This is a matter of high importance in relation to the Kingdom, for it is in the establishment of that Kingdom at the second coming of our Lord that His "glory" shall be so fully manifested that "every eye shall see him" (Rev. 1:7). The reality of this glory, unseen today, is part of the Good News set forth in the written Word, and which we accept by faith. But the minds of the unbelieving are blinded to this glorious light by the devices of Satan. Now the remedy for this blindness is very simple. In 2 Cor. 3:14-15, Paul describes the blindness of those who read the "Old Testament" without seeing the glory of Christ: "even unto this day," he says, "the veil is upon their heart." The "veil" here is certainly human sin. And how can we be rid of it so that we may see? The answer is very clear: "When it [the heart] shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away" (2 Cor. 3:16).
e. The Problem of the Finiteness of the Human Mind
With reference to all that has been said above, it must never be forgotten that in the Scriptures we have a revelation coming down from an Infinite Mind, expressed in the vehicle of human language; and therefore, as Alford has well said, "Its simplest saying has in it a depth which the human mind cannot fathom . . ." But this does not mean that men here and now cannot know the essential truths of Scripture. It only means that in relation to these truths "new lights will ever be thrown upon God's Word, by passing events, by the toil of thought, by the discoveries of historical research and of scientific inquiry." For instance, there is no insoluble difficulty in learning from the written Word of God that Jesus Christ is both God and man; and no amount of research or discovery can ever reverse these facts of divine revelation. But through all time and eternity these truths will be seen in fresh brilliance and with new glories as we shall pursue our contemplation of the written Word; and this pursuit will never be wholly done. There is no end to God.
In summarizing this introductory discussion, two things should be emphasized: first, the crucial problems of understanding the written revelation of God are found in man, not in the revelation; and second, excepting man's finitude, these problems are all basically moral and spiritual in nature. If men cannot see, it is not that they have lost their minds, but they have lost their holiness. If men do not believe, it is not that they are incapable of the intellectual act of assent, but that they will not believe. To say that the simple act of belief, considered psychologically, is beyond the power of man is nonsense. Every day, men show clearly by their actions that they can believe in each other, in themselves, even in the lies of the propaganda mills. But men of themselves will not believe God. If there is an impossibility somewhere - and there is - it is not to be found in any alleged esoteric meaning of Scripture; nor can it be located in some defect of the human intellect. The impossibility is moral and spiritual. Man cannot believe and understand what God says because he will not. That is why fallen men are "ever learning," yet never, without the saving operation of the Holy Spirit, "able to come to the knowledge of the truth" as revealed in Jesus Christ and recorded in Scripture (2 Tim. 3:7). And that is why, in the last analysis, it is God who must open the "understanding" of men that they might "understand the scriptures" (Luke 24:45). And thereby be saved by grace.
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